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Browsing Department of Communication by Author "Ellithorpe, Morgan E."
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Item Athletes Drink Gatorade: DMA Advertising Expenditures, Ad Recall, and Athletic Identity Influence Energy and Sports Drink Consumption(Health Communication, 2022-10-10) Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Bleakley, Amy; Hennessy, Michael; Jordan, Amy; Stevens, Robin; Maloney, ErinUnderstanding why sports and energy drinks remain increasingly popular among adolescents despite declines in other sugar sweetened beverages is critical. This study points to memory for advertising exposure and adolescent athletic identity as two aspects that together help to explain consumption. An online survey of U.S. adolescents aged 14–18 (n = 503) was combined with Nielsen data for television and social media advertising expenditures by sports and energy drink brands in participants’ designated market areas (DMAs). Advertisement recall mediates the relationship between social media DMA expenditures and sports and energy drink consumption. Recall for television advertisements is related to consumption but is unrelated to television DMA expenditures. Athletic identity moderated the relationship between recall and consumption such that consumption increased as both recall and athletic identity increased, suggesting a role for motivated memory and motivated processing of ad messages based on athletic identity consistent with the limited capacity model of motivated media message processing. Based on these results, we conclude that effectiveness of expenditures in influencing behavior is dependent upon both ad recall and ad relevance, and that athletic identity is an important factor in ad effectiveness in the context of sports and energy drinks advertising.Item The complicated impact of media use before bed on sleep: Results from a combination of objective EEG sleep measurement and media diaries(Journal of Sleep Research, 2022-02-08) Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Ulusoy, Ezgi; Eden, Allison; Hahn, Lindsay; Yang, Chia-Lun; Tucker, Robin M.Media use has been linked to sleep disturbance, but the results are inconsistent. This study explores moderating conditions. A media diary study with 58 free-living adults measured the time spent with media before bed, the location of use, and multitasking. Electroencephalography (EEG) captured bedtime, total sleep time, and the percent of time spent in deep (Stage N3), and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Media use in the hour before sleep onset was associated with an earlier bedtime. If the before bed use did not involve multitasking and was conducted in bed, that use was also associated with more total sleep time. Media use duration was positively associated with (later) bedtime and negatively associated with total sleep time. Sleep quality, operationalised as the percent of total sleep time spent in N3 and REM sleep, was unaffected by media use before bed. Bedtime media use might not be as detrimental for sleep as some previous research has shown. Important contextual variables moderate the relationship, such as location, multitasking, and session length.Item Gender Moderates the Relationship Between Avatar Customization and Enjoyment in Popular Video Games(Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 2024-03-08) Devlin, M. Marie; Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Oittinen, ErinUsing online survey methods (n = 153), this study investigates whether exposure to different levels of customization in games will increase the experiences of enjoyment, both directly and indirectly, through the experience of avatar embodiment, as well as whether these relationships are influenced by gender identity. Results indicate a positive relationship between level of exposure to customization and enjoyment for women-identified participants. These outcomes may provide insight into gendered preference in gaming, potentially providing an avenue by which to make games more inclusive to women gamers.Item Helping and Hurting on the TV Screen: Bounded Generalized Reciprocity and Interracial Group Expectations(Media Psychology, 2022-02-01) Holt, Lanier F.; Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Ewoldsen, David R.; Velez, JohnTwo survey studies, one with a college sample (Study 1, n = 245) and one with a national U.S. adult sample (Study 2, n = 590) examined how media messages can influence attitudes toward Black people in the U.S. A novel contribution is the role of Bounded Generalized Reciprocity, or the belief that members of an outgroup are likely to return a favor (positive), or enact retribution for a wrong (negative) as a factor in the relationship between television use and attitudes. Study 1 (college student sample) found support for a relationship between lifetime television exposure and negative attitudes, mediated by negative reciprocity beliefs. Study 2 (U.S. adult sample) found support for an ambivalence effect, where lifetime television exposure was associated with increases in both positive and negative reciprocity beliefs. This indicates that reciprocity beliefs can be cultivated similarly to other kinds of beliefs (e.g., crime frequency, mean world), and that these beliefs have downstream relationships with racial attitudes. The direction in which they are influenced by television use remains an open question, and likely depends on TV content patterns over time.Item I’m Lovin’ It: How Fast Food Advertising Influences Meat-Eating Preferences(Journal of Health Communication, 2022-05-02) Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Zeldes, Geraldine; Hall, Elizabeth Dorrance; Chavez, Manuel; Takahashi, Bruno; Bleakley, Amy; Plasencia, JulieOverconsumption of red and processed meat is associated with a multitude of negative health outcomes. Previous research shows exposure to advertising messaging can influence dietary behaviors but research on the influence of meat advertising on diet, specifically, is scant. Theoretically informed by the Reasoned Action Approach, the present experiment randomly assigned participants to view a version of a print McDonald’s advertisement that included meat imagery (a Big Mac), non-meat imagery (French fries), or no food (just the McDonalds’ logo and slogan), which acted as a control. An online survey in the United States included 514 U.S. adults (Mage = 51 years). Participants exposed to meat imagery compared to the non-meat imagery reported a higher desire to eat meat. The meat imagery and control conditions were also significantly associated with increased cognitive accessibility of meat concepts, compared to when respondents were shown the no-meat condition. Desire to eat meat, but not the cognitive accessibility of meat concepts, was significantly associated with attitude, normative pressure, and perceived behavioral control for avoiding eating meat one day per week; these constructs predicted intention and willingness to avoid meat. Results indicate that exposure to meat imagery in advertising does have the potential to influence meat consumption behavior and also has implications for the use of meat imagery in persuasive messaging for public health campaigns.Item Problematic Video Gaming Is Associated With Poor Sleep Quality, Diet Quality, and Personal Hygiene(Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 2022-03-14) Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Meshi, Dar; Tham, Samuel M.Problematic gamers may focus on game-play so much that they forego regular daily activities in favor of more game time, leading to health impairments. Because problematic gamers often desire to return to the game as quickly as possible, they are known to make myopic choices that favor short-term benefits at the cost of long-term gains. The present research examines certain health behaviors that are likely to suffer from such myopic decision-making: sleep quality, diet quality, and personal hygiene. Although other research has assessed the relationships between gaming behavior and each of these health behaviors separately, they are likely to be intercorrelated—representing a pattern of unhealthy decision-making. To achieve our research goal of understanding how problematic gaming might be associated with these health behaviors, we surveyed a university-based sample (n = 354), including targeted sampling of high-intensity gamers. We assessed problematic gaming’s relationship with poorer sleep quality, diet quality, and personal hygiene behaviors. Our results reveal a significant association between problematic gaming and all 3 negative health behaviors. Negative health behaviors associated with problematic gaming may be a potential sign that there is a behavioral addiction issue. Interventions should consider a pattern of such behaviors along with gaming behavior to encourage healthier behavioral choices and game-play.Item Would they save me, too? Victim race recall when the hero is Black vs. White and its influence on expectations of reciprocity(Media Psychology, 2022-05-22) Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Holt, Lanier F.; Ewoldsen, David R.Bounded Generalized Reciprocity (BGR) hypothesizes that expectations of reciprocity provide the foundation for ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation. These expectations can be influenced by interaction with outgroup members, including vicarious interaction through media. This analysis examines how non-Black participants view helping behavior by Black individuals, and how their interpretations of helping scenarios influence intergroup attitudes. Participants (n= 211) were randomly assigned to view a news clip in which a Black or White hero saves someone White, or whose race was not portrayed. When viewing a clip with an ambiguous victim, participants were significantly more likely to report that the victim was not White when the hero was Black – indicating an expectation of helping behavior between Whites and Blacks. However, when a Black hero saved an unambiguously White victim, participants were more accurate in their recall. Victim race recall and hero race interacted to predict future reciprocity expectations, such that Black heroes saving a victim recalled as White (regardless of accuracy) resulted in increased positive reciprocity expectations. Positive reciprocity then predicted motivation to avoid prejudice and prejudiced attitudes. These results have implications for how media depictions of helping behaviors may impact intergroup beliefs and attitudes.