Media Campaigns COMM 450 Exam 1

Diffusion of Innovations

Rogers’ theory explaining how new ideas, behaviors, or technologies spread through a social system over time

What are the 5 adopter categories of Diffusion of Innovations?

1. Innovators (2.5%)

2. Early Adopters (13.5%)

3. Early Majority (34%)

4. Late Majority (34%)

5. Laggards (16%)

What are the adopter traits of Diffusion of Innovations?

Innovators are risk takers and adopt first

Early Adopters are opinion leaders respected by peers

Early Majority are deliberate, adopt after seeing benefits

Late Majority are skeptical and adopt due to social pressure

Laggards are traditional ad resistant to change

What are the 5 adoption stages of diffusion of innovations?

1. knowledge (Awareness)

2. Persuasion (Attitude formation)

3. Decision (Ability to adopt or reject)

4. Implementation (Put into use)

5. Confirmation (Reinforcement)

What is the core assumption in the environmental citizenship model?

Environmental change requires individuals to act as active citizens engaged in collective and political actions, rather than just private consumers

What is the action chain in the environmental citizenship model?

Knowledge + values → concern → civic participation → structural/policy change

What is the Central Route in ELM (Elaboration Likelihood Model)?

It is used when motivation and ability are high. Audience deeply evaluates arguments and results in strong, long-lasting attitude change

What is the Peripheral Route in the ELM (Elaboration Likelihood Model)?

Used when motivation or ability is low. Audience relies on simple cues (celeb ads, catchy visuals.) Results in weak, temporary attitude change

What is the Boomerang Effect?

It occurs when a campaign produces the exact opposite outcome of what it is intended, reinforcing resistance or counter-behavior

What are the primary causes for the boomerang effect?

• Perceived threat to personal autonomy/freedom

• Wrong Platform/Tone (Preachy ads on tiktok)

  • Unrealistic or exaggerated fear messages

What is the definition of The Ceiling Effect?

It occurs when a campaign fails to show measurable change because the target audience is already highly supportive or compliant before exposure

What is the Motivation Formula for Expectancy Value Theory?

Expectancy x Value = Motivation

• Expectancy is your belief that the action will actually work

• How much the individual cares about the outcome

What are the 6 steps of the Information Processing Theory?

1. Exposure

2. Attention

3. Comprehension

4. Encoding & Storage

5. Retrieval

6. Action/Behavior

What is the Mechanism & Inverted-U in a Fear-as-Drive Model?

Feat creates emotional discomfort that drives action to relieve it. Moderate fear is most persuasive; extreme fear causes panic or paralysis

What does HBM stand for?

Health Belief Model

What are the Threat Constructs of the HBM?

• Perceived Susceptibility: Could this happen to me?

• Perceived Severity: How bad would it be?

What action constructs HBM (Health Belief Model)

• Perceived Benefits: Will this help me?

• Perceived Barriers: Costs, time, pain, stigma

• Self-Efficacy: Confidence in ability to act

• Cues to Action: External triggers (ads or reminders)

What does TTM stand for?

Transtheoretical Model

What are the 5 stages of the TTM (Transtheoretical Model?)

1. Precontemplation (No intent in 6 months)

2. Contemplation (Considering in 6 months)

3. Preparation (Planning action in 30 days)

4. Action (Modifying behavior for < 6 months)

5. Maintenance (Sustaining behavior > 6 month)

What does SENTAR stand for?

Sensation Seeking

What are High vs Low Seekers in SENTAR (Sensation Seeking)

• High Sensation Seekers (HSS:) Need high stimulation, fast pacing, novel ideas, intense audio and visuals

• Low Sensation Seekers (LSS:) Prefer calm, structured, informative, low-arousal messages

What are the core assumptions in the Cultivation Effects Theory?

Long-term, repeated media exposure that gradually shapes and cultivates heavy viewers’ perceptions of social reality

What is the Mean World Syndrome?

A phenomenon of Cultivation Theory where heavy news/media viewers perceive the world as significantly more dangerous than statistical reality shows

What is the EPPM?

Extended Parallel Process Model

What is the extended Parallel Process Model EPPM Threat vs Efficacy?

• Threat > Efficacy → Fear Control: Defensive denial, message rejection

• Efficacy > Threat → Danger Control: Direct Action taken to avoid threat

What does PMT stand for?

Protection Motivation Theory

What are the two appraisals in PMT (Protection Motivation Theory?)

1. Threat Appraisal: Severity + Vulnerability minus rewards of risky

   1. Coping Appraisal: Response Efficacy + Self-Efficacy minus costs of acting

What are the 3 Key Properties in Systems Theory?

• interdependence : changes in one part affect all other parts

• holism: system must be studied as a whole

• feedback loops: audience response shapes future institutional actions

What are the 2 steps in Two-Step Flow Hypothesis?

1. Mass Media → Opinion Leaders

2. Opinion Leaders → General Public

What is the definition for Public Communication Campaign?

An organized effort to inform or change behavior in large groups over a set period using media for non-commercial social benefits

What is the Target Audience Segmentation Principle?

Campaigns can not reach everyone. They are most effective wehn targeted at people who are already open to changing behavior

What are the indirect effects in influencers vs Policy Makers?

• Interpersonal Influencers: Teachers, coaches, and parents )Provide personal advice and peer modeling)

• Policy Makers: Lawmakers, institutions (change laws and environmental choices)

What does it mean to have the entitlement to advocate?

It is the perceived right, legitimacy, or moral authority of a speaker or group to run a campaign on a specific cruise

What is the Media Advocacy Definition?

Combining news coverage and community organizing to push for political, legal, and systemic policy changes

What is an advantage of Community-Based Campaigns?

Involving local people in planning builds support, improves cultural fit, and creates lasting community changes

What are prevention vs promotion campaings?

• Promotion: Encourages positive behaviors (eating fruit, wearing seatbelts)

• Prevention: Stops harmful behaviors (drunk driving, smoking)

What are 5 qualities of strong messages?

1. credibility

2. engagement

3. relevance

4. clarity

5. motivation

What are 3 qualities of effective messengers?

1. engaging (likeable, attractive)

2. credible (trustworthy, expert)

3. relatable (similar to audience)

What are some quantitive factors in campaign success?

• reach (how many see it)

• frequency (how often it is seen)

• placement (ad visibility)

  • duration (campaign length)

What is the Formative vs. Process vs. Summative Evaluation

• Formative: Research BEFORE launch (focus groups, pre-tests)

• Process: Monitoring DURING execution

• Summative: Measuring results AFTER implementation

What is the Hierarchy of Campaign Impact?

Campaigns are easiest at changing Knowledge, moderately successful at changing Attitudes and hardest at changing behavior

What are the 3 types of Self-Affirmation?

1. value affirmation (personal values)

2. identity affirmation (group membership)

3. strength affirmation (past success)

What is the concept behind the Got milk? Kermit vs Stone Cold

• Kermit: Targeted Kids and parents

• Stone Cold: Targeted young males

What was the Strategic Legacy for the MADD campaign?

It used media advocacy to change legal policy (.08 BAC interlocks,) causing drunk driving deaths to drop drastically

Why did the D.A.R.E program fail?

It caused a Boomerang Effect by using unrealistic fear warnings and preachy lectures without giving practical coping skills

What is the key concept in the safe to sleep campaign?

High-Efficacy Action Messaging. It provided simple environmental sleep steps that reduced SIDS deaths by 50%

What do U.S. Crime Rates vs. Perception graph show?

It shows cultivation theory (mean world syndrome) and represents violent crime plunged since 1993, yet heavy news viewers believe crime is rising

What was the quantitive benchmark for Super Bowl Ads?

Peak visibility spot in media. Costs $8M per 30 seconds ($250k/sec) reaching 127.7M average viewers