Rethinking the Role of Television Advertising during Health Crises: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Federal AIDS Campaigns

Who's afraid of that ad? Applying segmentation to the protection motivation model

“…The third component of the PMM is the perceived efficacy of the coping response to eliminate the threat, which is believed to moderate the effect that threatening stimuli may have on behavior (or intention to behave). Most researchers agree that the primary role of mass media during health crises is to create awareness of health issues and how they can be effectively eliminated (Bush & Boller, 1991). The social marketers behind the 1989 U.S. federal AIDS campaign illustrated this notion.…”

“…The social marketers behind the 1989 U.S. federal AIDS campaign illustrated this notion. The effectiveness of these advertisements rested primarily on their focus on the effectiveness of the recommended coping responses (Bush & Boller, 1991). Further support for the notion that an increase in response efficacy will increase persuasion is found in an empirical study of women's intentions to perform breast self-examinations (Anderson, 2000).…”

Gap (RED): Social Responsibility Campaign or Window Dressing?

“…For Burke (1962), rhetorical analysis allows the investigation of motives which is a key to interpret the things people say and do. Similarly, according to van Dijk (1991), analysis of the rhetorical style chosen for a communication can reveal clear social and ideological implications by signaling the opinions of the message creator toward social situations and group memberships (also see Bush and Boller, 1991). As Berg (1992) observes, ''[r]hetoric is ideology's mask and therefore we need to be aware of all of its devices, if we are to uncover the hidden motives of language as well as the motives language hides'' (p. 671).…”

“…As Berg (1992) observes, ''[r]hetoric is ideology's mask and therefore we need to be aware of all of its devices, if we are to uncover the hidden motives of language as well as the motives language hides'' (p. 671). Moreover, in the case of advertising, rhetorical analysis can be useful in interpreting message meaning by exploring symbolic conventions (Bush and Boller, 1991). From an Althusserian perspective, rhetorical constructions propagate illusions of freedom, while maintaining the status quo.…”

“…While content analysis is often used to study message texts, it is typically from a quantifiable rather than hermeneutical perspective (Bush and Boller, 1991). Accordingly, because the Product (RED) campaign is intended as a persuasive communication, a rhetorical analytic methodology is appropriate.…”