Dopey Ads?
National anti-drug ad campaign might pique
teens’ interest in illicit drugs, researcher says
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However, Carson B Wagner, an assistant professor in the Department of Advertising at The University of Texas at Austin, contends that inadequate research measures are being used to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-drug ads and that more valid tests demonstrate that many anti-drug ads are having the wrong effects on teens, possibly increasing the likelihood for experimentation with drugs.
“One of the most important lessons I learned in graduate school was that the best kind of research reveals ‘differences that make a difference,’” says Wagner. “In other words, the more counterintuitive the research finding, the more value it has in the development of knowledge.”
This approach led Wagner to uncover the curiosity-arousing effects of anti-drug advertising.
“Years ago, I noticed that every time a news story was broadcast about illicit drug use among teens, a small epidemic would ensue,” says Wagner. “Logic instructs us that news programs and anti-drug ads showing drugs in a negative light should not lead people toward drugs.”
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“The majority of the current anti-drug advertising research is flawed because it relies on research participants self-reporting their attitudes in response to watching anti-drug ads,” explains Wagner. “However, an immense body of research reveals that, due to their conspicuous nature, self-reported attitude measures are highly susceptible to social desirability, especially with regard to sensitive issues such as drugs.”
In other words, drugs and drug-use can be an uncomfortable topic, and in order to conform to social norms, research participants may intentionally—or unintentionally—misrepresent themselves when reporting their attitudes, resulting in exaggerated estimates of anti-drug ads’ effectiveness.
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