US MILITARY COMMERCIALS

104 Pages·2012·0.81 MB·English

by  Merrill, Abigail R

U.S. MILITARY COMMERCIALS:
MONEY WELL SPENT?

THESIS

Presented to the Graduate Council of
Texas State University-San Marcos
in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements

for the Degree
Master of Arts

by
Abigail R. Merrill, B.A.

San Marcos, Texas
August 2012
U.S. MILITARY COMMERCIALS:
MONEY WELL SPENT?

Committee Members Approved:

Dr. Hyun Yun, Chair

______________________________
Dr. Don Inbody Member

_______________________________
Dr. Theodore Hindson Member

Approved:

_______________________________
J. Michael Willoughby
Dean of the Graduate College
COPYRIGHT
by
Abigail R. Merrill
2012
FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT

Fair Use
This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-
533, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief
quotations for this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of this
material for financial gain without the author’s express permission is not allowed.

Duplicate Permission

As the copyright holder of this work, I, Abigail R. Merrill, refuse permission to copy
in excess of the “Fair Use” exemption without my written permission.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Dr. Dennis Dunn for believing in me and giving me a chance in his
International Studies Department. I would like to thank Dr. Hyun Yun for her
inspirational teaching methods, unending patience, and skillful guidance—I cannot
imagine having written this paper without her support. I emphatically thank my editor,
Ms. Michelle Elliott, whose boundless knowledge about the English language and
scholastic literature proved invaluable. I also thank my parents Jimbob and Lisa Spencer
for their assistance, support, and encouragement throughout my career as a master’s
student at Texas State University-San Marcos. Lastly, I want to thank the Service
members and their families, who have sacrificed so much for their country.
This manuscript was submitted on April 23rd, 2012.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix
LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x
ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................................x
I. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................1
Background .............................................................................................2
Summary of Design ................................................................................5
Purpose of Research and Research Questions ........................................5
II. LITERATURE REVIEW ...............................................................................10
Definition of Military Ads ....................................................................10
Purpose of Military Ads ........................................................................10
Example of a Current Military Commercial
-- Army Strong: The Way They See You ..............................12
Past Research of the Effects of Military Advertising............................14
The Unique Market of Military Recruiting ...........................................18
Example of a Current U.S. Military Commercial
-- U.S. Marine Corp: For Us All ............................................20
Example of a Current U.S. Military Commercial
-- Air Force: Above All .........................................................21
Example of a Current U.S. Military Commercial
-- Army: The Creeds ..............................................................23
Generic Advertising, Branch/Brand Specific Adverting or a Perfect
Combination of the Two?......................................................................24
vi
Are Military Ads Conveying Unintended Messages? ...........................26
Should Government’s Use of Advertising Be Constrained? ................27
Example of a Current U.S. Military Commercial -- Navy: A
Global Force for Good ............................................................28
Example of a Current U.S. Military Commercial – U. S.
Marine Corp: LEAP ...............................................................31
Example of a Current U.S. Military Commercial – Navy:
Accelerate Your Life ..............................................................32
III. Applying Media Framing and Political Campaign Ad Theories to Military
Ads .......................................................................................................................33
Similarities of Political Advertising and Military Advertising .............33
Past Research of Effects of Televised Political Advertising .................33
Effects of Increased Exposure to Political Advertising ........................35
Past Research on Effects of Advertising on Youth Political Efficacy
and Cynicism Levels .............................................................................38
U.S. Military Commercials: A Hybrid of Image and Issue Ads ..........40
Example of a Current U.S. Military Commercial – Army:
Army of One ...........................................................................42
Example of a Current U.S. Military Commercial – Army:
Army Strong ...........................................................................45
IV. HYPOTHESES .............................................................................................47
V. METHODOLOGY .........................................................................................48
Research Design ....................................................................................48
Experiment Stimuli ...............................................................................48
Measures ...............................................................................................50
Sample ...................................................................................................53
VI. RESULTS ....................................................................................................58
VII. DISCUSSION ..............................................................................................64
vii
Proposal for Future Research ................................................................67
APPENDICES .....................................................................................................69
Appendix A: Questionnaire Version for Group 1 ................................69
Appendix B: Questionnaire Version for Group 2 and Group 3 ...........74
Appendix C: Video Style Code Sheet: Adapted Version for Military
Enlistment Commercials and Reponses ................................................82
REFERENCES ....................................................................................................86

viii
LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

Table 1: Video style Army of One commercial .................................................................43
Table 2: Video style: Army Strong commercial ................................................................46
Table 3: Research design ..................................................................................................48
Table 4: Stimuli list for Group 2 .......................................................................................49
Table 5: Stimuli list for Group 3 .......................................................................................50
Table 6: Sample information ............................................................................................53
Table 7: Regression analysis of demographic factors’ influence on an individual’s war
attitudes ............................................................................................................................. 58
Table 8: ANOVA: War Attitude ....................................................................................... 60
Table 9: Percentage distribution of propensity levels ......................................................61
ix
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page
Figure 1: Competitive Frame 1 .........................................................................................11
Figure 2: Competitive Frame 2 .........................................................................................12
Figure 3: Sales equation ....................................................................................................18
Figure 4: Army example ...................................................................................................19
Figure 5: Attitude accessibility spectrum .........................................................................37
Figure 6: Sample political group distribution ...................................................................55
Figure 7: Sample efficacy distribution ..............................................................................56
Figure 8: Sample cynicism distribution ............................................................................57

x