Web Researcher

Instructions (24.0K)

Web Researcher Question:

Popular Media-especially advertising- are designed to influence behavior. Look at websites aimed at teenagers. What methods do advertisers and designers use to influence their audiences? Look for subtle techniques, such as product placement, as well as mote blatant bids for attention. What parallels do you see between these techniques and the kinds of peer influences adolescents experience in real life? If you found differences between the behavior of adolescents who spent time on these different sites, would you conclude that they result from the sites’ influence, or might other processes be operating as well?

Peer pressure is often subtle and comes more from our desire to be liked than from external pressure to conform.

Background Information:

• The Parenting IS Prevention training manual focuses on the role of parenting in preventing adolescent substance use. However, the section on Peers and Their Relationship to the Family provides information on peer influences and how they function. Note that peer influences are strongest in the presence of no countervailing influences (i.e. positive parent-adolescent relationships) and tend to be indirect, rather than direct.
• TeenAdvice.com provides a nice summary of information on peer pressure. In particular, you will want to follow the excellent, in-text links to more information.

• ERIC Digest provides a broad range of articles written by experts in the field. Although most articles are available on-line, many cannot be linked to directly. Instead, articles must be accessed on-line by going to the Eric Database and entering the document number in the search engine. You may find the following information useful, particularly because they talk about types of advertising you may not think of at all.
• Educating the Consumer about Advertising: Some Issues (ED332255)
• Advertising in Schools (ED389473)

• There are companies who earn their living through placing products in films, television shows, or photographs. As advertising, these placements can be particularly effective because they are being used by attractive characters, the viewer is exposed to the product, but the viewer does not usually notice that they are the target of advertising. Because of this, many of the normal defenses we use to protect ourselves against advertising are down. Checking out some of these sites may give you a new insight into this aspect of the advertising industry.
• Filmplacements.com
• Feature this!
• The Entertainment Resources and Marketing Association is the professional organization representing this industry. This site discusses the benefits of product placement and will walk you through the process from the perspective a potential advertiser.
• Kidscreen.com is a magazine entirely devoted to 'reaching children through entertainment'. Search their on-line archive of articles for information on how product placement is used to market to children and adolescents. Try keywords 'adolescents', 'tweens', or 'product placement'. Their discussions of both the type of media adolescents are interested in and how they should be marketed to are particularly interesting. And don't forget to check out 'Teen Screen'!

What are your favorite products and those of adolescents today? See if you can find those websites. You might also start looking at screen shots from popular movies and look to see what products are used and by whom. You can also surf these websites to see what products are used, what clothes are worn, etc.

• Mountain Dew
• Abercrombie & Fitch
• VH1
• Blue Adventure
• Mountain Boards
• Adrenaline Magazine

The Travel Channel

1		What are some of the factors that contributed to the rise of adolescent peer groups in the last century? Check all that apply.
			A)	High school education changed from being a luxury to being mandatory.
			B)	Child labor laws kept adolescents out of the workforce and in school.
			C)	More mothers entered the workforce.
			D)	The population of adolescents grew rapidly between 1955 and 1975.
2		Mrs. Fisher just got a new VCR, and has to ask her teenaged granddaughter to come over and help her program it. What is this an example of?
			A)	Postfigurative culture
			B)	Cofigurative culture
			C)	Prefigurative culture
3		How does the structure of peer groups change during the transition to adolescence? Check all that apply.
			A)	Adolescents spend significantly more time with peers than children do.
			B)	Adolescent peer groups are less supervised by adults.
			C)	Adolescent peer groups are more segregated by sex than children's peer groups.
			D)	Adolescents spend less time with opposite sex friends.
			E)	Peer crowds emerge.
4		Which of the following is true of crowds?
			A)	They are small and based on interaction.
			B)	They are large and based on interaction.
			C)	They are small and based on reputation.
			D)	They are large and based on reputation.
5		What is ethnographic research?
			A)	Qualitative research that involves observing individuals in their natural setting.
			B)	Qualitative research that requires participants to take part in an experiment.
			C)	Quantitative research that requires participants to fill out a questionnaire.
			D)	Quantitative research that involves participation in an experiment.
6		What are the two dimensions that researchers use to map adolescent crowds?
			A)	Involvement in adult institutions and involvement in peer culture
			B)	Grades and social skills.
			C)	Substance use and school absences.
			D)	Sociometric status and popularity.
7		Sam is a 13-year old white male. Who is most likely to be a member of his clique?
			A)	Justin, a 17-year old Asian-American male.
			B)	Shana, a 13-year old white female.
			C)	Ben, a 13-year old white male.
8		Research suggests that young adolescent black girls are the most socially isolated of all adolescent groups. What are some reasons for this finding? Check all that apply.
			A)	Black girls mature more quickly during adolescence than white girls, causing them to feel that they do not have anything in common.
			B)	Girls tend to spend more time talking in pairs or small groups than boys, so girls have fewer opportunities for cross-racial interaction.
			C)	White girls and black girls may compete for the attention of members of the opposite sex.
			D)	White girls may be more tied into the school network because they are more likely to attempt to form personal relationships with teachers.
9		Laurie is angry with her friend Jenny and refuses to answer her phone calls or eat lunch with her at school. This example best describes the concept of:
			A)	hostile-attributional bias
			B)	relational aggression
			C)	physical aggression
10		How do peer groups affect psychosocial development? Check all that apply.
			A)	Poor peer relationships in adolescence are associated with low school achievement, delinquent behavior, and psychological problems.
			B)	The peer group provides a context for the development of autonomy and identity.
			C)	The peer group is the strongest influence on adolescents' career decisions.
			D)	The peer group socializes adolescents in appropriate sexual behavior and prepares them for intimate friendships.