1. Cultivation effects of television advertising: An urban-rural comparison Cai, X., Fang, W., and Chan, K. Hong Kong Baptist University AEJMC Conference Aug.9-12

2. Introduction Commercial persuasion appears to influence not only our shopping and product use behavior, but also the largest domain of our social roles. Television advertising is an essential socializing agent in China.

3. Introduction China has a population of 350 million children under age 15. 40% urban VS. 60% rural In 2005, the per capita annual net household income 10,0493 yuan urban VS. 3,255 yuan rural The foci of present study

4. Literature Review Cultivation Theory Heavy television viewers tend to adopt the television’s reality as their own real- world reality. By virtue of inexperience, young viewers may depend more on television for information than other viewers do.

5. Literature Review Cultivation Theory There are two types of cultivation--- mainstreaming and resonance. Cultivation effects can be measured at two different levels----first and second- order effects of cultivation.

6. Literature Review Materialism This study adopts the Richins’ definition, view materialism as the priority a consumer places on the acquisition and possession of material objects. Two directions in empirical research on materialism

7. Hypotheses H1: Television advertising viewing will have a positive correlation with the belief about the prevalence of affluence in society among adolescents in both urban and rural China. H2: Television advertising viewing will have a positive correlation with the level of materialism among adolescents in both urban and rural China.

8. Hypotheses H3: The belief about the prevalence of affluence in society will have a positive correlation with the level of materialism among adolescents in both urban and rural China.

9. Method A survey of 792 adolescents aged 11 to 17 was conducted from October to December 2006. The structured questionnaire was self- administered.

10. Method The urban sub-sample: 391 respondents in Guangzhou city Studying grade 7 and 8 The mean age was 13.3 The rural sub-sample: 401 respondents in Henan Province Studying grade 7 to 9 The mean age was 14.6

11. Results There were significant differences in all three key variables: television advertising viewing, the belief about the prevalence of affluence in society, and materialism among urban and rural respondents.

12. MeanS.D. t-value Materialistic value orientation 5.2*** Urban2.80.6 Rural3.00.6 Motivation of viewing television advertising 5.4*** Urban2.10.8 Rural2.40.6 Notes: ***p ＜ 0.001

13. The prevalence of affluence Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z Please estimate how many families in 100 families that own private cars.3.8*** …air conditioners.5.9*** …motorcycles.5.8*** …cameras.3.6*** …personal computers.7.1*** …cell phones.0.3 Notes: ***p ＜ 0.001

14. Results H1 was partially supported for urban respondents and not supported for rural respondents. Urban: (Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistics varied from 3.6 for cameras to 7.1 for personal computers, all significant at 0.001 level) Rural: (Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z=5.8, p<0.001)

15. Results H2 was supported for both urban and rural respondents. Urban: (r=0.28, p<0.01) Rural sub-samples: (r=0.29, p<0.01) H3 was rejected.

16. Discussion Television advertising viewing was higher among rural adolescents than urban adolescents. Urban adolescents had higher estimates of affluence in society than their rural counterparts. Rural adolescents endorsed higher level of materialism than their urban counterparts.

17. Discussion Television advertising's cultivation effects on the belief about the prevalence of affluence in society was not found among rural adolescents. There was no correlation between first and second-order effects.

18. Possible limitations A non-probability sample Only focus on television advertising Not include contextual and personal factors