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Rock Stars in Anti‐Drug‐Abuse Commercials: An Experimental Study of Adolescents' Reactions 1
Author(s) -
Newcomb Michael D,
Antoine Mercurio Claire,
Wollard Candace A.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2000.tb02515.x
Subject(s) - stars , attractiveness , psychology , trustworthiness , social psychology , substance abuse , rock music , clinical psychology , psychiatry , astrophysics , physics , art , popular music , visual arts , psychoanalysis
Two studies examined adolescents' perceptions and effectiveness of rock stars in antidrug‐abuse public‐service announcements (PSAs). In the pilot study ( N = 24 teenagers), adolescents expected rock musicians, and in particular heavy metal musicians, to be drug users. In our experimental study ( N = 78 high school students aged 15 to 16 years), one group was shown 4 PSAs produced by Rock Against Drugs, using rock stars Jon Bon Jovi, Aimee Mann, Gene Simmons, and Belinda Carlysle as spokespersons. The comparison group was shown 4 equivalent PSAs that were created using unknown actors selected for their similarity to the rock stars in terms of age, ethnicity, and gender, but without any reference to rock music. PSA ratings were taken on 4 scales: attractiveness, expertness, trustworthiness, and overall PSA rating. Pretest and posttest measures of drug attitudes supported our hypotheses that countermessages from rock stars denormalize the connection between rock music and drugs, and that adolescents respond more positively to PSAs with rock stars than to PSAs without rock stars.