Studies of the effect of viewers' involvement

Question

Studies of the effect of viewers' involvement in television programs on their responses to commercials have produced varied conclusions. Some researchers argue that a high level of program involvement inhibits viewer processing of commercial messages, a conclusion based primarily on the finding that viewers demonstrate better recall for commercial messages when program involvement is low. For example, Bryant found recall highest for a beverage commercial when it interrupted a minimally involving moving wave pattern, with recall decreasing somewhat when the commercial interrupted a moderately involving portion of an action-adventure show and falling substantially at the program's climax. Krugman, however, argues that the persuasive impact of commercials increases as interest in the program increases. Krugman found viewer attitudes toward a commercial sponsor to be less positive when commercials appeared during programs with "natural breaks” (talk-show and variety segments, assumed to be low-involvement) than when they appeared in an “interrupted context” (movies and documentaries, assumed to be high-involvement).  Finally, Lord concluded that certain program content induces viewers to commit a large proportion of their attention to its processing, minimizing the efficiency with which they can process information conveyed by a commercial.  This result appears to account for the recall effects observed in earlier studies such as Bryant's. Lord postulated that beginning a commercial with an attention- engaging device would moderate the expected impact of high program involvement.   1  
 1. Which of the following best describes the function of the sentence highlighted in the context of the passage as a whole?

A) It offers a generalization about certain types of studies discussed in the passage.
B) It presents evidence that supports an assertion made in the preceding sentence.
C) It summarizes the prevailing interpretation of experimental results described earlier in the passage.
D) It introduces a theory that reconciles the views of two researchers mentioned earlier in the passage.
E) It provides a possible explanation for certain observations described earlier in the passage.

2 
 2. It can be inferred from the passage that Krugman's research differs from Bryant's research in that Krugman

A) assumes that the type of program during which a commercial appears affects viewers' involvement in the commercial
B) concludes that viewers demonstrate better recall for commercial messages when program involvement is high
C) reaches conclusions that are supported by the findings of most studies of the effect of viewers' program involvement on their responses to commercials
D) focuses on viewers' attitudes toward commercial sponsors rather than on viewer recall of commercial messages
E) studies the persuasive impact of commercials rather than viewers' attitudes toward commercial sponsors

3 
 3. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A) evaluate the methodologies used in certain empirical studies of the effectiveness of television commercials
B) review the results of research on how viewers' level of involvement in a television program can affect the impact of commercials aired during that program
C) explain why empirical research fails to support a particular theory about the effect of viewers' involvement in television programs on the impact of commercials
D) question certain researchers' conclusion that a viewer's level of involvement in a television commercial is determined by the content of the program the commercial interrupts
E) propose ways to counteract the negative effects that a viewer's involvement in a television program may have on the impact of a commercial

ashutosh_73 · Answer

KarishmaB   MartyMurray

I need help in  Q2  (A) & (D).
I understand the ''D'' has direct support in the passage, but A too seemed okay:

Passage says:  Krugman, however,  argues  that the persuasive impact of commercials increases as interest in the program increases. Krugman  found  viewer attitudes toward a commercial sponsor to be less positive when commercials appeared during programs with "natural breaks” (talk-show and variety segments, assumed to be low-involvement) than when they appeared in an “interrupted context” (movies and documentaries, assumed to be high-involvement).

A)   assumes   that the type of program during which a commercial appears affects viewers' involvement in the commercial

Is A wrong because of the wrong verb? Later part of (A) seems okay, because passage differentiates between programs with ''natural breaks'' and programs with ''interrupted breaks''.

sayan640 · Answer

KarishmaB   MartyMurray   chetan2u  I also have similar doubt. Can you please help on Question no 2 ? I was confused among options A, B and D.

SOMNATH1812 · Answer

The passage presents the idea that is mentioned in the sentence's later part, so I believe that option "A" is also correct.

Vedant_Wankhede · Answer

1.

A  is wrong  beacuse it  only talks about the research of Krugman and what was the research about
D  is correct  because here you are comparing the two - Krugman's research which focuses on the attitude of viewers towrds comercials vs Bryant's research which focuses on viewers recall of the commercials.

parag08 · Answer

I got 2 incorrect.

Here is how I feel this is passage is structured

Studies of the effect of viewers' involvement in television programs on their responses to commercials have produced varied conclusions.
Conclusion 1: Some researchers argue that a high level of program involvement inhibits viewer processing of commercial messages
Experiment 1: Advertisement recall was highest for the non-engaging shows and least for the most engaging shows
Conclusion 2: the persuasive impact of commercials increases as interest in the program increases.
Experiment 2: less positive when commercials appeared during programs with "natural breaks” than when they appeared in an “interrupted context”
Lords conclusion 3: certain program content induces viewers to commit a large proportion of their attention to its processing, minimizing the efficiency with which they can process information conveyed by a commercial.

1. Which of the following best describes the function of the sentence highlighted in the context of the passage as a whole?

(Finally, Lord concluded that certain program content induces viewers to commit a large proportion of their attention to its processing, minimizing the efficiency with which they can process information conveyed by a commercial.)

A) It offers a generalization about certain types of studies discussed in the passage. (It is not a generalization but a conclusion or interpretation in itself)
B) It presents evidence that supports an assertion made in the preceding sentence. (Doesn't provide any evidence)
C) It summarizes the prevailing interpretation of experimental results described earlier in the passage. (We don't know if the interpretation is prevailing also summarizes is incorrect)
D) It introduces a theory that reconciles the views of two researchers mentioned earlier in the passage. (Doesn't seem to be a theory + author doesn't say anything about it reconciles the other theories)
E) It provides a possible explanation for certain observations described earlier in the passage. (Correct: Best option so far)

glagad · Answer

Hi - Can someone explain Q2 B vs D?

In my understanding Passage directly supports Q2-B. That is, in fact one of the main differences between conclusion drawn from various studies that the author tries to impress upon.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hi glagad

Option (B)  is opposite actually, Krugman didn’t measure recall; Bryant found better recall with low involvement. You have to identify the differences correctly to answer this question.

Bryant:  recall = better with low involvement.

Krugman:  persuasive impact/attitudes toward sponsor = better with high involvement. So Krugman’s measure is attitudes  toward sponsor, not recall.

B  is incorrect.

Studies of the effect of viewers' involvement

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Studies of the effect of viewers' involvement

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