Bachelor of Arts, Wittenberg University, 2023, Communication

This study aimed at determining if self-identification with a particular industry or group (in this case, the agriculture industry) affected the way messages about that industry or group were perceived, processed, and interacted upon. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of persuasion predicts how we process and understand content which aims to be persuasive, based on a number of individual differences and situational factors. The model explains when we first see content, we process it in one of two ways: through a central or peripheral route. The peripheral route of processing required little extra consideration and time are given to the message or content versus the central route of processing requiring additional time and reflection with the message or content. In this research, focus was placed on the agriculture industry and attention was particularly paid to identification, credibility, and content and if in any instances these affected participants' route of processing. Participants were shown messages published by either large corporate agriculture organizations like Future Farmers of America (FFA), Soil and Water Conversation Society, or National Soybean Association or those published by singular individuals such as farmers, FFA members, solar farms, and other agriculturalists or environmentalists both of which are easily for and against the agriculture industry. The first hypothesis of the study was aimed at determining if a relationship exists between individuals' self-identification with specific industries and groups and persuasive outcomes based on the sender of messages being an individual or an organization. The data collected revealed a significant relationship between participants' likelihood to like, quote, and retweet messages that were released from organizations in comparison to messages released by individuals. The second hypothesis of the study was to determine if a relationship is present between higher self-identification with the agricul (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kelly Dillon (Advisor); Sheryl Cunningham (Committee Member); Erin Hill (Committee Member) Subjects: Agriculture; Communication; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Rhetoric

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Ohio University, 2021, Business Administration

This study looks into the human element of information security (IS) by testing changes in attitude and behavioral intention following personalized IS awareness and training. Some modern IS research has left out attitude despite its theoretical foundation and ability to predict behavior, which is why the present study emphasizes its inclusion alongside behavioral intention. Traditional IS awareness and training programs fail to motivate employees to behave more securely due to a lack of empathy in the design of the IS program. This lack of motivation has caused employees to be the most commonly reported IS vulnerability for organizations. Many programs lack a degree of personal relevance that is needed to motivate employees to change their attitude and behavior towards IS. We propose a personalized awareness and training initiative that relies on personal relevance to address this issue. We argue that personalized awareness and training initiatives that rely on personal relevance are capable of significantly and positively changing IS attitude and behavioral intention amongst participants. The results of this study indicate that the type of awareness and training initiative participants received (general versus personalized) significantly and positively changed participant attitude, with no significant difference found in behavioral intention.

Committee: Gabriel Giordano Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Business Administration

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Communication

Past research has found that generally having a discussion with other people about a health message after exposure can help increase the effectiveness of the message. While certain factors, such as conversational valence and the relationship between conversational partners, can impact the effectiveness of such a conversation, there is little research into the causal mechanisms that drive the impact of a discussion on attitudinal outcomes. To investigate the potential mechanisms of how a discussion of a health message can lead to more positive outcomes than there being no discussion, this dissertation turns to the elaboration likelihood model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) and self-validation theory (Petty et al., 2002). These theories suggest that discussion of a health message leads to more elaboration about the message. This higher level of elaboration leads to more thought confidence which results in more positive attitudes towards the health topic. Additionally, it is theorized that interpersonal discussion of a health message leads to more perceived validation of thoughts which has also been shown to positively influence though confidence. Dissertation hypotheses were tested within the context of a narrative about BRCA mutation testing for women in their 20s. To test whether elaboration was higher in interpersonal discussions than in other situations, this dissertation asked participants to either to discuss a health message, to think carefully and write about the message, or were not directly asked to elaborate on the health message. Additionally, those who were asked to discuss the health message were given exclusively positive feedback by a confederate (whom participants thought was another participant in the study). Results indicate that those who had a discussion did not engage in more elaboration than those who were asked to write about the message or were not given any elaboration instructions, nor was condition related to differences in perceived validation. (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Shelly Hovick PhD (Advisor); Emily Moyer-Guse PhD (Advisor); Jesse Fox PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2019, Communication

Online contexts, especially social networking sites, are becoming a widely available space to disseminate health information and target specific populations for health campaigns. Limited evidence for health message engagement in these contexts exists. This study draws on the elaboration likelihood model and construal level theory to predict processing time and recall when individuals are presented health messages from various sources and of differing viewpoints. Participants (n = 159) were shown messages about electronic cigarettes, designed to look like tweets, from socially close and socially distant others. Processing times were highest for pro-attitudinal messages while messages from socially close sources were more likely to be recalled, and increasing social distance increased the difference in processing times for pro- and counter-attitudinal messages. We demonstrate the applicability of behavioral measures in online studies, while finding that attitudes, social distance, and their interaction affect message processing.

Committee: Richard Huskey Dr. (Advisor); David DeAndrea Dr. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Communication

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Media and Communication

Sharing, a term that is associated with “going viral,” is something all strategic communicators strive for in their communication campaigns. The current study explored sharing as message diffusion. The nature of information sharing is perceived as a form of word-of-mouth (WOM)—a voluntary act by the consumers to tell others their experience of a product or consumption of certain information. Sharing is an important social and economic phenomenon to study, because it maximizes the visibility of a company, a brand, a nonprofit, a policy, a product, and a service. This study aimed to create a comprehensive model explaining the process of individuals' decisions in the sharing of messages to their imagined audience on social media through considering the primary and secondary sources of the messages, their perceived credibility, emotion valence, and elaboration of the messages, while controlling audience variables such as issue involvement, personalities, past sharing experience, and demographics. The researcher conducted a two-wave experiment with a two by two factorial design. The study adopted Facebook as the subject of study. According to the results, when the original source is a for-profit organization, the post from the two-layered source is more likely to be shared than original source only. However, when the original source is a non-profit organization, the post from the direct source was more likely to be shared than a two-layered source. In addition, sharer credibility moderates the effects of the credibility of original sources on sharing Facebook posts. Message elaboration mediates the effects of both positive and negative emotion arousal on sharing non-controversial issues, but not in controversial issues. Furthermore, positive emotions were directly and indirectly associated with sharing non-controversial issues through a mediator of message elaboration that is conditioned by sharer credibility. This study advances and contributes ELM, the Two- (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Louisa Ha Ph.D. (Advisor); Frederick Busselle Ph.D. (Committee Member); Yanqin Lu Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sean Leatherbury Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Communication; Mass Media

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2013, Journalism (Communication)

This thesis examines persuasive differences between the same fictional narrative, presented as a comic book or as text-only short story. In an experiment, the two conditions delivered a series of persuasive messages embedded within the fictional narrative. Participants were tested on strength of belief for the persuasive messages and several indicators of narrative transportation including character identification, personal relevance, perceived vividness, and counter-arguing. Results indicated character identification was most pronounced in the text-only condition. Differences within gender and age groups were identified in character identification, experience taking, and counter-arguing. The relevance of digital design principles in the creation of persuasive communication for electronic devices is also discussed.

Committee: Jatin Srivastava (Committee Chair); Craig Davis (Committee Member); Keith Markman (Committee Member) Subjects: Experimental Psychology; Mass Communications; Multimedia Communications; Social Psychology

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2004, Engineering : Computer Engineering

The issue of performance of compile-driven mixed-signal simulation is a challenging problem with optimization techniques researched to speed-up the various phases of simulation. The matrix load phase of the analog simulation kernel has been found to consume the largest percentage of the total simulation time. It is also known that in the worst case, the matrix load time is a cubic function of the number of equations in the system. Therefore, efforts have been directed towards reducing the matrix load time in a mixed-signal simulation paradigm. The elaborated set of Characteristic Expressions (CEs) forms the input to the matrix load phase of the analog kernel. The CEs are formed either as a result of elaborating simultaneous statements or because of the association of the quantities and terminals. A reduction in the elaborated set of CEs would result in the reduction of both the matrix load and matrix solve times. The current data structures do not support the reduction of the elaborated set of CEs. This thesis presents the design of a new Information Structure (IS) to support the modification and reduction of CEs and sets of CEs respectively. We exploit this design to improve the performance of compile-driven mixed-signal simulation. A proof of concept has been provided to demonstrate the viability of the designed Information Structure.

Committee: Dr. Hal Carter (Advisor) Subjects:

MEd, University of Cincinnati, 2003, Education : Educational Foundations

The current study examined college students' use of memory strategies, including type and diversity both within and across disciplines as related to Siegler's work with young children and their use of multiple and variable strategies. A survey was developed for this study and completed by 147 college students in an undergraduate level human development course. There are four research questions associated with this study: 1) do contemporary theoretical models, such as Siegler's Adaptive Strategy Choice Model, adequately characterize college students' strategy use?; 2) are there differences in the frequencies students report using particular strategies within a single discipline and across different disciplines?; 3) what is the relationship between diversity of memory strategy use and final grades for each discipline?; 4) to what extent are individual differences related to students' use of memory strategies? The study found that students use, on average, 3.52 strategies. Eighty-nine respondents, who reported using strategies for three disciplines, indicated they use rehearsal more in natural science and social science than in mathematics, organization more in natural science than social science and mathematics, elaboration more in natural science and social science than mathematics, and imagery and acronym more in natural science than social science which is also more than mathematics. Results, using from 109 to 133 participants depending on the data provided for each discipline, failed to show a relationship between number of memory strategies used and final grades. Finally, results also failed to show that there were individual differences related to students' use of memory strategies.

Committee: Dr. Rhonda Brown (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Educational Psychology

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2007, Psychology

A large body of neurological studies indicates that both hemispheres of the brain are active during different memory processes. Mixed-handers, who have very close interhemispheric interaction, have been demonstrated to have superior episodic recall compared to strong-handers, whose interhemispheric communication is not as closely integrated. Previous studies involving episodic memory and handedness have focused on intentional memory, where information is willfully encoded with the knowledge that it will be needed later. Interestingly, incidental memories, which form without conscious effort, have been found to be nearly as durable as intentional memories. This study attempted to extend previous findings indicating a mixed-handed advantage for intentional episodic memory to incidental episodic memory using a levels of processing (LOP) paradigm. Attention to incoming information at different LOP during encoding has been shown to greatly affect subsequent episodic memory performance. Deeply processed information, which has been subjected to many elaborative processes, generates more retrieval paths and is much more easily recalled than shallowly processed information, which receives little elaboration. 182 participants were induced to form episodic memories under several encoding conditions representing a continuum of LOP. Three conditions relied on incidental encoding while a fourth relied on intentional encoding. Episodic recall for word lists was tested. Results replicated earlier findings in demonstrating LOP effects as well as confirming predictions that mixed-handers superior interhemispheric interaction would lead to better performance compared to strong-handers. Handedness differences were found to extend to incidental memory, with mixed-handers engaged in deep processing yielding the best recall performance. Strong-handers were also found to make significantly more recall errors than mixed-handers, with error rate closely related to strength of handedness. The (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Stephen Christman (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology, Cognitive

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2012, Communication

Keller and Lehmann (2006), preeminent scholars in the area of marketing and branding, pointed out that little academic research has been conducted regarding the impact of visual elements, such as a company's logo, slogan, or tagline, on consumer attitudes toward marketing efforts. Therefore, in an effort to enrich this area of literature, this paper proposes an incorporation of the use of a particular visual element in a print advertisement into the larger framework of the elaboration likelihood model. Specifically, a 2 (issue involvement level: high or low) x 2 (argument quality: strong or weak) x 2 (visual element presence: present or absent) experiment will ideally explore under which conditions audience members tend to engage this aspect of an advertisement as a central argument or peripheral cue. In addition to providing a centralizing literature review of marketing and communication literature regarding branding, brand equity, brand positioning, and the elaboration likelihood model, this paper will offer practical advice to marketers of given brands by describing how different consumers potentially react to the use of a visual element in advertising.

Committee: John Dimmick PhD (Advisor); Osei Appiah PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Marketing

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2011, Communication

The evolution and diffusion of communication technology has consistently changed interactions between members of the public sphere in forming public opinion. Some democratic scholars have worried recent developments in personalization technologies will degrade public opinion formation. They worry that personalized news allows citizens to only pay attention to news coming from their preferred political perspective and may isolate them from challenging perspectives. Empirical research has shown people with access to more highly selective information technology demonstrate increases in both selectivity and incidental exposure to diverse perspectives. This dissertation focuses on these behavioral and attitudinal outcomes of using personalized news technologies. Dual-processing theories of information provide the foundation for analyzing opinion formation within the bounded rationality model of public opinion. Personalized news technologies are hypothesized to increase the amount of news exposure and elaboration through increased personal relevance. Two studies test these broad hypotheses. First, results from a national random sample of adults show users of personalized web portals are more likely to engage in increased news viewing both online and offline. No differences in preference for perspective sharing or challenging sources of news is found between personalized portal users and non-users. Next, results from an online experiment of Ohio adult Internet users show an increase in time spent reading news articles in personalized news portals compared with a generic portal. An interaction between using customized news portals with source recommendations based off of explicit user preferences and increased time spent reading per news article is found on news elaboration. No differences in news elaboration are found in other personalized news designs including implicitly recommended news sources based on user profile information and only showing users recommended stor (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Gerald M. Kosicki PhD (Advisor); David R. Ewoldsen PhD (Committee Member); R. Kelly Garrett PhD (Committee Member); Andrew F. Hayes PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Behaviorial Sciences; Communication; Experiments; Information Systems; Information Technology; Journalism; Mass Communications; Political Science

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Communication

Although some reports are rather dim regarding citizens' levels of political knowledge, research has shown that certain things can cause this level to rise, at least at the individual level. With this focus in mind, the goal of this study is to further examine the impact of political discussion on political knowledge. First, political knowledge is explicated as an overarching concept with two dimensions. These two dimensions are factual and structural knowledge. The concept of political discussion is also explicated as an overarching concept but with three dimensions, including discussion frequency, discussion content (measured as the dissimilarity of political views in discussion), and discussion cognition (using a discussion elaboration as well as a perspective taking measure). Finally, hypotheses including several mediating relationships are set forth bridging the various dimensions of political discussion and political knowledge together. In order to examine the relationships between the various dimensions of these two concepts, three studies were completed. Study 1 utilized data from the 2000 ANES, examining the impact of discussion frequency and dissimilarity on factual knowledge, as well as the impact of discussion dissimilarity on structural knowledge. Study 2 examined relationships between discussion dissimilarity, perspective taking, and structural knowledge. Data for this study was derived from The Ohio Political Survey (TOPS) conducted in the fall of 2006 and early winter 2007. Data for study 3 was collected in the fall of 2005 from 18 public high schools in an urban Midwestern school district. Although data are available from teachers, parents, and students, only student data were used for this study, where the full model including relationships between all dimensions of political discussion and knowledge were examined. Results indicate that factual knowledge is predicted by both discussion frequency and dissimilarity. Moreover, the relationship between (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: William Eveland (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Psychology

There is convergent evidence that the extent of elaboration on an attitude object enhances its overall strength in terms of outcomes such as attitude-behavior correspondence (Petty, Haugtvedt, & Smith, 1995). However, little is know about how this occurs. The current research suggests that individuals develop perceptions of the extent of elaboration, and these can impact the certainty with which they hold their attitudes, resulting in strength outcomes. Although prior research on meta-cognition has shown that perceptions of ease of thinking (Haddock et al., 1999) and resistance (Tormala & Petty, 2002) can affect attitude certainty, perceptions of the extent of thinking have not yet been shown to affect certainty. In a Pilot Study and Studies 1 and 2, perceived processing reflected actual processing resulting from message exposure time, need for cognition, and distraction. Perceived elaboration consistently mediated the impact of actual thoughts on certainty. In Study 2, manipulated distraction led to fewer thoughts, decreased perceived processing, decreased certainty and less attitude consistent behaviors. In Study 3, perceived elaboration was manipulated by rigging an Attention Quiz for success or failure. The quiz followed the persuasive message, so perceived elaboration was independent of actual thought. Quiz success resulted in greater perceived elaboration, more attitude certainty, and more attitude consistent behaviors. This is the first investigation to provide comprehensive support for a process from antecedents of elaboration to strength consequences, and the first to show that perceived processing can impact certainty whether it derives from actual thought or a source extraneous to thought.

Committee: Richard Petty (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology, Social

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Physical Activity and Educational Services

The present research was designed to broaden the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) by incorporating a newly added personality variable, empathic tendency, into the general framework, and by showing how empathic tendency can play a moderating role in the PSAs. The second purpose, based on the results, was to recommend different and effective PSAs for different target markets. In order test the ELM, a three way 2 (empathy: high versus low) x 2 (argument quality: strong versus weak) x 2 (peripheral cue: celebrity versus non-celebrity status) factorial design was selected for this study. The results indicated that both high empathy (HE) subjects and low empathy (LE) subjects had the motivation to process the persuasive messages presented, suggesting both groups followed the central route. More importantly, involvement was found to have a significant influence on the argument processing of LE subjects. In addition, the results revealed that celebrity status was not served as a peripheral cue for this study. HE subjects had significantly stronger intentions to volunteer for the Special Olympics than LE subjects, and that females are more empathic than males. This study contributed to the body of knowledge on advertisement in the context of sport marketing by providing insights into how to develop effective PSAs for non-profit charitable sport organizations, a segment which has largely been ignored in our field.

Committee: Donna Pastore (Advisor) Subjects: Business Administration, Marketing

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics

Functional foods have received increasing attention from consumers and food producers and manufacturers over the past years, yet few studies have examined economic and marketing issues that are related to foods with additional health benefits beyond basic nutrients. This dissertation consists of three papers that employ different techniques to understand consumer behavior in this domain. The first essay applies a choice experiment to examine consumer valuation of various attributes of functional foods, using a statewide mail survey. Results indicate that consumers place positive value on health benefits and ingredient naturalness. Moreover, they are willing to pay higher prices for products having these attributes. The data also reveal that taste preferences tend to vary across consumers. Individual characteristics that tend to affect preferences include age, education, and income level. Past purchase behavior for functional foods, organic foods, and natural foods also has significant influence on preferences. The second essay uses the Elaboration Likelihood Model as a theoretical framework to understand the role of health claims in consumer assessment of products. Previous research and theory related to the role of health claims in persuasive messages has portrayed health claims as having little effect on consumers' attitudes. The present research, however, suggests this conclusion may be premature. A new conceptualization of the role of health claims in persuasion is proposed. Practical significance of the laboratory studies is discussed in light of recent changes in product design as well as changes in FDA rules regarding label claims. The third essay focuses on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s recently amended policy on food labeling. This policy allows different qualified levels of health claims on product labels, based on the strength of scientific evidence supporting the claims. This essay examines whether consumers understand and can differentiate be (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Neal Hooker (Advisor) Subjects: Economics, Agricultural

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2003, Social Work

Juvenile offending has been a nationally recognized persistent social problem. Current interventions are still distant from comprehensive and holistic resolutions in preventing and decreasing delinquent behaviors. One critical limitation of the existing intervention strategies for decreasing juvenile delinquency is the exclusion of religious factors. The main purpose of this dissertation is to reexamine the relationship between religiosity and delinquency in a multivariate context by adopting advanced research methods and extending earlier work with a sample from ADD Health data. Additionally, in recognition of the importance of temporal order between exogenous variables and endogenous variables, exogenous variables are chosen from the wave 1 data and endogenous variables were taken from the wave 2 data for the present study. The use of two wave data greatly reduces the threat of spuriousness. As the theoretical framework of the present study, the social control theory is elaborated upon by incorporating the basic concept of delinquent peer influence from the differential association theory. Utilizing the structural equation model (SEM), the theoretical model examines both the direct effects of adolescent religious belief and its indirect effect through other intervening factors from social control theory and differential association theory. Also, based on previous studies that the effects of religiosity vary across different types of delinquent behavior, the study examines the effect of religiosity separately for minor offenses and serious offenses. The results indicate that adolescent religiosity has a statistically significant direct and independent effect on serious delinquent behaviors. Yet the results are somewhat different for minor offenses. The persistent and significant effect of adolescent religiosity on family, peers, and schools provides support that the effect of religious belief on delinquency can be extensive in deterring delinquent behaviors through (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Denise Bronson (Advisor) Subjects: Social Work

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2004, Journalism (Communication)

This thesis explores differences in cognitive and affective responses due to medium-related characteristics. A between-group experiment was conducted, in which 82 students were exposed to two messages equal in content but different in format, produced for television and radio, respectively. A thought-listing protocol and a questionnaire were used to measure the participants' cognitive elaboration, operationalized as thoughts indicating the activation of stored knowledge beyond the information in the stimulus, emotional reactions to the stimulus, and the perceived likelihood of the event described in the message. It was hypothesized that deeper cognitive elaboration would occur with the radio message. However, some of the findings point to the contrary: the television group reported more thoughts that suggest deeper elaboration, while the radio group listed more thoughts indicating a peripheral processing route. In terms of affective responses and the perceived likelihood of the event described, the study found no significant differences due to medium characteristics.

Committee: Daniel Riffe (Advisor) Subjects:

Bachelor of Arts, Miami University, 2007, College of Arts and Sciences - Communication

This study examines print articles and public relations (PR) surrounding the publications of two Harry Potter novels through the framework of the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion. By dissecting the ELM techniques present in the PR, a successful strategy change emerged illustrating that the first Harry Potter book studied encouraged peripheral processing, while the second book studied encouraged central processing after the books' publics built a foundation of knowledge about the series.

Committee: Marjorie Nadler (Advisor) Subjects:

MA, Kent State University, 2011, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

The persuasive processes underlying three different methods of message framing were examined. Persuasive processes included perceptions of feeling right, perceptions of fluency, and the extent of cognitive elaboration measured by a thought listing task. Additionally, fixation duration using an eye tracker was examined to determine if participants' message viewing behavior differed by match type. Correlations between message viewing, interest, and perceived fluency were also examined. The results indicated that in some cases, when message characteristics matched the characteristics of a participant, participants had a fewer number of positive thoughts about the message than when the messages did not match. There was no difference in message viewing behavior. The findings as a whole do not support persuasive effects of message framing when considering existing theory. Additionally, the results suggesting differences underlying cognitive processing by match type are mixed. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed

Committee: John Updegraff PhD (Advisor); Kristin Mickelson PhD (Committee Member); Mary Ann Stephens PhD (Committee Member); Karin Coifman PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

PHD, Kent State University, 2010, College of Communication and Information / School of Communication Studies

Despite college students' widespread use of portable MP3 players, personal stereo research has been lacking and, thus, our understanding of MP3-player use has been limited. Furthermore, some critics have raised concern that listening to music on MP3 players is displacing users' social interaction. However, some reports have suggested that MP3-player use can facilitate some types of social interaction. I examined college students' MP3-player use and social interaction to address the aforementioned criticisms and to bolster our understanding of the process and outcomes of MP3-player-music listening. Uses and gratifications theory guided my study because it explains how people's background characteristics, reasons for using media, media exposure, and activity with media content work together to influence subsequent behavior. Specifically, I examined some relationships among college students' loneliness, motives to listen to music on an MP3 player, time spent listening to MP3-player music, activity (i.e., attention and elaboration) with MP3-player music, and four types of social interaction (i.e., time spent socializing, participation in social activities, post-listening discussion of music, and music file-sharing). Based on uses and gratifications theory, I developed research questions and hypotheses regarding college students' MP3-player use and social interaction. A principal component factor analysis revealed seven reasons college students listened to MP3-player music: entertainment/relaxation; boredom alleviation; companionship; social utility; learning; social avoidance; and fashion/status. Partial correlations, controlling for students' age, gender, grade level, household income, and number of roommates, were used to examine some relationships among background characteristics, MP3-player-use motives, time spent listening, activity with MP3-player music, and some types of social interaction. Students' time spent listening to MP3-player music, attention to music, a (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Paul Haridakis PhD (Advisor); Danielle Coombs PhD (Committee Member); Janet R. Meyer PhD (Committee Member); Stanley T. Wearden PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Mass Media; Music