It's the Product: Do Risky Products Compel Attention and Elicit Arousal in Media Users?

Abstract

This article reports on two studies designed to measure whether the mere presence of a risky product in a mediated message (separate from executional elements of the message) elicits greater attention and arousal in media users. In the first study, participants viewed and rated 30 pictures of risky (alcohol, tobacco, drugs, condoms) and nonrisky (soda, juice, food) products while heart rate and skin conductance were measured. In the second study, participants viewed and rated 30 risky and nonrisky product words while the same measures were recorded. Results showed that the risky pictures and words elicited more emotional and physiological arousal than nonrisky pictures and words. Risky pictures elicited different orienting responses than nonrisky pictures, but there was no difference in orienting for risky and nonrisky words. Both risky pictures and words were remembered better than nonrisky pictures and words. The results of this study suggest that the mere presence of the representation of a risky product (either pictorial or verbal) elicits more arousal and more memory but not more attention in media users.