Individual Differences in Reactions to Aggression in Advertising and Knowledge Structures’ Perspective: An Abstract

During the recent years, there has been more programming in media which contain violence (Wilson et al. 2002; Anderson et al. 2007; Gentry and Harrison 2010). Previous research established that exposure to violence in media leads to aggressive responses (Huesmann et al. 2003; Anderson et al. 2010). Accordingly, many advertisers use violence portrayals in ads as well (Gulas et al. 2010). Previous research studied different affective, cognitive, and attitudinal responses to such portrayals (Brocato et al. 2010). More than 50% of the ads portraying violence also feature humor (Scharrer et al. 2006). Also, previous research showed that in almost 70% of the ads featuring violence, there were some elements of humor in the Super Bowl 2009 halftime show program (Gulas et al. 2010). There are also gender differences in responses to violence in the ads that feature both violence and humor. Previous research showed that men compared to women have a higher positive attitude toward such commercials (Swani et al. 2013). In a related study, researchers showed that this difference does not depend on the sex of the individuals, but it depends on their gender identity (Yoon and Kim 2014). Current research aims to investigate the mechanisms that lead to individual differences in responses to violent portrayals in ads. General Aggression Model (GAM) established that responses to exposures to aggression are resulted from “person” and “situation” inputs (Anderson and Bushman 2002). Building on the GAM, the current paper posits that differences in knowledge structures in different genders explain the existing gender difference in attitudes toward violence portrayals in ads. Knowledge structures are the ways that knowledge is stored and retrieved in individuals’ minds. Three main types of knowledge structures are perceptual schemata, personal schemata, and behavioral scripts. Knowledge structures can be formed and strengthened by experience; they can impact the perception and interpretation of a situation; influence behavioral, cognitive, affective, and arousal responses of an individual; and become automatic by repetition and use (Anderson and Bushman 2002). The current research offers a conceptual model to explain the gender differences in knowledge structures regarding violence and the impact of these differences in response to aggression in media.