Media influence: more evidence

A further piece of evidence in the debate about media influence. It supports my contention that there is indirect influence of an indirect causal kind. In other words media influences by creating conditions where certain views and actions are given privileged status for consumers/users of media which then weigh in on subsequent decisions.

Food intake following the food adverts was significantly higher compared with the toy adverts in all weight groups, with the obese children increasing their consumption by 134%; overweight children by 101% and normal weight children by 84%. It was also found that weight dictated food preference during the experiment. Food of differing fat contents was made available to the children to eat at their own will, ranging from high fat sweet snacks to low fat savoury products. The obese group consistently chose the highest fat product - chocolate - whereas the overweight children chose jelly sweets which have a lower fat content, as well as chocolate.

I think what this further indicates is that there are people who are likely to be more susceptible to certain kinds of messages and that those who are most susceptible are more likely to respond more fully.

In other words, we are mimetic beings born with the drive to learn by imitation which morphs into a tendency to copy what we see or hear. It is in large part a driver of our social cohesiveness for good and for ill. It is an inescapable part of being social and as such is the psycho-biological mechanism for imaging God socially -or not! It is probably the main glue that holds human organisations together and as such is deeply implicated in the phenomenon many Christians refer to as Principalities and Powers...
ScienceDaily: TV Food Advertisements Increase Obese Children's Appetite By 134 Percent


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