Violence, morality, and television commercials

It is popularly believed that television violence and declining morality ar e important causes of crime. Nearly all of the research in this area, howev er, has centered attention on programs, both news and entertainment Commerc ials have generally been neglected. The present study sought to remedy this oversight Findings from a content analysis of 1,699 commercials show that only a very small percentage of commercials contain violence. The findings also indicate that a low number of commercials exhibit behavior or attitude s that run contrary to conventional moral standards. It is theorized that a lthough advertisers sponsor programs that feature violence or morally contr oversial themes, they do not wish to closely associate such content with th e products or services they seek to sell.