title: Public service announcement perceptions: a quantitative examination of anti-violence messages.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In recent years, anti-violence public service announcements (PSAs) have been broadcast on commercial and cable networks.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study examined if and how teenagers' demographics and background variables were related to the perceptions of several anti-violence PSAs.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a pencil-and-paper survey that had teenagers provide information about their demographics and knowledge of, attitudes about, and experience with violence. Then, teenagers screened and responded to several PSAs, indicating their levels of interest in, comprehension of, credibility given, and perceived effect for each message.
  
  
  METHODS
  In public school settings, data were collected from a sample of 1,480 urban, suburban, and rural midwestern teenagers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Interest in, comprehension of, credibility given, and perceived effect of PSAs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using bivariate and multivariate analyses, we found significant but weak relationships between teenagers' characteristics and perceptions of anti-violence PSAs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that audience segmentation be based not only on demographics but also on factors specifically related to the presented topic.
authors.affiliation: Media Center of the Judge Baker Children's Center, Harvard University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. dina_borzekowski@mssm.edu
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Borzekowski
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Poussaint
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011639:Public Opinion; D013690:Television; D014754:Violence