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viewers bring these concepts into social circulation, helping them to construct their identity (Fiske 1987; Russell and Puto 1999). Many times, the products that the viewer mimics use of are focal elements of the story; being a branded item is not a necessary quality (Russell and Puto 1999). In fact, there are many subtle influences, for example, what it is like to live in a certain city.

The differences in the way one watches television can have an impact that is interesting to marketers. In general, a highly connected viewer may be much more susceptible to product placement efforts, as their personal self is more closely connected to the show and its characters, than someone who is not connected as high. At the time of writing this paper, no research has been done in this area specific to children, but further understanding the phenomenon in relation to children is one of the goals of the paper.

Involvement is defined as a person’s perceived relevance of an object based on inherent needs, values, and interests (Zaichowsky 1985). Choices made by consumers, even when purchasing expensive items, do not always require an extensive search for information or a complete consideration of other options (Olshavsky and Granboi 1979). The average consumer makes many different purchase decisions every day, with a majority tending not to be major item purchases. Researchers believed that an active information processor was not necessary for such purchases, and that consumer behavior could be broken down into low involvement consumer behavior and high involvement consumer behavior (Engle and Blackwell 1982).

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With the creation of the involvement construct, Zaichowsky (1985) helped to not only clarify researcher’s beliefs, but much insight into involvement was gleaned. Her results supported the fact that all purchases are based on the consumer’s level of involvement with the item. Thus, an individual will think highly of, desire, or purchase something they have a higher involvement with. In contrast, someone that has a low involvement with a product will not hold such strong beliefs about the item in question.

In further understanding involvement, it is clear that for any product category there are people who have high involvement and people who have low involvement. These variations are the result of each individual’s unique life experiences and current state. In relation to these two factors, involvement can be broken down into two types. Cognitive involvement constitutes the degree of personal relevance of the marketing message contents or issue based on the brand’s functional performance. Affective involvement constitutes the degree of personal relevance of a message based on emotional or aesthetic appeals to one’s motive to express an actual or ideal self-image to the outside world (Park and Young 1983; Zaichowsky 1985).

Therefore, feeling is a major factor involved in one’s involvement with a product. As young children are most likely to make emotional purchase decisions, rather than functional, research into children’s involvement with products (i.e. – mobile phones) could be very insightful. With research on this specific area all but not, a deeper understanding was one of the goals of this study.

Self-efficacy is the measure of how capable an individual feels he or she is. “Self-efficacy perceptions have been found to influence decisions about what behaviors

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to undertake, the effort and persistence in attempting those behaviors, the emotional responses (including stress and anxiety) of the individual performing the behaviors, and the actual performance attainments of the individual with respect to the behavior” (Compeau and Higgins 1995). Among the mechanisms of personal agency, this perception of or belief in oneself is the central aspect for an individual to have control over their own functions and over outside forces (Bandura 1997). Unless one believes that he or she is capable of producing the desired results, the likelihood that they will act is very low. Self-efficacy helps to shape the courses that lives take (Bandura 2001).

Product oriented self-efficacy is closely related, but should not be confused. It is the measure of how capable a person feels that they can control or use an item properly. There as been interesting research into how a higher product self-efficacy for technology, such as the Internet, allows the user to not only learn new tasks quicker, but also engage in the technology more frequently and for longer periods of time (Torkzadeh and Van Dyke 2001). If an individual has a high level of product oriented self-efficacy for an object, the product meaning, the symbolic connotations an individual associates with both tangible and intangible attributes of a particular product (Helfenstein 2005), could vary greatly from someone with a low level of product oriented self-efficacy. In relation to this paper, a person who believes highly in their capability to use a mobile phone and what it can do for their life, is likely to use it more often and in more advanced ways than someone of a lower level of belief.

One way for children to gain self-efficacy or product-oriented self-efficacy is vicariously through exposure to models. Schunk’s (1987) research found that while

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adult models can teach children skills, children acquire the best self-efficacy information from models that are similar to them. Finding value in the activity or utility in the learning influences a child’s effort, persistence, and achievements. It may even lead them to attempt an activity that they lack self-efficacy for (Bandura 1986; Wigfield and Eccles 2002). Modeling is an important means for acquiring literacy skills, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors (Rosenthal and Zimmerman 1978).

Schunk and Zimmerman (2007) recently performed a study on influencing children’s self-efficacy. They concluded that, “Observing competent models perform actions that result in success conveys information to observers about the sequence of actions to use to be successful. By watching models, observers form outcome expectations about the expected consequences of actions. Observers are more likely to perform modeled actions that have been successful and whose outcomes they value”.

(4.3) The Hypotheses Based on the Phenomenon

Based on the literature cited above, it is clear that while young children are already exceptionally prone to product placement in screen media, certain aspects of Japanese super hero shows may have an amplifying affect. Recently, in various programs, these aspects have centered their amplifying affect on mobile phones and their use. Therefore, there is ample basis to question whether prevalent mobile phone use in Japanese super hero shows has any affect on the child viewer’s perception of, ownership, and usage of mobile phones.

First there is a need to establish if there is an effect on children. Connected audiences are found to be more susceptible to consumption images in television

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programs; and the connection is expressed by adoration, imitation, and modeling. By watching Japanese super heroes use mobile phones over and over, a child’s involvement, their perceived relevance of an object, with a mobile phone may be affected. The mobile phone’s functions may be more deeply realized and accepted (cognitive involvement), and the mobile phone may develop a stronger emotional appeal (affective involvement).

H1 A relationship exists between the level of connectedness to a Japanese super hero show and involvement with a mobile phone.

Next, if viewing a Japanese super hero show that contains mobile phone use has any affect on how children perceive a mobile phone to improve their lives, must be determined. That is, if there is a perceived increase of self-efficacy or power gained by owning a mobile phone. One way for children to gain self-efficacy or product-oriented self-efficacy is vicariously through exposure to models. Modeling is an important means for acquiring literacy skills, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. By watching Japanese super heroes perform amazing actions with mobile phones, young children may believe that they too can perform amazing actions with a mobile phone, thus increasing their perception of how a mobile phone may improve their lives.

H2 A relationship exists between the level of connectedness to a Japanese super hero show and the level of self-efficacy perceived to be gained from a mobile phone.

Following, the connection between a child’s involvement with a mobile phone and perceived increase of self-efficacy must be clarified. A child with a high

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involvement, both cognitive and affective, with a mobile phone, will not only understand the useful functions more deeply, but also find a mobile phone to have more emotional and aesthetic appeal; particularly in expressing oneself. Therefore, by believing greatly in the power of a mobile phone, they may also believe that a mobile phone is able to improve their lives, give them more power in the world, than a child of low involvement.

H3 A relationship exists between a child’s involvement with mobile phones and perceived self-efficacy gained from a mobile phone.

For hypotheses one through three to be relevant, there should be some physical evidence to support them, such as ownership rates. For highly connected viewers, symbolic elements of a show, such as fashion styles or character used items (i.e. mobile phones), are regularly adopted. Many times, the products that the viewer mimics use are focal elements of the story. The connection between oneself and the show is expressed most commonly through adoration of, imitation of, and modeling of characters from the show. If the level of connectedness to a Japanese super hero show does have an affect on the involvement with, and the perceived increase of self-efficacy gained by a mobile phone, then it is possible that highly connected children own mobile phones at a higher rate than lowly connected children.

H4 A relationship exists between the level of connectedness to a Japanese super hero show and their chance of mobile phone ownership.

Hypothesis four contains a slight flaw in the fact that mobile ownership rates of young children in Japan are quite low to begin with. While the mobile phone is an

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intricate part of most Japanese people’s lives, the age of first mobile phone acquirement tends to be in the junior-high stages.35 Even so, many elementary school children have ample opportunity to use mobile phones of friends and family (Miyaki 2005). Thus, even if mobile phone ownership is not a possibility for an individual, it is possible that the highly connected child viewer desires to own, and/or uses mobile phones more than the lowly connected child.

H5 A relationship exists between the level of connectedness to a Japanese super hero show and their desire to use a mobile phone.

H6 A relationship exists between the level of connectedness to a Japanese super hero show and their chance of mobile phone usage.

(4.4) The Development of the Hypotheses Test

It was decided that a collection of surveys was the best way to acquire the data needed to judge the hypotheses true or false.

(4.4.1) The Scales

Three separate scales were necessary to test the three distinct phenomena the hypotheses are based on. The three scales are: the Connectedness Scale (Russell and Puto 1999; Russell, Norman, and Heckler 2004), the Personal Involvement Inventory/Revised Personal Involvement Inventory (Zaichkowsky 1985; Zaichowsky 1994), and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (Jerusalem and Schwarzer 2007). Before detailing the use of the scales in the survey a general understanding of all three is necessary..

35 Yet, the trend of increasingly younger acquirement ages appears to be taking hold.

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The Connectedness Scale36 is a scale of sixteen items, with two or three items grouped together to create a factor. There are six factors in total; each factor represents the different manifestations of how viewers connect with a television program and develop para-social relationships with the characters.

The escape factor represents the emotional or therapeutic element that connects a viewer to a television program. People loose themselves in television because it helps them to forget their problems, as well as provides escape. The modeling factor describes how much an individual relates his/her-own life to the characters in the program. Viewers regularly relate to characters and thus model parts of their lives after them. The fashion factor displays how extensively a television program viewer is influenced by a character’s appearance. Connected viewers are known to copy styles of favorite characters. The imitation factor measures an individual’s tendency to imitate a character, such as phrases and voices. This factor is related to the modeling factor; however, it is a more shallow expression of identification with the characters, whereas modeling represents a deeper connection. The aspiration factor only takes affect with the most highly connected viewers. It represents the desire to take part in the television program or meet its characters. The paraphernalia factor analyzes the degree to which people collect items to bring the television program and its characters to life. This includes books, magazines, toys, etc. The scale is composed of sixteen questions, the higher the score one receives, the higher their connectedness to the television program (Russell and Puto 1999; Russell, Norman, and Heckler 2004).

36 See #30 in appendix.

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The Personal Involvement Inventory (PII) is a semantic differential scale that captures the concept of involvement for products. It is based on the three areas that affect a person’s involvement: personal, physical, and situational. The personal area consists of inherent interests, values, or needs that motivate one toward the object. The physical area contains characteristics of the object that cause differentiation and increase interest. The situational area describes something that temporarily increases relevance or interest toward the object. With these areas in mind, the scale was developed to pick up the differences across people, objects and situations. The PII is made up of twenty item pairs, where no individual item is sufficient, and that it is the scale as a whole that measures the involvement construct. It is counterbalanced by having ten items reversed scored, where the higher the score, the higher the involvement with the product (Zaichkowsky 1985).

The PII was criticized for redundancy, so the Revised Personal Involvement Inventory (RPII) 37 was created. It is the RPII that is used in this paper’s research. In its revision the number of item pairs was reduced by half, yet a high reliability score was maintained. It was also demonstrated that the scale is able to capture both affective and cognitive types of involvement. The affective subscale of involvement is the emotional half; it consists of the items: “interesting”, “appealing”, “fascinating”, “exciting” and “invovlving”. The cognitive subscale is the rational half; it contains the items: “important”, “relevant”, “valuable”, “means a lot to me”, and “needed”. The two subscales are not independent, yet the scale is helpful in measuring the level of each

37 See #31 in appendix

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(Zaichkowsky 1994).

The General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE)38 was created, as the authors describe, to assess a general sense of perceived self-efficacy. Perceived self-efficacy facilitates goal setting, effort investment, persistence in the face of barriers, and recovery from setbacks. The GSE consists of ten items designed to analyze this perceived self-efficacy construct. Each item refers to successful coping and implies an internal-stable attribution of success. The items come in the form of statements that one agrees with or disagrees with. However, it does not tap specific behavior change, and therefore it is necessary to add several items to cover the particular content of the survey (Jerusalem and Schwarzer 2007).

The GSE has been successfully used internationally for over twenty years. Across 23 countries and 27 languages the scale has been rated highly reliable via Cronbach alpha scores. The ten items may be used alone or mixed in randomly with other items of the same response format. The scale is scored the same as the other two scales used; the higher the score, the higher the level of perceived self-efficacy (Jerusalem and Schwarzer 2007).

(4.4.2) The Modification of the Scales for Children

While the Connectedness Scale, the Revised Personal Involvement Inventory, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale fit the needs of this study well, they were created with adults in mind. And so it was decided that they should be altered to be more childfriendly. Adding to the literary base, research on surveying children was completed;

38 See #32 in appendix.