ROGER, ME, AND MY ATTITUDE - FILM PROPAGANDA AND CYNICISM TOWARD CORPORATE LEADERSHIP

Two studies of U.S. and Japanese respondents assessed attitudes resulting from viewing the film Roger & Me (Moore, 1989). In Experiment 1, the responses of 162 adults who had seen the film in the U.S. were contrasted with 106 people about to view the film. Those who saw the film exhibited more cynical (negative) attitudes toward General Motors in particular and toward U.S. business in general. Experiment 2 employed a Solomon four-group design in Tokyo, Japan, to assess the generalizability of the U.S. results and also to assess attitude change from pretest to posttest. Consistent with the U.S. results, viewing the film had negative effects on Japanese attitudes toward General Motors and toward U.S. business in general. Furthermore, attitudes toward Japanese business became slightly more positive as a function of viewing the film. Implications and future research needs are discussed.