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Procedure/Participants
The research sample consisted of 200 participants. 183 were volunteer students, 14-18 years old, from history classes at Shawnee High School, Shawnee, OK. The students were selected from 11 separate 50-minute history classes. An additional 17 volunteers from the New Life Bible Church youth group, ranging from ages 14-18, were used. A post-test only was conducted totaling 115 students. The control group consisted of 75 students. The control group received no stimulus and only filled out the questionnaire. The treatment group was told they would be viewing a 10-minute video and asked to take a questionnaire. The treatment group watched a portion of an episode of American Idol with one of four different Air Force commercials embedded between six other commercials. Participants were asked not to talk while completing the questionnaire, but were allowed to talk normally during the video tape portions of the experiment in order to foster a more natural viewing environment. The participants were also told not to discuss the video and questionnaire with other students who may be participating later that day.

Messages
Those in the treatment group received one of four messages from the Air Force recruiting campaign, which began in 2002 to enhance recruiting efforts using a new slogan, “Cross into the Blue.” The commercials selected in this study were four paid advertisements produced by GSD&M, the ad agency hired by the U.S. Air Force. The message of the commercials state that when you Cross Into the Blue of The United States Air Force you leave the everyday, ordinary world behind. Where planes fly themselves, cyberspace battles are the new frontier, and smart nineteen year olds navigate billion dollar satellites. You enter a world of elite men and women who came before you. All diverse and different from the outside, but sharing the same values and purpose inside. Most importantly, they share a longing to invent the future, to see new things and to make a difference by crossing over into a different world.

Remote Control Plane (Commercial 1)
This spot focuses on how skill and interest in planes and flying can lead to an important and interesting job flying unmanned aerial vehicles in the Air Force. The ad begins with a child playing with a paper airplane. The scene transitions to a young man playing with a radio controlled airplane. The next scene shows the now grown man as a remote control pilot in the Air Force flying a Predator. The ad closes with the text “We’ve been waiting for you. Cross into the Blue” in the middle of the screen.

The Bronx (Commercial 2)
This spot features a Hispanic family watching a football game. The screen goes fuzzy, so the daughter runs up to the roof and skillfully adjusts the satellite dish to the correct the satellite position. After adjusting the satellite, the picture becomes clear and the family cheers. The ad closes with the text “We’ve been waiting for you. Cross into the Blue” in the middle of the screen.

Waterfall (Commercial 3)
The commercial shows a group of teens crossing a raging mountain stream. One of them drops their pack into the water. For a brief moment they all stare at the pack as it washes away down stream. Then one young man chases the pack. He skips across the rocks and spots the pack as it drops over the rapids down into a waterfall. He then leaps into the water below and recovers the pack. When his head breaks the water surface, he’s wearing the diving garb of an Air Force special operator and he climbs onto a ladder hanging from a helicopter. The ad closes with the text “We’ve been waiting for you. Cross into the Blue” in the middle of the screen.

Speed (Commercial 4)
The commercial opens with a boy skateboarding (very fast) with a group of friends. The frame transitions to a young man street luging (even faster). The luging scene transitions into an aggressive water skiing scene. The final action frame shows the boy “crossing into the blue” as he streaks across the sky as an Air Force F-16 pilot. The ad closes with the text “We’ve been waiting for you. Cross into the Blue” in the middle of the screen.

The choice of the commercials was limited due to the fact that there are currently only four recruitment commercials authorized and used by the U.S. Air Force. The show American Idol was chosen as the prominent programming to appeal to the majority of the participants in the test. American Idol is the top-rated prime-time television show, and is designed for audiences of all ages. The shows contestants compete weekly for a chance to become the next pop star. It was assumed that this particular show that was more likely to be viewed by the majority of the audience in its natural environment.

Design and Manipulation
The independent variable was the experimental condition: treatment, which viewed the USAF ad embedded in normal programming; and control, which viewed no programming. Covariates were operationalized by asking respondents to identify their: gender, age, grade in school, grade point average, how many people they knew in serving in the military, and issue involvement.

Involvement was measured by using a version of the Zaichkowsky (1985) personal involvement inventory. The PII has been used for several types of product involvement tests and historically has achieved scores above .90 on Cronbach’s Alpha (Rubin, 1985). Subjects were given a six-item, seven-point semantic differential scale that asked subjects to determine how important the issue of military service was, with responses of unimportant/important, of no concern/of much concern, irrelevant/relevant, means nothing/means a lot, doesn’t matter/matters, and insignificant/significant.

Effectiveness
Effectiveness was assessed using three measures. Message effectiveness was assessed using five seven-point semantic differential scales, designed by Austin, Pinkleton, and Fujioka (1999) that is based on process model. The scale has proved reliable in several studies of public service announcements. The scale asked participants to choose between adjectives describing the commercial as unrealistic/realistic, forgettable/memorable, not effective/effective, annoying/enjoyable, and not persuasive/persuasive.

Generic attitudes toward the Air Force were measured using a series of questions based on the scales developed by Burgoon, Cohen, Miller, & Montgomery (1978), and employed in resistance research (e.g., Pfau & Burgoon, 1988). This scale has proved reliable in determining behavioral attitudes. The seven-interval semantic differential scales asked participants their general attitude about the Air Force, with responses of negative/positive, bad/good, unfavorable/favorable, unacceptable/acceptable, foolish/wise, and wrong/right. Behavioral disposition to join the Air Force was measured using a one item seven-interval question, with a response of likely to unlikely.

Affect
Because the commercials were based on emotional cues, a measure was needed to study validity. To test affect in the commercials, a scale designed by Dillard (1996) was used to measure emotional response to advertisements. This scale has a history of successful use in the study of inoculation (Pfau et al., 2001). Subjects were asked to rate on a scale of 0-6 if they felt emotions of happiness and contentment. Participants rated contentment using the adjectives mellow, tranquil, peaceful, and contented. Happiness was measured through the adjectives happy, cheerful, elated, and joyful.

Diverse Perceptions
The objective of the commercials is to demonstrate the diversity of careers available to potential Air Force recruits. Because no diverse perceptions scales exist, a modified version of the seven-point Likert scale was used evaluate the participants’ perceptions of a wide range of Air Force career opportunities and attributes, which included pilots, special operations, satellite communications, courage, career opportunities, infantry, warrior, and leadership.

Organizational Identity
The commercials are based on establishing an organization identity all diverse and different from the outside, but sharing the same values and purpose on the inside. To test organizational identity, a modification of a scale designed by Rubin, Palmgreen, and Sypher (1994) was used. Subjects were asked to rate their potential organizational commitment to the Air Force using seven-point Likert scales, with responses of agree/disagree, likely/unlikely, most frequently/infrequently, great deal of feeling/no feeling, and absolute certainty/no certainty.

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