Reality TV's Positive Impact on Parenting Techniques

Reality television (Supernanny):
a social marketing “place” strategy
Raguragavan Ganeshasundaram and Nadine Henley
Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this article is to investigate the effectiveness of the Supernanny reality television programs in teaching parenting techniques
and changing parenting behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach – A telephone survey was conducted with a random sample of 400 respondents who had watched at least one
episode of the Supernanny program.
Findings – Almost 75 percent of the respondents had viewed the program regularly for interest and/or for educational reasons; significantly more
people who said they watched for education could recollect parenting techniques than those who said they watched for entertainment. Respondents
agreed that the program informed them about different techniques for managing the behaviors of their children (88 percent) and said they had used (53
percent) or intended to use (23 percent) a number of those techniques. A total of 80 percent of the respondents saw the show as realistic and 93
percent of the viewers perceived the program as useful to some extent in terms of changing their behaviors and their children’s behaviors in positive
ways. There were some significant differences, with greater effects in women, younger respondents, and parents of younger children.
Practical implications – Reality television can be used as an effective social marketing, mass media “place” strategy to convey positive parenting
techniques and to promote positive behavior change.
Originality/value – Edutainment (combining entertainment with education) has been used to promote positive social behaviors for some years but
the use of the specific entertainment vehicle “reality television” has not previously been examined as a social marketing place strategy.

Keywords Social marketing, Consumer behaviour, Parents, Marketing mix, Television

Paper type Research paper

An executive summary for managers and executive Ultimately, the purpose of edutainment is to contribute to
readers can be found at the end of this article. directed social change, which is the process by which an
alteration occurs in the structure and function of a social
system at individual and community levels (Singhal and
Introduction Rogers, 2002).
Edutainment, a mass media social marketing strategy, is used There are some outstanding examples. For instance, a 1969
to promote positive behavior change by deliberate inclusion of Peruvian soap opera (Simplemente Maria), told the rags-to-
socially desirable messages in entertainment vehicles riches story of Maria, who sewed her way to social and
(Andreasen, 2002). Edutainment involves the design and economic success with a Singer sewing machine (Singhal and
implementation of media programs that deliberately Rogers, 1989). In South Africa, a multimedia edutainment
incorporate persuasive, educational content in popular strategy (Soul City) has had a considerable impact on the
entertainment formats to influence audience knowledge, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of South African people
attitudes, behavioral intentions, and practices (Singhal et al., across a range of social and health issues (CASE, 1997). For
1993). The deliberate insertion of socially desirable many years Sesame Street has provided a positive social model
information into entertainment vehicles with the purpose of for children, promoting sexual and racial equality (Harris,
changing an audience’s knowledge, attitudes, and behavior is 1999). Similarly, Friends contained messages about the risks
based on social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1977, 1997) which of having unprotected sex and served as a sex educator for
posits that individuals learn new behaviors by observing and youth (Collins et al., 2003).
imitating the behavior of others. The advent of reality television provides a new opportunity
Edutainment is a type of modern-day, mass media story for social marketers to convey messages through an
telling that often conveys ideas related to health promotion edutainment vehicle. The dualities of reality television –
and awareness. It has the advantage of presenting potentially excitement and mundanity, novelty and conventionality –
threatening or sensitive topics in a non-threatening way and of lead to a sense of aliveness and relevance that is more
reaching people who might otherwise not attend to the compelling than most other tools of communication and
message (Donovan and Henley, 2003; Collins et al., 2003). make it an ideal construct to attract viewers (Holmes and
Jermyn, 2004). The unscripted and seemingly spontaneous
exploits and tribulations of “real” people on reality television
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
programs hold considerable appeal for millions of viewers
www.emeraldinsight.com/0736-3761.htm
(Nicholas et al., 2003).
One instance where positive parenting has been conveyed
deliberately through a reality television edutainment program
Journal of Consumer Marketing is Driving Mum and Dad Mad which attracted an audience of
26/5 (2009) 311– 319
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0736-3761] 6 million UK viewers (Upham, 2005; Jones, 2006). It
[DOI 10.1108/07363760910976565] documented the experiences of five families with young

311

Reality television (Supernanny): a social marketing place strategy Journal of Consumer Marketing
Raguragavan Ganeshasundaram and Nadine Henley Volume 26 · Number 5 · 2009 · 311 –319

children undertaking a series of workshops, the “Triple P” The interviewing was conducted by the Survey Research
program (developed by Professor Matt Sanders and Centre at the University of Western Australia. The sample
colleagues) which help parents learn techniques to improve demographics are shown in Table I. A total of 3,584 calls was
behavioral and mental health outcomes for their children. In made; 2,739 were unobtainable or business numbers, and 563
Western Australia, in the mid-late 1990s, the “Triple P” did not meet the screening criteria (for example, they had not
program recommendations were incorporated into a well- seen an episode of Supernanny or the quota they represented
resourced social marketing positive parenting campaign using was full). Of the 1,359 eligible contacts, 959 refused, leaving
advertisements such as “Teach your children well” and 400 completed interviews, that is, a response rate of 29.4
“Accentuate the positive” (Henley et al., 1998). The “Triple percent.
P” workshop program has been rigorously evaluated (Zubrick The sample quota was split into:
et al., 2005) and found to be successful in changing adverse .
couple families with children under 12;
behavioral outcomes in children and improving coercive .
couple families with children aged between 12 and 18;
parenting but, to our knowledge, the impact of delivering the .
one parent families with children under 12;
program via a reality television series has not been evaluated. .
one parent families with children aged between 12 and 18;
Supernanny is an example of a reality television series which and
conveys parenting messages. Although we have no evidence .
couple/single parent families with grown children who
that the producers were intending this to be a social marketing have left home or who had never had children.
parenting strategy (as would have been the case with Driving
Mum and Dad Mad), an analysis of the effectiveness of An attempt was made to include an equal male/female split in
Supernanny could shed some light on the effectiveness of most categories although more women (69 percent) than men
reality television as an edutainment vehicle for conveying (31 percent) responded to the survey. Particularly, the
social marketing messages. In the program, Supernanny Jo interviewers found it difficult to obtain males for the single
Frost visits a family in each episode, offering parenting parent sample.
techniques to resolve difficulties. Although at times somewhat All respondents provided their personal details (gender,
controversial (Devine, 2005; Edwards, 2005), most of her age, number and ages of children) and responded to a number
recommendations are based on recognized authoritative of questions relating to Supernanny: how many episodes they
positive parenting behaviors, that is, providing consistency, had seen, how they found out about it, why they watched the
praise, routine and boundaries. When the first series of show, their level of interest in the show; recollection and
episodes aired on Channel 9 in Australia, Supernanny became interpretation of information; effects on parenting beliefs,
a phenomenal success attracting more than 1.8 million
perceived learning, and discussion of the issues; and any self-
viewers nationally an episode (Edwards, 2005; Jackson, 2005)
reported behavioral change. Respondents were also asked to
and sparking debate among welfare groups and parents.
state whether the program had made any difference to them.
While combining entertainment with education is not a new
phenomenon, the use of reality television as a vehicle to The survey was conducted two months after the first series of
disseminate information and to educate viewers about health Supernanny finished in Perth Western Australia.
and social issues is a relatively new mass media opportunity
for social marketers. Previous edutainment studies have found Table I Respondent demographics
changes in knowledge, attitudes, and observed behavior
(Story et al., 1999; Rogers et al., 1999; Vaughan et al., 2000; %
Black et al., 2001; Steyer, 2002; Collins et al., 2003; Zeedyk Gender
and Wallace, 2003). Though a small number of social Male 30.8
scientists have discussed the phenomenon of reality television Female 69.2
as an edutainment strategy for conveying social marketing
communications (e.g. Singhal and Rogers, 2004; Seale, Family type
2003), as yet, to our knowledge, the effectiveness of reality Single parent with children under 12 years 7.8
television as a vehicle for this purpose has not been Single parent with children aged between 12 and 18 years 6.5
investigated. In this study, we examined whether reality Couple family with children under 12 years 41.7
television is an effective social marketing “place” strategy, Couple family with children aged between 12 and 18 years 17.5
reaching into people’s living rooms with recommended Couple/single with grown children or never had children 26.5
behaviors, at least in the context of positive parenting. Age
20-30 years 12.8
31-40 years 34.3
Methodology
41-50 years 27.7
A computer assisted telephone interview (CATI) 51-55 years 8.7
methodology was used to obtain a stratified random sample 56 1 years 16.5
of 400 Western Australian adults. Interviews were conducted
No. children
on weekends and on weekday evenings between 4:30 p.m. and
0 26.5
9:00 p.m. to maximize the availability of household members
1-2 54.0
aged 20 years and over. Random digit dialing was used to
3-4 18.5
select households for inclusion in the survey. Quotas were
applied to obtain representation of population by age groups: 5-6 1.0
20-30; 31-40; 41-50; 51-55; and . 56 years, with an Note: n ¼ 400
approximately equal representation of males and females.

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Findings (20 percent) and “speaking in a lower voice and listening to
them” (12 percent).
Awareness and interest in Supernanny More female respondents were able to recollect techniques
A total of 54 percent of respondents said they became aware than male counterparts (92 percent versus 79 percent;
of the Supernanny program by viewing on-screen promotions; p , 0.01); more younger respondents (40 and under) were
28 percent had found it by channel flicking; 14 percent had able to recollect techniques than older respondents (92
found it through word of mouth. A total of 43 percent of the percent versus 84 percent; p , 0.05); and more of those who
respondents said they watched more than eight of the ten watched for education were able to recollect techniques than
episodes and 62 percent of respondents had seen more than those who watched for entertainment (95 percent versus 87
half. More women than men (47 percent versus 34 percent percent; p , 0.01). A relationship between the number of
men; p , 0.01) reported that they had watched eight or more episodes watched and the recollection of parenting techniques
episodes. As might be expected, there was a significant was found ( p , 0.01).
relationship between the length of overall television viewing
and the number of episodes watched ( p , 0.01): 60 percent Parenting techniques: newness
who watched television for three-five hours/day had watched Of those who reported that they were able to recollect
eight or more episodes compared to 40 percent who watched parenting techniques (n ¼ 351), 34 percent said that they
for one-three hours/day and 16 percent who watched less than learned something new about parenting (Table II): 73 percent
one hour a day. A total of 51 percent reported that they nominated “naughty step/time out” as the technique that was
watched with their partners; 41 percent said that they new to them, followed by “talking to the children” (27
watched with their children, and 22 percent said they watched percent), “having a set routine/discipline to follow” (13
alone; 6 percent of those who said they watched with “others” percent), “positive reinforcement/rewards” (13 percent);
specified “grand children”.
“spending quality time with children” (9 percent) and
A total of 47 percent of 20-30 and 31-40 age groups and 53
“getting children involved” (8 percent). More younger
percent of 51-55 year olds had seen eight or more episodes.
respondents reported that they had learned something new
Half of the respondents from single parent families reported
than older respondents (43 percent versus 25 percent;
that they had seen eight or more episodes as did 45 percent of
p , 0.01); more female respondents than male respondents
couple families with children under 12.
(42 percent versus 31 percent; p , 0.01) and more families
Many respondents also watched other reality television
with children under 12 (40 percent) reported learning a new
shows: Big Brother (64 percent), Dancing with the Stars (53
technique than families with children over 12 years. The
percent), Biggest Loser (47 percent), Survivor (43 percent),
relationship between the number of episodes watched and the
and Amazing Race (36 percent).
number of new techniques reported was significant
Reasons for watching Supernanny ( p , 0.05).
Most respondents said they watched Supernanny for
entertainment (68 percent) and/or for educational reasons Parenting techniques: tried
(49 percent), while 7 percent watched for other reasons, such When asked whether they had tried any of the techniques, 53
as “curiosity”, “nothing else on TV”. Significantly more percent of the respondents who answered this question
women (52 percent versus 40 percent men; p , 0.05); (n ¼ 274) said that they had tried at least one technique. First
younger respondents (40 and under) (55 percent versus 35 mentions were: “naughty step/time out” (74 percent),
percent older respondents; p , 0.00) and parents with “positive reinforcement/rewards” (24 percent), “talking to
children under 12 (65 percent versus 34 percent parents the children” (21 percent), “having a set routine/discipline to
with children aged 12-18; p , 0.01) reported watching follow” (18 percent), and “being firm and consistent” (15
Supernanny for education. percent). Second mentions were “spending quality time with
children” (17 percent), “teaching children good manners” (9
Effectiveness of reality television as an edutainment percent), and “getting children involved” (8 percent). Both
strategy men (52 percent) and women (54 percent) had tried at least
Respondents were asked whether they were able to recollect one technique. Significantly more younger respondents (65
any parenting techniques from the programs; whether they percent versus 35 percent older respondents; p , 0.01) and
had gained any new information; and whether they had acted parents with children under 12 years (61 percent versus 25
or intended to act on the information. These results are percent parents with children aged over 12 years; p , 0.01)
summarized in Table II and discussed in detail below. reported that they had tried one or more of the techniques. A
total of 50 percent of single parent respondents compared to
Parenting techniques: recollection 26 percent of couple respondents reported that they had tried
Most respondents (88 percent) recollected (unprompted) at at least one technique. There was a significant relationship
least one technique; 67 percent recollected two techniques, between the number of episodes watched and whether
and 41 percent recalled at least three parenting techniques. Of techniques had been tried ( p , 0.01).
those who said they could recollect a technique, 83 percent
recollected the “naughty step/time out” technique, followed Parenting techniques: trial intention
by “talking to the children” (44 percent), “having a set A total of 23 percent of those who had not tried a technique
routine/discipline to follow” (30 percent), “positive (n ¼ 138) said that they intended to try out the techniques in
reinforcement/rewards” (28 percent), “being firm and the future. First mentions were: “naughty step/time out” (81
consistent” (25 percent), “spending quality time with percent), “having a set routine/discipline to follow” (26
children” (10 percent) and “working together with partner” percent), “positive reinforcement/rewards” (23 percent),
(7 percent). As part of “talking to the children”, they “being firm and consistent” (19 percent), and “talking to
specifically recollected “getting down to eye level with kids” the children” (19 percent). More female respondents (27

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Table II Respondents’ knowledge and behavior relating to parenting techniques
Could recollect technique Previously unaware of Had tried Intending to
unprompted technique technique try technique
(n 5 400) (n 5 351) (n 5 294) (n 5 138)
Parenting techniques Yes 351 (88%) Yes 120 (34%) Yes 156 (53%) Yes 31 (23%)
Naughty step/time out 83 73 74 81
Communication/talking to children 44 27 21 19
Having a set routine/discipline to follow 30 13 18 26
Positive reinforcement/rewards 28 13 24 23
Firm and consistent 25 6 15 19
Spend quality time with children 10 9 12 3
Working together with partner 7 3
Other 10 8 13 13

percent) than male respondents (13 percent) and more of Many respondents reported talking with family and friends
those who watched for educational reason (38 percent) than about techniques used on the show (48 percent), behavior of
for entertainment (19 percent) reported having an intention children on the program (28 percent), how Jo Frost dealt with
of using one or more of the techniques in the future. A third naughty kids (24 percent), how some parents have no control
of respondents aged between 20 and 30 and a third who had over their children (19 percent), and generally what happens
children aged under 12 years reported that they had an on the show (15 percent). A total of 35 percent of the
intention of using one or more of the recommended respondents said that they talked with their own children
techniques. about the behaviors of the children on the program and the
In the next section, the perceived realism, accessibility, techniques used. When prompted, a quarter said they had
opportunity to learn and overall usefulness of the program are threatened their children with Supernanny; 45 percent said
reported. These results are presented in Table III cross- that their children often initiated the conversation about
tabulated with demographics. something they saw on the program: about the behaviors of
kids in the program (28 percent); how Supernanny deals with
kids on the program (22 percent) and comparing the
Parenting messages: perceived value behaviors of the kids on the program with their own
Most respondents (82 percent) who tried techniques said that behavior (21 percent). Some respondents (8 percent) stated
they were helpful. Several ways were identified. For example, that they had noticed adverse behavior change in their
parents had more self-confidence (“gave me confidence on children after watching Supernanny, mimicking the negative
how to deal with a situation”; “gave me somewhere to start behaviors of the kids on the program to seek their parents’
and a structure to manage my child’s behavior”); able to set attention.
boundaries (“helps sets child’s boundaries”; “reaction is Respondents were asked to rate the program on a five-point
positive to time out – learn boundaries”); have good scale (strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5)) against three
communication (“understanding us as parents better/ statements:
communication”; “getting down to their eye level and using 1 Realism (improvement in the children’s behavior in the
eye contact seems to help as my child pays more attention”; program was realistic).
helps me understand my children’s needs more’); able to 2 Accessibility (this program brought useful information on
build self-esteem (“help with managing his (the child’s) parenting techniques into my own living room).
behavior at that time”); recognized positive parenting 3 Opportunity to learn (without this program I would not
behaviors (“helped me stay calm – good investment to have have an opportunity to learn much about parenting
these strategies in place to have a positive household”; techniques).
“helped keep control of the situation – keeping harmony at
the same time keeping parental guidance and control”); and A further statement assessed overall usefulness for providing
know how to discipline (“it helped with showing the parenting messages and persuading behavioral changes on a
consequences of misbehaving”; “helped him (the child) five-point scale (undecided (1), poor (2), fair (3), good (4),
learn what he is allowed to do and what not to do”; “helped and excellent (5)).
me to be consistent and know how and when to praise”). Realism
More younger respondents than older respondents (87 A total of 80 percent agreed/strongly agreed that the context
percent versus 63 percent; p , 0.05), and more families as well as the improvements in the children’s behavior in the
with young children (under 12) reported that the information program as realistic. Significantly more female respondents
helped them in dealing with their children (83 percent) than (82 percent versus 73 percent men; p , 0.05); respondents
families with children over 12 years (65 percent). Although with children under 12 years (81 percent versus 77 percent
there was no difference in trying techniques between those with children over 12 years; p , 0.01) and those who watched
who watched Supernanny for entertainment and those who for educational reason (85 percent versus 77 percent for
watched for educational reasons, 89 percent of those who entertainment; p , 0.01) perceived the improvement in the
watched for educational reasons found the program helpful children’s behavior as realistic. More respondents from 20-40
compared to 78 percent who watched for entertainment (89 percent) and 51-55 (88 percent) age groups perceived the
( p , 0.01). improvement as realistic compared to 41-50 (72 percent) and

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Table III Perceived realism, accessibility, learning, and usefulness of the program
Respondents’ ratings of the program (row percentages rounded)
Realism Accessibility Opportunity to learn Usefulness
Disagree/ Agree/ Disagree/ Agree/ Disagree/ Agree/
strongly strongly strongly strongly strongly strongly
disagree Undecided agree disagree Undecided agree disagree Undecided agree Undecided Poor Fair Good Excellent
Gender
Male 16 11 73 24 8 68 81 3 16 6 7 29 43 15
Female 10 8 82 18 7 76 77 5 18 2 2 18 53 25
Total 12 9 79 19 7 74 78 5 17 3 4 21 50 22

Family type
Raguragavan Ganeshasundaram and Nadine Henley

Single parent with children under
12 years 10 11 78 3 7 87 65 10 26 0 0 26 42 32
Single parent with children aged
Reality television (Supernanny): a social marketing place strategy

between 12 and 18 years 19 4 77 8 4 89 89 0 11 4 8 15 50 23
Couple family with children under

315
12 years 8 9 83 18 5 77 79 5 16 1 4 22 48 25
Couple family with children aged
between 12 and 18 years 14 11 75 26 10 64 64 9 27 7 3 26 53 11
Couple/single with grown
children who have left home or
never had children 16 5 79 25 9 67 74 5 21 6 3 15 54 22

Age
20-30 years 6 8 86 4 8 88 65 8 27 0 2 16 49 33
31-40 years 9 8 83 15 4 81 60 5 15 1 3 26 46 23
41-50 years 16 12 72 29 11 60 84 3 13 6 4 30 46 14
51-55 years 6 6 88 20 0 80 71 3 26 0 0 9 54 37
56 1 years 16 8 76 25 7 66 76 5 19 9 6 7 60 18

Helpful in dealing with children
Yes 6 7 87 4 2 94 73 6 21 0 2 19 47 32
No 8 15 77 31 12 58 88 0 12 4 7 15 58 15
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Volume 26 · Number 5 · 2009 · 311 –319


56 and over (76 percent) age groups; 87 percent of those who respondents agreed that the program informed them about
said Supernanny was helpful in dealing with their own children positive parenting and a third reported learning something
agreed that the improvement in the behavior of the children’s new about parenting as a result of watching the episodes.
in the program was realistic. Three quarters of respondents had either tried or intended to
try the parenting techniques. Most who had tried techniques
Accessibility
said that they were helpful in building parents’ self-confidence
Overall, 74 percent agreed/strongly agreed that the program
and children’s ability to manage their behavior, setting
brought useful information into their living rooms; this was
boundaries; communicating with children; and staying calm
perceived by more women (76 percent compared to 68
and in control.
percent men); respondents from single parent families (88
As we are proposing that reality television can be an
percent compared to 65 percent respondents from other
effective social marketing “place” strategy, it is interesting to
family groups); and younger respondents (84 percent
consider these findings in relation to an evaluation of an
compared to 65 percent older respondents; p , 0.01). The
results showed that 94 percent of those who said Supernanny actual social marketing campaign to communicate parenting.
helped them in dealing with their children (compared to 58 In 1996/1997, “Accentuate the Positive: Positive Parenting
percent who disagreed; p , 0.01) also agreed/strongly agreed Campaign” was developed by the Western Australian Family
that the program brought useful information into their living and Children’s Services to promote positive parenting
rooms. techniques. The recommended behaviors were based on
research which had identified that an “encouraging parenting
Opportunity to learn style” is associated with substantially lower rates of mental
A total of 17 percent agreed/strongly agreed that, without this illness in children (Silburn et al., 1996). Rather than
program, they would not have had an opportunity to learn highlighting the dangers of coercive parenting or focusing
about parenting techniques (16 percent males; 18 percent on parents’ lack of skills, the campaign was designed to assist
females). Of those who said Supernanny helped them deal parents in gaining mastery of the encouraging “authoritative”
with their own children, 22 percent reported Supernanny as parenting style, building on existing skills to enable parents to
the only source of learning parenting techniques, while 73 manage their children’s behavior effectively at different stages
percent perceived availability of other parenting programs. in their development. A multi-sectoral, comprehensive social
Overall usefulness marketing approach involved developing several printed and
A total of 93 percent of respondents rated the program as video products and services targeted at parents, teenagers,
useful to some extent (fair/good/excellent) in terms of professional carers and other intermediaries. These were
changing their parenting behaviors as well as their children’s distributed via public libraries, shop front parenting
behavior. More women (78 percent compared to 58 percent information centers in shopping centers, the internet, via
men; p , 0.01) rated the program as good/excellent in terms direct response, and a parenting information telephone line;
of its usefulness; single parent families and couple families all this was supported by direct mail, mass media advertising
with children under 12 years rated the program more and publicity (Donovan and Henley, 2003).
favorably (good/excellent) than other family groups. The The campaign was evaluated using survey research and by
two age groups that rated the program most favorably (good/ monitoring requests for materials. The television
excellent) were 20-30 years and 51-55 years. Both those who advertisement achieved 69 percent awareness in the target
had agreed (80 percent) as well as those who had disagreed group. Over the duration of the campaign (1995-1997), over
(73 percent) that Supernanny helped them in dealing with 350,000 booklets and 3,200 videos were distributed to
their own children considered it a useful source for learning parents and professionals, including teachers, child health
parenting techniques. nurses, social workers and child care workers.
Telephone calls to the Parenting line in October 1996
(when the advertising campaign was scheduled) increased by
Discussion 40 percent compared with the previous monthly calls. Market
Combining entertainment with education is not a new research found significant positive shifts in attitudes to
phenomenon; however, the use of reality television as a obtaining help with parenting. In 1996, 54 percent of parents
vehicle to disseminate information and to educate the public agreed with the statement that “Parents who need help in
about health and social issues is a relatively new mass their parenting role are failures;” by 1997 this had dropped to
approach. Edutainment using soap operas and drama has 44 percent. A total of 25 per cent of parents said they had
been previously shown to be effective but reality television as a done something to improve their parenting as a result of a
social marketing “place” strategy has not previously been seeing this advertisement, with 40 percent saying they
investigated, to our knowledge. We believe these findings planned to (Donovan Research, 1996). For social
relating to Supernanny confirm that reality television can be marketers, this indicates substantial behavioral as well as
used to effectively market social messages such as positive attitudinal change. The evaluation methodologies are not
parenting. directly comparable as we screened for viewing the
The program attracted an audience from a wide age range Supernanny program whereas the Positive Parenting
including parents, children and grandparents. The majority evaluation survey was conducted with a random sample of
watched for interest and/or for educational reasons and were the general population but it is encouraging that 53 percent
able to recollect unprompted many of the parenting Supernanny viewers in our sample reported trying a parenting
techniques. Though there is some skepticism that people technique and 23 percent intended to try.
can process and retain messages via mass communication Supernanny episodes provoked conversation about the show
channels (McGuire, 1985), this study showed that it is among parents and children as they watched it and amongst
possible to effectively deliver social messages to a large adults at other times. This suggests that the program provided
audience using the medium of reality television. Most opportunities for improving communications and

316


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their immediacy and accessibility. This suggests that if (accessed 6 December 2007).
positive parenting portrayals were more prevalent on reality Greenberg-Seth, J., Hemenway, D., Gallagher, S., Ross, J.
television the effects observed might well be more powerful. and Lissy, K. (2004), “Evaluation of a community-based
The study is limited by the response rate and the percentage intervention to promote rear seating for children”, American
of respondents who had seen multiple episodes, suggesting Journal of Public Health, Vol. 94 No. 6, pp. 1009-13.
that, in general, people who were prepared to answer our Harris, R.J. (1999), A Cognitive Psychology of Mass
telephone survey were already predisposed to the program.
Communication, 3rd ed., Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ.
However, even with this reservation, we believe the results
Henley, N., Donovan, R. and Moorhead, H. (1998),
support our hypothesis that the vehicle of reality television can
“Appealing to positive motivations and emotions in social
be used as an effective social marketing, mass media “place”
marketing: example of a positive parenting campaign”,
strategy to convey positive parenting messages and promote
Social Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 48-53.
positive behavior change.
Holmes, S. and Jermyn, D. (2004), Understanding Reality
Television, Routledge, London.
Managerial implications and applications Hummer, E. (2004), “Keeping it real: a look at reality
This study has implications for social marketers in general television”, in Christenson, P.G. (Ed.), Prime Time Teens:
and those involved in communicating positive parenting in Perspectives on the New Youth Media Environment, W.T.
particular. The findings suggest that reality television can Grant Foundation/Mediascope, New York, NY.
generate awareness and educate the public on parenting Jackson, S. (2005), “Nanny to put Joey in his place”,
issues, offer useful role modeling for dealing with children, The Australian, 28 April, available at: www.
and have the potential to affect a broad cross-section of the theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,15104529,00.
population. Dramatically depicting parenting-related issues html (accessed 6 December 2007).
through reality television can teach by vividly portraying the Jones, S. (2006), “Flight from reality shows”, Guardian,
experiences of families with whom viewers identify. This 3 August, available at: http://business.guardian.co.uk/print/
identification may provide the inspiration and motivation 0,329544477-108725,00.html (accessed 6 December
individuals need to make changes in their own behaviors. The 2007).
perceptions of realism and accessibility can be considered McGuire, W.J. (1985), “Attitudes and attitude change”,
important advantages of a reality television program over in Lindzey, G. and Aronson, E. (Eds), Handbook of Social
traditional media campaigns. Reality television has the Psychology, 3rd ed., Random House, New York, NY,
advantage of being able to model socially responsible pp. 233-346.
behavior in an entertaining way and this can produce, under Nicholas, D., Huntington, P., Williams, P. and Gunter, B.
the right circumstances, a variety of effects on audience (2003), “An evaluation of the health applications (and
attitudes, knowledge and behavior. implications) of digital interactive television: case study –

317


the Living Health Channel”, Journal of Information Science, making and social marketing. He is affiliated with Edith
Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 181-92. Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia, though
Ricci, R.J. (2005), “Revolution health group”, myDNA.com, currently employed by the West Australian State
December, available at: www.mydna.com/health/mental/ Government Department of Treasury and Finance.
columnist/reality_tv_column.html (accessed 6 December Nadine Henley is Professor of Social Marketing and
2007). Director of the Centre for Applied Social Marketing
Rogers, E.M., Vaughan, P.W., Swalehe, R.M., Rao, N., Research at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western
Svenkerud, P. and Sood, S. (1999), “Effects of an Australia. She is co-author, with Rob Donovan, of Social
entertainment-education radio soap opera on family Marketing: Principles and Practice (2003, IP Communications).
planning behavior in Tanzania”, Studies in Family Her current research applies social marketing principles to
Planning, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 193-211. promoting positive environments to improve health and well-
Seale, C. (2003), Media and Health, Sage, Thousand Oaks, being. Nadine Henley is the corresponding author and can be
CA. contacted at: n.henley@ecu.edu.au
Silburn, S.R., Zubrick, S.R., Garton, A., Gurren, L., Burton,
P., Dalby, R., Carlton, J., Shepherd, C. and Laurence, D. Executive summary and implications for
(1996), Western Australian Child Health Survey: Family and managers and executives
Community Health, Australian Bureau of Statistics and the
Institute for Child Health Research, Perth. This summary has been provided to allow managers and executives
Singhal, A. and Rogers, E.M. (1989), “Pro-social television a rapid appreciation of the content of this article. Those with a
for development in India”, in Rice, R.E. and Atkin, C. particular interest in the topic covered may then read the article in
(Eds), Public Health Communication Campaigns, Sage, toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive description of the
Thousand Oaks, CA. research undertaken and its results to get the full benefits of the
Singhal, A. and Rogers, E.M. (1999), Entertainment- material present.
education: A Communication Strategy for Social Change,
Sage, Mahwah, NJ.
Singhal, A. and Rogers, E.M. (2002), “A theoretical agenda Television and social awareness
for entertainment-education”, Journal of Communication Employing media programs as part of the aim to inspire
Theory, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 117-35. attitudinal and behavioral change in society has been widely
Singhal, A. and Rogers, E.M. (2004), “The status of used. Termed edutainment, the process involves inclusion of
entertainment-education world wide”, in Singhal, A. educational messages and content within popular programs in
(Ed.), Entertainment-education and Social Change: History, order to inform and educate viewers. The premise is that
Research, and Practice, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, change results because people observe and then imitate the
behavior of others.
Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 3-20.
Through edutainment, social policy makers are able to
Singhal, A., Rogers, E.M. and Brown, W.J. (1993),
increase health awareness and address issues that may
“Harnessing the potential of entertainment-education
normally be perceived as threatening, sensitive or
telenovelas”, Gazette, Vol. 51, pp. 1-18.
controversial. High profile examples include the coverage
Steyer, J.P. (2002), The Other Parent: The Inside Story of the
given to the dangers of unprotected sex in Friends and the use
Media’s Impact on our Children, Atria Books, New York, NY.
of Sesame Street over a number of years to advocate sexual and
Story, D., Boulay, M. and Karki, Y. (1999), “Impact of the
racial harmony. An added bonus is the chance that
integrated radio communication project in Nepal: 1994- edutainment can succeed in reaching those individuals that
1997”, Journal of Health Communication, Vol. 4 No. 4, conventional methods of communication fail to do.
pp. 224-71. Analysts believe that the scope for exerting influence in this
Upham, J. (2005), “Driving Mum and Dad mad”, Radio way has increased further since the emergence of reality
National, 27 April, available at: www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/lm/ television. The phenomenon seemingly appeals to millions of
stories/s1354043.htm (accessed 6 December 2007). people and “relevance”, “aliveness” and “spontaneity” have
Vaughan, P.W., Regis, A. and Catherine, E. (2000), been variously cited as reasons.
“Entertainment-education and HIV/AIDS prevention: Given the comparative newness of reality television,
a field experiment in Tanzania”, Journal of Health research into its effects as a vehicle for social and behavioral
Communication, Vol. 5, pp. 81-100. change is understandably limited. One example which has,
Zeedyk, M.S. and Wallace, L. (2003), “Tackling children’s however, been well documented is the “Triple P” Program
road safety through edutainment: an evaluation of that arose from the reality TV show Driving Mum and Dad
effectiveness”, Health Education Research, Vol. 18 No. 4, Mad. The show features parents with troublesome tots and
pp. 493-505. “Triple P” offers techniques for improving the behavior and
Zubrick, S.R., Ward, K., Silburn, S.R., Lawrence, D., mental health of the children. Recommendations were
Williams, A., Blair, E., Robertson, D. and Sanders, M. subsequently used as part of a positive parenting campaign
(2005), “Prevention of child behavior problems through in Western Australia.
universal implementation of a group behavioural family A similar program is Supernanny. In this show, English
intervention”, Prevention Science, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 287-304. nanny Jo Frost visits family homes and advises parents how to
resolve problems with their offspring. She mainly bases her
suggestions around the provision of consistency, praise,
About the authors
routine and set boundaries, measures that are widely
Raguragavan Ganeshasundaram has a PhD in market recognized as essential for positive and successful parenting.
research. His research interests lie in managerial decision In Australia, the Supernanny program has attracted healthy

318


viewing figures and stimulated interest among parents and The authors note the number of respondents inspired to
welfare organizations. discuss aspects of the show with family, friends or their
children. This often led to parents comparing their children’s
Study and findings behavior with that of those kids appearing on the show. Some
The aim in the present study is to ascertain whether or not parents claimed that the show made the children mimic the
using reality television can help transform knowledge, attitude bad behavior seen on the show in order to attract their
and observable behavior. A stratified random sample of 400 attention.
adults aged 20 or over in Western Australia was obtained for Responses to further questions indicated that a significant
the survey using a computer assisted telephone interview number of people considered Supernanny as a realistic show
(CATT) methodology. Henley and Ganeshasundaram set that provided access to useful information and an opportunity
quotas for different age groups and the sample was also to learn. Nevertheless, many respondents did claim to be
organized by family type determined by factors such as aware of other parenting programs. A majority of participants
number of parents and age of any children. Another aim was considered the show helped them to improve their parenting
to secure roughly equal representation of men and women in skills and their children’s behavior. Differences within certain
each category but 69 percent of survey respondents were segments of the survey were again apparent.
female. It was especially difficult to obtain male
representation in the single parent sample. Conclusions
Certain demographic information was obtained from Based on this evidence, Henley and Ganeshasundaram
participants, who were then asked to respond to a series of believe that social messages relating to such as positive
questions about the Supernanny program. Among the study parenting can be effectively marketed through the use of
findings were that: reality television. They believe that the wide age range of the
.
most viewers became aware of the program through on- show’s audience and the responses given in the survey goes
screen promotions, channel hopping and word-of-mouth; some way to combating the skepticism about the likelihood of
.
a large proportion of respondents had watched half or individuals processing and responding to socially-oriented
more of the episodes; messages delivered through mass communication channels
.
almost three-quarters viewed the show with their partners like reality television.
and/or children; The authors refer to a social marketing campaign
.
various other reality television shows were popular with successfully carried out in the 1990s using a variety of
many study participants; communication channels to illustrate the scope of using
.
entertainment or education were cited as main reasons for reality television for edutainment purposes. They also point to
watching the show by the majority of respondents; expert belief that Supernanny helps to transform the
.
most respondents could recall one or more parenting experience for those watching in a way that any parenting
techniques from the program; textbook could never achieve. Respondents also commented
.
around a third able to recall a technique felt they had that the “immediacy and accessibility” of the information help
learned a new thing about parenting; to make things “more vivid and easily absorbed”. Henley and
.
just over half of the respondents admitted to trying out at Ganeshasundaram suggest that the impact may be even
least one technique from the show; and greater if positive parenting was featured even more heavily on
.
around a quarter who had not tried a technique signaled
reality TV. Social marketers are, however, urged to recognize
their intention to do so in the future.
the possibility of different population segments interpreting
Differences were apparent in many cases between, for the program differently.
example, women and men, younger and older respondents That reality television can generate awareness of important
and whether children in the family were aged below or above social issues and potentially influence a wide cross-section of
12. The number of episodes watched appeared to be the population and is highly significant. That it allows people
significant in relation to the responses obtained for several to closely identify with the experiences of others could inspire
of the questions. certain individuals to make dramatic and positive changes to
Most respondents who reported trying techniques found their own behavior and, in this context, that of their children.
them useful. People felt the techniques helped to increase It is acknowledged that findings could be limited by the
their self-confidence and self-esteem, enabled them to set survey response rate and the number of participants who
behavioral boundaries, communicate better with their reported watching many episodes. The authors believe that
children, learn how to discipline and become more aware of these respondents may therefore have been “already
what constitutes positive parenting. Again, belief that predisposed” to the show.
techniques were helpful was stronger among certain
subgroups. Although the figure was high in each case, ´
(A precis of the article “Reality television (Supernanny): a social
slightly more who watched for education purposes considered marketing ‘place’ strategy”. Supplied by Marketing Consultants
the information useful than those wanting to be entertained. for Emerald.)

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