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Direct marketing, as an avenue for fundraising, provides nonprofit organizations with the ability to fulfill their missions and donors the opportunity to support a worthy cause. There are concerns, however, when sophisticated marketing practices target potentially at-risk consumers. Demographic studies clearly show that the percentage of elderly Americans, aged 65 and over, is rising with a corollary increase in the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. These facts suggest this may be a group whose defining characteristics make them especially vulnerable. This exploratory study identifies and qualifies persuasive tactics used by several linked nonprofit organizations targeting one elderly Alzheimer’s victim over a 14-month period. The carefully designed direct mail solicitations utilize appeals that engender low elaboration likelihood and peripheral route processing. In addition, there is some evidence that even those appeals that might encourage high elaboration likelihood become heuristic cues for individuals with cognitive decrease. Taken together, the incorporation of multiple tactics within each solicitation, an approach referred to here as shotgunning, may have significant implications for future research and practice in communication, ethics, and public policy.

Teacher classroom communication affects learning and is purported to influence student attitudes. The supposition of influence on attitudes and beliefs has recently fueled controversy with regard to teachers' roles in the liberalizing influence of higher education. The empirical study of perceptions of teacher communication is foundational to building this understanding particularly with regard to the influence of teacher self-disclosure on both learning and influence. Teacher self-disclosure is an integral part of building interpersonal relationships and appearing immediate to students, both of which have been shown to improve student outcomes. Teacher training would greatly profit from research indicating how instructors could purposefully use self-disclosure to benefit students. To this end, a two-part study was undertaken surveying both students and teachers. The results of the study indicated that there are positive outcomes of teacher self-disclosure in building interpersonal classroom relationships which build immediacy and thereby improve learning. In addition, it appears as though students and teachers perceive teacher self-disclosure quite differently in its scope and purpose that may cause some miscommunication and negative judgments.