Researchers, Bread Company Explore Attitudes Toward Ex-Offenders

A multidisciplinary research team from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, investigated how messages about a fresh start might improve public attitudes toward individuals with a criminal background.

Knowing from prior research that the US perspective often associates drug addiction with a blemished character, the team of UT researchers hypothesized that framing a messaging campaign in terms of the fresh start mindset might counteract the blaming attitude that can make people feel less inclined to help addicts and ex-offenders.

To test their theories, the teamā€”marketing doctoral student Tyler Milfeld of Wichita, Kansas, and Dan Flint, Regal Professor of Marketing in UTā€™s Haslam College of Business, and Eric Haley, DeForrest Jackson Professor in the College of Communication and Informationā€”partnered with Daveā€™s Killer Bread.

Read the rest of the article on the University of Tennessee news site.