A study examined the influence of viewers' backgrounds on their interpretation of "associational montage" in television advertising (editing which seeks to imply an analogy between the product and a juxtaposed image possessing desirable qualities). Subjects, 32 television professionals from two urban television stations and 95 customers of an urban video rental store (57 with a college education and 38 without), viewed either a narrative or a non-narrative television advertisement containing an associational montage. Subjects were interviewed immediately after viewing the commercials to explore their interpretations of these visual devices. Results indicated that awareness of the analogies implied by the editing was highest among the viewers with television production backgrounds and lowest among the high-school-educated viewers. (RS)