A Marketplace Theory of Media Use

Abstract

This study articulates a theory of media use that, with the proliferation and diversification of the mass media, conceptualizes news coverage as a commodity or product. From marketing to mass communication, we extend a conceptual framework of product purchase, articulating 4 determinants of attitude toward newspaper (A N ), which, in turn, influences newspaper readership. Determinants of A N are news credibility, attitude toward diversity aspects of journalism, attitude toward financial aspects of journalism, and individual differences. The study, using a well-fitting structural equation model, demonstrates the role that each of these measures plays in predicting media use and, furthermore, validates the applicability of the marketplace theory of media use. The model was tested with data from a telephone survey of 803 adults in a large California urban center.

Credibility Perceptions of News Coverage of Ethnic Groups: The Predictive Roles of Race and News Use

“…Furthermore, the authors found support for a more complex model in which believability influenced reliance, which influenced exposure. Beaudoin and Thorson (2002) considered the relationship between news use and perceived credibility in a step-like manner, as well. They demonstrated that perceived credibility of minority and mainstream news coverage influenced newspaper readership via the mediation of attitude toward the newspaper.…”

“…In a more recent study, Beaudoin and Thorson (2002) articulated a model in which newspaper readership is predicted by minority-specific measures of news credibility and media norms. A second stream of research has positioned media credibility as a dependent variable, one that can rise from news use, demographics, and other variables.…”

A Comparison of Environmental Pollution Coverage in the Mainstream, African American, and Other Alternative Press

“…Indeed, as mass media continue to multiply, some contend that newspapers should become more ëproduct likeí and employ a marketplace theory (Beaudoin & Thorson, 2002). Critics of this practice assert that by crafting content specifically for readers of a particular market, journalism is ignoring a basic social responsibility function (Bagdikian, 2000).…”

Exploring factors affecting Chinese readers’ decisions on purchasing: American shelter titles in China

“…Beaudoin and Thorson (2002) contended that as the mass media continue to proliferate and diversify, they become more "product like", and with the passage of time media use can be compared with and thought about analogously to how product and brand choice are understood. The study thus formulates a conceptual framework of product purchase, articulating four determinants of attitude toward newspapers, which, in turn, influences newspaper readership.…”

“…Addressing the commoditization trend of news products with increasing proliferation and diversification of the mass media, Beaudoin and Thorson (2002) in their attempt to develop a marketplace theory of media use translated the AAD model into a model of AN--attitude toward newspapers ( Figure 2). In this model, four determinants--news credibility, attitude toward diversity aspects of journalism, attitude toward financial aspects of journalism, and individual differences--are expected to predict AN, which, in turn, "is expected to influence newspaper readership" (p. 247).…”