Television Shopping

Abstract

The television shopping phenomenon is analyzed in terms of media system dependency theory. The analysis begins with a discussion of potential changes in structural relationships within the media system introduced by television shopping. We discuss how these structural changes imply changes in microlevel dependency relations. A hierarchy of dependency relations is proposed, with television dependency leading to dependency upon a genre of TV programming and, ultimately, to the development of parasocial relationships with the hosts of specific programs. Using measures of television dependency, parasocial interaction, demographic variables, and buying behavior, a model is proposed and tested upon a random sample of viewer-buyers from a major television shopping service to explain the relationships among the viewer-buyer, the television shopping program, and the television medium. Results indicate that genre dependency plays a central role in the pattern of relationships.

SNS users' para-social relationships with celebrities: social media effects on purchase intentions

“…The results are also consistent with findings indicating that para-social relationships with shopping hosts increase purchasing of products or services (Grant et al, 1991).…”

“…That is, consumers want to wear fashions that celebrities wear, consistent with studies of para-social relationships and purchase intentions in online retailer contexts (Song et al (2007) and in television shopping-host contexts (Grant et al, 1991). Attachment to celebrities does not just inspire celebrity adoration or imitation; it also drives consumers to purchase celebrity-promoted products or services.…”

“…Deep para-social relationships between television viewers and shopping program hosts are known to strongly affect consumers' exposure to programs, to enhance their intentions to purchase in response to advertising (Grant, Guthrie, & Ball-Rokeach, 1991;Kim, Ko, & Lee, 2012), to encourage favorable attitudes toward related advertising (Choi & Park, 2011) and to positively affect the frequency of purchase (Park & Lennon, 2004). Beyond the desire to imitate a celebrity by purchasing celebrity-guaranteed products or services, attachments to celebrities indicate trust based on celebrity endorsements.…”

Why We Follow: An Examination of Parasocial Interaction and Fan Motivations for Following Athlete Archetypes on Twitter

“…PSI research over the last 3 decades has examined the relationships between audience members and newscasters (Palmgreen, Wenner, & Rayburn, 1980;Rubin et al, 1985), television performers (Rubin & McHugh, 1987), soap opera characters (Perse & Rubin, 1989;Rubin & Perse, 1987, Sood & Rogers, 2000, and television and radio talk-show hosts (Rubin, Haridakis, & Eyal, 2003;Rubin & Step, 2000). PSI research has also been conducted on television shopping hosts (Grant, Guthrie, & Ball-Rokeach, 1991;Gudelunas, 2006), reality-based television programming (Nabi, Stitt, Halford, & Finnerty, 2006), and print-media sources such as romance novels (Burnett & Beto, 2000).…”

“…Over the last 30-40 years, various constructs have been found to correlate with PSI in traditional-media outlets. Some of the most commonly cited include uncertainty reduction (Perse & Rubin, 1989), social attraction (Rubin & McHugh, 1987), attitude homophily (Turner, 1993), perceived realism (Rubin et al, 1985;Rubin et al, 2003;Rubin & Perse, 1987) affinity (Rubin, 1979;Rubin et al, 1985;Rubin & Perse, 1987), amount of time spent with the medium (Grant et al, 1991), and instrumental media use (Kim & Rubin, 1997;Rubin et al, 1985). In most of the cited studies, these constructs were treated as antecedent conditions to PSI development.…”