Values and Genre Preferences

Abstract

Content analyses of values within certain genres (see section 2.3.1) suggest that what values are presented on one TV channel, for example, may very well differ across types of programs, times of the day, week or even year. “Channel effects” continue to influence users in their choices, which could be due to an editorial policy, principally furthering specific values. But most media outlets are probably not that monolithic in terms of the values they display in their programs or stories. Inevitably, even the most conservative medium has to contain some less conservative content—which then may be sought by those who do not feel as conservative as other members of the audience. So, specific programs within media channels should actually be more closely related to one’s values than one’s channel preference. Maybe the role of values for channel preference is dwarfed by their impact on genre preference. This is why in the third step of the analysis I will leave the use of media outlets and its relationship with audience values and turn to a less aggregated level of the mediated offer—content genres within a specific channel.