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Summary Media Entertainment (S_ME)
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Complete summary of the course "Media Entertainment" that is offered at the VU. Thus, lecture notes and summaries of the mandatory articles
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Media EntertainmentOliver (2009) – Chapter 11 Entertainment
Entertainment isn’t something of the recent times, it can be traced back all the way to Ancient
Greece, or Egypt. Nowadays, nearly any content, or any format or presentation, and any medium
can be seen as a form of entertainment. Note that nowadays there is a great focus on electronic
forms of entertainment. This chapter will discuss the history of Media Entertainment all the way to
now.
The two questions that we ask ourselves surrounding ME are:
- What variables predict people’s entertainment selections and preferences?
- What variables play and concepts play a pivotal role in the enjoyment of entertainment?
One of the most important ways that ME is assessed is through means and gratifications. Which
bluntly means, how do consumers choose their medium based on what they need and to what
extent can the media successfully address these needs. Herzog for example classified problem
solving, escapism, and emotional release as characteristics of radio soap opera listeners. Lazarsfeld
found that people like radio shows that challenges its listeners into some form of competition. Haas
et al. found that media was by far the best medium to overcoming loneliness.
Besides these general gratifications, research has also deep dived into the gratifications of the
content of the medium message. We now know that people who watch more aggressive TV show
have a natural tendency to be more aggressive themselves. While uses and gratifications has been a
helpful measurement method for quite a while, it does come with its fair share of criticism. Namely,
how good and valid is it for someone to report his or her own motivation.
Mood management measurement has taken a different path. With mood management it is argued
that one factor influencing entertainment selection is individual’s tendencies to arrange their
environment to manage their moods or affective states. Thus, people choose their form of
entertainment to uplift their positive mood and get rid of the negative one.
Some media characteristics that help regulate these moods are:
- Arousing potential – can help with overarousal (stress) as well as underarousal (boredom)
- Hedonic valance – whether the message is more positive or negative
- Behavioural affinity – whether the message fits the mood of the consumer
- Absorbing potential – message may successfully distract the consumer
Research has matched overarousal with a greater likelihood of watching something more stimulating
as well, premenstrual-cycle women are more likely to watch comedies than those in their cycle, and
negative moods are more likely to listen to upbeat music. However, do note that there is some
contrary research available where these (sometimes surprising) effects are questioned.
After discussing entertainment predictors, we will now discuss the element of enjoyment. Note that
this doesn’t necessarily mean that it is only valid when the evoked emotion is “joy”. It can also evoke
sadness, but it evokes some sort of emotion on a metalevel that could be joy. Note that this section
talk about everything relating to what happens before, during and after consuming the
entertainment.
Disposition theory suggests that viewers typically use moral considerations in forming judgements
about the “goodness” or “badness” of characters. After these dispositions have been formed, it is
argued that the consumer experiences a greater enjoyment when the “good” character experiences
positive things and the “negative” character negative things. For example, most people enjoy it
,when a victim escapes from the torturer, this is the excitation transfer. They experience joy because
their good character has experienced something good. Additionally, this enjoyment is heightened by
the previously experienced anxiety surrounding the character. Note that when consumers form their
predisposition beforehand and it is contrasted later, they’re more forgiving, so it will take longer for
the consumer to see a good character become bad.
Transportation refers to engagement in a story or plot in a narrative world to such an extent that the
reader (or viewer) becomes lost in the story and is unaware of his or her immediate surroundings.
The consumer is fully emerged into the mental world.
Consumers might consume media for its hedonic purpose of pleasure, but they might do it for more
eudaimonic motivations (truth seeking). The latter looks at the cognitive stimulus of entertainment.
Note that this can play an important role in media consumption preference and enjoyment. This
could explain the individual differences based on the need for cognition, self-reflectiveness, and
search for meaning in life.
The future of ME:
- The new and evolving landscape offers greater potential for selectivity
- … this has as consequence greater opportunities of interactivity
- Additionally, consumers have greater mobility and are no longer bound to a tv
Eden (2017) – Entertainment effects: Enjoyment
Enjoyment is investigated through the primary gratification as well as a reward pattern that
stimulates consumption. After all, it is hard to find a media platform that doesn’t have enjoyment as
central principle. Enjoyment is most often defined as: “A pleasurable response to media use”. This
paper will define some central milestones as well as give some modern-day examples.
That we now see enjoyment as a positive thing of entertainment is something new, ancient Greece
only looked at the dangers of entertaining a crowd. It wasn’t until the 70s that researchers really
became interested in the enjoyment side of entertainment. Zillmann and his students were the first
to truly dive into this subject of enjoyment, they came up with a stream of theories:
Excitation transfer theory
One positive attribute that the consumer has attached to a character after a positive event might
transfer (linger) to the next less positive event. If a character escapes, the positive arousal will linger
for a while after (enjoyment)
Three-factor theory of empathy
This gives more information about the underlying (non-influential) cognitive processes behind
enjoyment. In this theory empathy is described as: “Any experience that is a response to (a)
information about circumstances presumed to cause acute emotions in another individual and/or (b)
to the facial and bodily expression of emotional experiences of another individual and/or (c) to
another individual’s behaviours presumed to be precipitated by acute emotional experiences that
(d) is associated with an appreciable increase in excitation, and that (e) respondents construe as
feeling with or feeling for another individual. With this definition he comnbined the past inferences
about empathy, namely, that it is reflexive (automatic), learned (conditioned), and a deliberate
process.
Disposition theory/affective disposition theory
This theory was formed because they questioned why humans find it funny when something
negative or painful happens to a character on screen. They found that we for predispositions
,towards a character. Then, the more intense the negative disposition toward the disparaged agent
or entity, the greater the magnitude of the humour response will be. Second, The more intense the
positive disposition toward the disparaged agent or entity, the less the magnitude of humour
response will be. This can be transferred to sporting games, we derive more enjoyment when we like
the winning team way more than we like the losing team. If something happens to a positively
viewed character, we laugh out of sympathy or in sporting teams we wish for something negative to
happen to the other team. To mend our somewhat broken moral grounds we often make up a
backstory/drama in our minds to justify this breach of moral values.
Mood management theory (+ selective exposure)
Why do we watch certain things when we’re in certain moods? This theory is based on the following
assumptions: (1) humans strive to get rid of their negative moods or at least reduce them and (2)
strive to hold on to the positive moods for as long as possible.
We now jump towards the 1990s. Bosshart and Macconi still define enjoyment in terms of pleasure
but also argue that it is composed of: a physical system, a psychological system, and a social system.
The physical system can be found in appliances such as VR, the psychological system includes
personality, and the social system can be found in social coexistence with others. Together, they
form the reception phenomena of enjoyment. This new approach shows that it is no longer just
about liking something but that there are more components that influence our thinking, such as
non-narrative components. Vorderer emphasized these findings in his article.
In 2004 a special issue from Communication Theory came out that fully focused on the concept of
enjoyment. Nabi and Krcmar started by distinguishing liking from enjoyment, suggesting that liking is
merely a reaction to something, and enjoyment is more of a holistic, full, experience. Enjoyment is
thus not an attitude. Vorderer et al. described enjoyment as a “pleasant experiential state”. Moving
away from it just being positive and engaging the all-encompassing experience media can give.
Sherry closed the journal with an article about enjoyment flow. This explores the perfect balance
that producers try to make between challenging the consumers as well as keeping it entertainable.
Think of video games.
Nowadays, researchers are intrigued by enjoyment as a motivational source. We “need” enjoyment
and will therefore look for it. This need can be divided into hedonic (physiologically based needs)
and nonhedonic (eudaimonic) needs. The derived enjoyment also differs, enjoyment vs.
appreciation. To this differentiation, a new definition is needed for enjoyment: “A positive valuation
stemming from unconscious processes in which all intrinsic needs are satisfied (or at least those
needs which are dominantly salient) through intuitive response, and there is no unsatisfied need to
impede the evaluation of the experience as positive.” Hartmann specified that media exposure will
be enjoyable if it allows users to balance their physiological states and replenish exhausted
resources. Even negative media sources can be enjoyed if it challenges the consumers correctly.
But how can we measure enjoyment accurately? By self-reporting? There are 20-item scales
available. Maybe through brain imaging is better because it does not rely on self-reporting
measures. It looks at the synchronization of the stimulus and the brain.
Lecture 1
You can't define ME by the medium
You can’t define ME by the content → too subjective
You can't define ME by the emotions
All in all, it is hard to draw conclusions due to the subjectivity.
, Media Entertainment is a form of coping with reality. An activity that is most often characterized by
different forms of pleasure, but – in certain situations – also by unpleasant aspects. It is an
intrinsically motivated action that usually leads to a temporary change in perceived reality and that
is repeated quite often by people who are, during this process, less intellectually vivid.
Krcmar (2017) – Uses and Gratifications: Basic Concepts
Uses and gratifications theory was the first in its kind that looked at the consumers’ choice
behaviours. Why did they choose X with the available options XYZ. Research took it further by
associating it to selective exposure. Rubin was the first to add TV to the mix with its 9 uses:
relaxation, companionship, habit, passing time, entertainment, social interaction, information,
arousal, and escape. However, these turned out to be unreliable in predicting consumer behaviour.
Lin only found 3, Abelman and Atkin found 5. All in all, Rubin argued for two types of viewing:
ritualistic and instrumental.
Ritualistic viewing is defined as: “A more or less habitualized use of a medium to gratify diversionary
needs or motives.” Whereas instrumental viewing is defined as: “A goal-directed use of media
content to gratify informational needs or motives.” Habitual viewers will watch more TV for the
affectional benefits, but informative viewers will watch more actively.
Note that there is a difference between gratifications sought and gratifications obtained. We could
feel lonelier after watching a movie even though our initial goals was to find companionship. You
might even see it as media needs and outcomes.
The typology has also come a long way from when uses and gratifications theory was first spoken of.
Namely, we used to speak of TV functions but that is no longer applicable to modern-day
technology. This is why we now speak of TV motives. Another point of criticism can be found in the
measurement department, how do we measure the gratifications that are obtained? This has
previously been discussed.
The research that has been done on individual differences can be divided into the following three
groups:
1. Studies relating personality to exposure to media
More outgoing, less exposure to media
2. Studies relating personality to exposure to content
Spontaneous + horror, neurotic + news
3. Studies relating personality to viewing motives
Voyeurism more likely to watch fiction and reality programming
Males with high levels of sensation seeking are more likely to listen to heavy metal music and also
more likely to watch violent shows. This shows us that personality is greatly connected to our media
consumption behaviours.
In recent years, moderators of the media effects have also received more attention. Namely, Rubin
found that instrumental motives predicted a greater perceived realism of news by audiences.
Additionally, when one has more instrumental motives to watch TV, the affinity and involvement
behaves accordingly (greater). Thus, motives do not only influence what we consume, but also what
we get out of the exposure. Other scientists argue for a mediating of the effects. For example, by
gender or age. For example, when we get older, we might use media more for instrumental
motivations than habitual.
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