Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Communication researchers have devoted a substantial amount of attention to understanding consumers in media markets. The processes by which audiences select between the various content options available, as well as the mechanisms by which media organizations seek to understand, anticipate, and respond to these choices have traditionally resided at the core of research focusing on media consumers. The study of media consumers fits within the somewhat broader framework of →  audience research and is distinguished by its attention primarily to the economic dimensions of media consumption and the processes by which audiences select media products – as is reflected in the use of the term “consumers” (→  Media Economics ; Exposure to Communication Content ). It is important to emphasize that to speak of media consumers reflects the adoption of a certain perspective on the interaction between media organizations and individuals; one that is, by connotation, primarily commercial or economic in nature. This is, of course, just one of a number of possible lenses through which scholars can examine the complex interactions between media audiences and media content providers. Perspectives that emphasize the cultural or political dimensions of the interaction between content providers and audiences, for example, address vitally important issues that are somewhat outside the bounds of the ... log in or subscribe to read full text