1991/12/01 by AUGUST E. GRANT, August E. Grant, K. KENDALL GUTHRIE +3 · 264 citations
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Advertising #Business #Computer science #Dependency (UML) #Hierarchy #Marketing #Mass media #Media Influence and Health #Media Studies and Communication #Media system dependency theory #Media, Gender, and Advertising #Phenomenon #Political science #Psychology #Sample (material) #Service (business)
paper · doi:10.1177/009365091018006004
published in Communication Research 18(6), 773-798 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 1991/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/16
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.