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Abstract:
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America has become addicted to television. The average 18-year-old has seen 22,000 hours of TV, and adults of every age, race, sex, social class, and geographical location watch TV for news, education, and entertainment. Because of this, TV has become the most common source of socialization, meaning viewers learn social values, norms, sex roles, and behaviors from the shows they watch. After applying the socialization, social learning, and cultivation theories to television viewing, it is apparent that viewers learn to accept the world of TV programming as reality and thus behave according to that reality. TV programs use product placements and an overwhelming percentage of affluent characters to promote materialism and a consumerist ethic, which leads to buying behavior in viewers. This thesis studies the relationship between TV viewing and consumer behavior. More specifically, it identifies a directional correlation between the TV shows consumers watch and the products they choose or desire to purchase, and discusses the possibility that TV socializes men and women differently as consumers. An experiment was conducted using a popular, product placement-ridden TV program to show how program content affects viewers' purchasing decisions. |