Affluenza: Television Use and Cultivation of Materialism
Date Issued
November 1, 2001
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Abstract
The cultivation theory claims that central messages of television become accepted views of reality among heavy viewers. The researcher conducted 2 secondary analyses to determine whether a correlation exists between heavy TV viewing and materialist values. The first analysis was of Simmons Market Research Bureau 1996 data, which included 21,594 respondents. Twenty-nine questions regarding materialistic values were compared with TV viewing, heavy to light quintiles regarding prime-time, daytime, and cable TV viewing. No significant correlations emerged.
Recommended Citation
Harmon, M. D. (2001). Affluenza: Television Use and Cultivation of Materialism. Mass Communication and Society, 4(4), 405-418. doi:10.1207/S15327825MCS0404_5
Embargo Date
June 23, 2010