Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-1998

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Communication

Major Professor

Dhyana Ziegler

Committee Members

Benjamin Bates, Jeff Wilkinson, Carol Tenopir

Abstract

The evolution of the Internet has had an impact on traditional media. The growth of the Internet has prompted many media companies to investigate how they can capitalize on the numbers of people now browsing the World Wide Web. Previous communications research has found that people use various media for various reasons. Aspects of academic research have been used to study how people use the media. Companies that own radio and television stations have responded to the introduction of this new technology by adopting the Web. More specifically, radio stations have incorporated this new technology into their broadcast operations. Approximately 4,000 radio stations have developed web sites. Many of these stations have produced web sites without the aid of research that could help explain why people are visiting these sites. This study was designed to assess how people use radio station web sites and examine the possibility of a relationship existing between the time people spend browsing and their future use of these sites. This exploratory study, examining visitors of radio station web sites, was guided by the following questions; (1) Who is visiting radio station web sites? (2) Why do people visit radio station web sites? (3) Is there a relationship between visiting radio station web sites and listening to radio and interacting with radio stations? An online survey was placed on a sample of U.S. Rock and Classic Rock radio web sites and garnered 1,752 respondents. The study found seven basic reasons why people visit radio station web sites. The study also found a linear relationship between the time spent visiting radio station web sites and visiting more radio station web sites, listening to the radio, and contacting radio stations to request songs and enter contests.

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