The Role of Personal Values and Demographics in Predicting Television Viewing Behavior: Implications for Theory and Application

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of values on the particular behavior of television viewing, but within the context of other variables, specifically, the demographic variables of gender, age, income, and education. Using a path analytic framework, this study supports the position that the relationship of values to behaviors needs to be investigated in the context of other relevant variables; findings of studies investigating the simple bivariate relationships of values and behavior can be misleading. In this study, the inclusion of the direct relationships between demographics and behaviors in the model reduced some effects of values on television viewing to nonsignificance, but also revealed significant values—viewing relationships that had appeared to be nonsignificant when the direct effects of demographics were excluded from the model. Discussion addresses the implications of the model for values research and the relationship of values to television viewing behavior. Implications for segmentation and targeting are also discussed.