Recent advances in networking technology have led to a paradigm shift in broadcast media. The entry of the Internet as a form of popular media means that traditional media are now seeking to transform themselves in a bid for survival. Changes in media broadcasting methods have made the spread and acquisition of information faster and easier. Today¡¦s youth of the E-generation live in an economically stable and technologically advanced society. Changes in society, politics and the traditional family structure have made youths an increasingly important market as their buying power and influence on family decisions have increased.
The goal of this study is to discover how the subjects of this study utilize various types of media. Media utilization includes their media preferences, utilization frequency and duration as well as where they use it most often. Beyond utilization, the study goes on to examine and categorize the subjects¡¦ lifestyle and media utilization motives. The study then seeks to discover if there are any links between the subjects¡¦ lifestyles and their media utilization motives. Finally, the study examines the question of ¡§Do different lifestyles or media utilization motives lead to differences in media utilization?¡¨
The subjects of this study were E-generation youths (i.e. young people aged between 13 and 22). Taking into consideration the ease of conducting the survey, information availability and cost, Taipei and Kaohsiung (including their counties and cities) were selected as the regions to be sampled. As for the types of media, the five common forms of TV, newspapers, magazines, the Internet and radio were selected for use in this study into media preferences and usage.
For this study, the collection of samples was carried out in the form of questionnaire surveys in Taipei and Kaohsiung. After the sample data was acquired, the lifestyles and media utilization motives were categorized and labeled. After factor analysis, lifestyle was divided into four categories: ¡§Community Involvement and Socialization¡¨, ¡§Fashionable and Trendy¡¨, ¡§Pro-Active¡¨ and ¡§Internet Home¡¨; media utilization motives were divided into three types, these being: ¡§Need for Entertainment and Peer Acceptance¡¨, ¡§Need to Increase Knowledge and Skills¡¨ and ¡§Need for Fashion Shopping¡¨. Finally the collected data were subjected to statistical analysis using the SPSS 10.0 software in order to validate the study¡¦s various hypotheses.
The results of the study indicated that among youths the media preference was TV first, followed by the Internet. As for frequency of usage, 46.3% of those interviewed used the Internet every day while 41.0% watched TV every day. In terms of duration, those who used the Internet for 5 hours or more made up 24.0% while those who used it for 2 to 4 hours made up 64%. Those who watched TV for 5 hours or more made up 11.6% while those who watched for 2 to 4 hours made up 72.1%. This showed that when it comes to media preferences and utilization, despite youth¡¦s preferences and increasing dependence on the Internet, TV remains an indispensable part of their daily life.
By differentiating amongst the sampling locations of this study, it was found that youths in Taipei used the Internet most, followed by TV; the exact reverse was true for youths in Kaohsiung. This showed that their location and environment affected youths¡¦ media preferences. When youths were classified according to their lifestyle, different lifestyles resulted in media utilization motive variances; different media utilization motives also in turn affected how youths utilized media.
Based on the above conclusions, the Internet and TV currently remain the types of media that youths are willing to use and devote a great deal of time to. Newspaper, magazine and radio by contrast made up a smaller segment with most youths having significantly less contact with these types of media and spending less time even when they do.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0809106-134552 |
| Date | 09 August 2006 |
| Creators | Yang, Yao-Jung |
| Contributors | none, none, none |
| Publisher | NSYSU |
| Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | Cholon |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0809106-134552 |
| Rights | not_available, Copyright information available at source archive |
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