A comparison of values in infomercials and commercials
Corporate Communications: An International Journal
ISSN: 1356-3289
Article publication date: 1 March 2002
Abstract
The study compared values represented in infomercials with values represented in conventional commercials. A total of 318 infomercials and 861 commercials broadcast in Israel in the late 1990s were coded to examine the prominence of value systems and of specific values. Of the three value systems examined – functionalism, hedonism and altruism – functionalism was over three times more frequent in infomercials than in commercials, and altruism was over three times more frequent in commercials than in infomercials. The frequency of hedonism in commercials was 25 percent greater than it was in infomercials. Joy, the most prominent value in commercials, ranked only third in infomercials. Overall, the results show that in spite of the fact that the infomercials are longer than the commercials, they present a more limited selection of values. Infomercials repeatedly mention only the product’s price, its basic qualities and its obvious uses.
Keywords
Citation
Hetsroni, A. and Asya, I. (2002), "A comparison of values in infomercials and commercials", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 34-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/13563280210416026
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited