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1 – 10 of over 7000Shradha Kabra, Sumanjit Dass and Sapna Popli
Reality television is a dynamic, profit-making platform that occupies prime-time slots on the television almost all over the world. Despite its immense popularity and influence…
Abstract
Purpose
Reality television is a dynamic, profit-making platform that occupies prime-time slots on the television almost all over the world. Despite its immense popularity and influence, it has received little attention in the extant literature and almost none in terms of its impact on celebrity repositioning. This study aims at examining the relationship between the film stars as brands and the impact of the platform of reality television in repositioning these celebrities in the Indian context.
Design/methodology/approach
Through extensive literature review and qualitative interviews, the paper expounds that reality television provides an opportunity to celebrities to successfully reposition themselves at crucial junctures in their career. The framework to study this repositioning has been adopted from the work of Chris Simms and Paul Trott (2007) who created it to study the brand repositioning of various consumer goods.
Findings
The literature establishes celebrities as brands. This study provides evidence that brand repositioning through reality television is possible for these celebrity brands. The symbolic and functional repositioning of these celebrities is presented through thematic content analysis.
Research limitations/implications
The study provides a useful framework to understand celebrity brand repositioning through reality TV. It can also be replicated to understand the repositioning of a wide variety of celebrities other than film-stars such as sportspersons, social media influencers and politicians.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the need of expanding the corpus of Indian reality television and explains how Indian celebrities reposition themselves through reality television.
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Donna Winham and Jeffrey S. Hampl
Social cognitive theory (SCT) suggests that the observation of role models prompts the formation of beliefs that will govern future behaviors. The paper's objective is to explore…
Abstract
Purpose
Social cognitive theory (SCT) suggests that the observation of role models prompts the formation of beliefs that will govern future behaviors. The paper's objective is to explore the perceived influence of television media on feelings about eating habits, body image, clothing styles, and physical attractiveness attributes by high schools students in terms of SCT.
Design/methodology/approach
Data on attitudes and perceptions were collected using an online survey of a convenience sample of high school students (n=467) to determine influence of television media characters on behaviors.
Findings
The results of this survey suggest that high school students do not indiscriminately model behaviors depicted by television programs, but may selectively incorporate some views that fit with their reality such as the importance of attractiveness in romantic partners, but not influences of clothing styles or eating habits.
Research limitations/implications
Recognition of the fictional quality of television characters does not refute that they have influence on the high school respondents, but it does suggest some degree of cognitive recognition about the lack of reality of television characters. The convenience sample of adolescents may be more media‐savvy than others because of associations with high‐school journalism programs.
Originality/value
High school students do not indiscriminately model behaviors depicted by television programs, but may selectively incorporate some views that fit with their reality in accordance with SCT.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the cultivation effects of television advertising viewing on the perceived affluence in society and the materialistic value orientations…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the cultivation effects of television advertising viewing on the perceived affluence in society and the materialistic value orientations among adolescents in urban and rural China.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper shows that a survey of 646 adolescents aged 11 to 17, in Guangzhou City, and in a rural county of Henan Province, was conducted in 2006. Constructs were measured using established scales.
Findings
Television advertising viewing demonstrated first‐ and second‐order cultivation effects among urban as well as rural respondents. Heavy television advertising viewers were more likely to have a higher perceived affluence than light television advertising viewers. Heavy television advertising viewers were also more materialistic than light television advertising viewers. When television‐advertising viewing was controlled, urban respondents had a higher perceived affluence, while rural respondents had a higher level of materialism.
Research limitations/implications
Students in grades 7 and 8 were examined only. A convenient sampling method was adopted. The city selected for the study is highly advanced in terms of economical and advertising development compared with most other Chinese cities.
Practical implications
Rural adolescents did not hold strong beliefs about prevalence of affluence in society. Popularity appeal may not be a fruitful marketing communication strategy for durable goods for them. Different marketing communication strategies should be adopted for the urban and rural adolescents as target audience.
Originality/value
The paper is a pioneer work on the study of consumption values of adolescents in urban and rural China.
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The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it investigates the relationship between television, its audiences and Twitter around the creation of social TV events. Here it…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it investigates the relationship between television, its audiences and Twitter around the creation of social TV events. Here it contributes to knowledge by charting usage in relation to different types of programmes and by comparing Twitter to Facebook data. Second, it evaluates the way in which student-led research can be used to conduct audience studies with the help of Twitter.
Design/methodology/approach
The research applies a quantitative approach, measuring the volume of Twitter messages before, during and after two different types of television programmes, i.e. Reality TV (The X Factor and The Only Way is Essex) and sports broadcasts (football and Formula One). Brief comparisons are also drawn with data collected from Facebook. The pedagogical evaluation of the research is based on self-reflection by the author/tutor.
Findings
The research established similar trends and patterns of viewer engagement for both types of television programming, with key activity during and towards the end of a broadcast which points to viewers using Twitter, or Facebook, while watching the event. The findings are compared to previous studies on television programmes and Twitter use. The study also identified that student research using Twitter can lead to a valuable learning experience as it allows students to use their own knowledge of social media to inform the research process.
Originality/value
This research makes a contribution to the small yet growing body of studies examining Twitter activity in relation to TV events. It also contributes to knowledge on the educational use of social media by providing an account of how Twitter can be applied as a research tool by students.
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The increasing frequency with which food and beverage producers feature in mainstream media, including television cooking shows, provide opportunities and pitfalls for using media…
Abstract
Purpose
The increasing frequency with which food and beverage producers feature in mainstream media, including television cooking shows, provide opportunities and pitfalls for using media to promote artisan food and beverage businesses. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate these, as experienced by a group of food and beverage producers who appeared on the popular Australian television show, Gourmet Farmer.
Design/methodology/approach
Findings are based on semi-structured interviews with 14 of the producers featured on the show, plus textual analysis of relevant segments of the show.
Findings
While all of the producers felt that food television offered a good promotional tool, those who were most familiar with the practices of media production and whose businesses offered experiences through which viewers could access (or imagine) a “taste” of the Gourmet Farmer life tended to be more satisfied than those who were less familiar with the practices of media production and who expected a greater focus on their products and production practices.
Practical implications
The development of media skills is essential for artisan producers to get the best outcomes when using media to promote their businesses.
Originality/value
The experiences of food and beverage producers using food television to promote their businesses have not previously been the subject of thoroughgoing research. This paper offers new insights into how artisan producers can best capitalize on the opportunities offered by food media.
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The transfer of management knowledge is usually seen as a formal process involving business schools, training courses and books. This paper aims to investigate the managerial…
Abstract
Purpose
The transfer of management knowledge is usually seen as a formal process involving business schools, training courses and books. This paper aims to investigate the managerial content of TV drama programmes, considering the mechanisms that determine this and showing how this changes over time. The paper also shows how the content forms part of management discourse and how it may be used by viewers to understand what good and bad managers do and to modify their behaviour accordingly.
Design/methodology/approach
Two links are discussed: between the economic system and cultural products and between cultural products and the individual. Police drama series are used as an example to show how current management practices are mediated through popular culture and how they are legitimised.
Findings
The management styles and practices observed in police drama series have changed over the past 40 years to reflect the most recent trends. Bureaucratic management styles are shown in a negative light, whereas teamwork is shown positively. New trends such as the heavy use of consultants are also represented in recent programmes, providing evidence of how popular culture can make management practices part of managerial discourse.
Originality/value
Films and TV programmes are analysed by management scholars, but usually to illustrate a particular theme. This paper does not take the managerial content as a given but identifies mechanisms through which it is determined and shows how it changes. Additionally, it shows the relationship between content and viewer. It provides evidence of the role of popular culture in the transfer of management knowledge and of how management related contents change over time.
The public fascination for private investigators has led to an abundance of imagery in popular culture media. This study aims to examine the views of practising private…
Abstract
Purpose
The public fascination for private investigators has led to an abundance of imagery in popular culture media. This study aims to examine the views of practising private investigators regarding their professional images of dirty work.
Design/methodology/approach
To fill the gap in the literature, this study used data collected from semi-structured interviews with 33 industry practitioners from 3 Australian states. The paper investigates private investigator’s perceptions about themselves/job roles and the public perceptions of private investigators in Australia. Interviews were recorded and transcripts created. A thematic analysis of the interview transcripts was undertaken.
Findings
Private investigators were drawn from a range of professions, including public policing and government regulation. The findings indicate that the reality differs from the images typically portrayed in popular culture. Interviewees discussed the contrasts between media images and reality, providing a more complex portrayal of private investigation and what private investigators find satisfying and challenging about their work.
Practical implications
This study is helpful for improving the understanding of private policing, the media views of policing, those who conduct work within an environment considered to be tainted and their views of self.
Originality/value
Using a qualitative research design, this paper offers insights into the challenges facing private investigators and how they reconcile being in a tainted occupation with providing a necessary service to the community.
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The objective of this paper is to recognize the richness in exploring the inter‐linkages between accounting and popular culture. Such an investigation should reap returns in not…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this paper is to recognize the richness in exploring the inter‐linkages between accounting and popular culture. Such an investigation should reap returns in not only furthering an understanding of accounting, but also the ways and means in which notions of accountability and audit permeate our everyday lives. In addition, it attempts to capture the significant transformative influence of accounting, and calculative practices more generally, in the actual shaping of the contours of the cultural context. Finally, it briefly introduces the six papers in this AAAJ special issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on literature from the fields of both accounting and cultural studies to set out a theoretically informed framework for the future examination of the myriad ways in which accounting is entwined with the popular.
Findings
The paper argues a case for the study of accounting within the domain of popular culture, proposes two theoretical lenses from which to examine the inter‐linkages between these two disciplines, and presents a diverse range of research possibilities for further scholarly inquiry in the field.
Originality/value
Traditionally regarded as trivial and unworthy of academic attention, research into the regular rituals that pervade the everyday is now a legitimate field of scholarly inquiry among social and cultural theorists. Accounting researchers, however, have remained relatively aloof from this general trend, preferring to seek solace in the sphere of the corporation rather than the coffee shop. This paper is novel in that it attempts to broaden the scope of accounting scholarship into the new domain of popular culture.
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Drawing upon the existing theoretical and empirical sourced knowledge of aesthetic labour and gender, this paper aims to explore the exploitation of women’s aesthetic labour in…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing upon the existing theoretical and empirical sourced knowledge of aesthetic labour and gender, this paper aims to explore the exploitation of women’s aesthetic labour in the Chinese airline industry and the underlying causes from a contextual point of view.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study has emerged from a broader research project which aimed to explore women’s experiences of work-family conflict and their career aspirations in the Chinese airline industry in which aesthetic labour was prevalent as a significant issue during semi-structured interviews with female employees and HR/line management. Thus, the study draws upon interview data focusing on recruitment and selection of flight attendants in three Chinese airlines. This is complemented by secondary sources of data from Chinese television programmes and job advertisements.
Findings
This study reveals that aesthetics is both gendered and context-bound. It exposes that aesthetic labour in Chinese airlines is demanded from women but not men. It highlights that gendered aesthetic labour is continuously shaped by four influential contextual issues – legislation, labour market practices, national culture and airline management practices.
Originality/value
By uncovering the dynamic interconnectedness of gender and aesthetics and illustrating the exploitation of women’s aesthetic labour for commercial gains in Chinese airlines, this paper contributes to the understanding of the gendered aesthetics in the airline industry. It also offers new insights into the theory of aesthetic labour by locating it in a context that differs significantly from other socio-cultural contexts.
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The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness of the benefits of using video in research, especially for studies involving young children.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness of the benefits of using video in research, especially for studies involving young children.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper points out the benefits of the use of video‐based research.
Findings
The paper suggests that video‐based research can work alongside traditional research techniques – by adding a camera researchers can record and document non ‐verbal responses, allowing much more data to be captured and analysed, from facial expression to a plethora of emotions. The implications of using video in research are beneficial to both the researchers and respondents alike. Video has a very high response rate – respondents reply to an innovative approach and seize the opportunity to climb on to the closest thing they have to a real life soapbox. Young consumers, who can find it difficult to articulate their thoughts in other forms of research, can be observed and understood much more easily through video. Video research also has the possibility to transform not only the way research is conducted, but also the image of the MR industry. By updating research techniques to include video one can change the perceptions consumers have of the practice and increase the speed at which research is delivered and the amount of people with whom it is shared.
Originality/value
It is more memorable and safer to have visual evidence of consumers rather than relying on mental pictures; as face‐to‐face contact research dwindles with the rise of e‐research this paper will be of value to anyone looking to find ways to tackle the problem of the faceless consumer.
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