What Negative Content and a Tabloid Production Style Contribute to the Success of Television News

• In Event: Studies of Message Properties

Abstract

This study is the first to test the impact of negative news content and tabloid packaging on viewing behavior among different demographic subsamples of the population, in a controlled experiment, using a behavioral measure. A web-based experiment among 190 participants was conducted in which participants were given limited time to spend watching a maximum of 16 audiovisual news stories that varied in content (neutral versus negative stories) and packaging (standard versus tabloid stories). The viewing time per news story was the dependent variable. Results shows that the presence of negative content is by far the most important contribution to the viewing time. However, tabloid packaging also matters, and the same applies to age and gender of the viewers: Each of these variables provides a qualification of the impact that negative content has.

Authors

• Paul G. HendriksVettehen, Radboud U Nijmegen

• Mariska Kleemans, Radboud University Nijmegen