The Influence of Moderators' Personality on Radio Listeners' Flow Experience and the Mediating Role of Parasocial Interactions

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session III
  In Interactive Paper Session: Information Systems Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

As the success of a radio station is measured not only by the number of listeners but also by the time the listeners stick to the program, it is of central importance to ask if (and how) the moderator's personality contributes to bond listeners as long as possible. Obviously, listeners will hardly switch to another radio station as long as they are in a state of flow. The paper assumes an influence of radio moderators' personality on listeners' flow experience. An experiment was conducted, with 236 participants listening to radio programs presented by different moderators. Results show that there is a relation between moderators' personality and listerners' flow experience which is mediated by affective parasocial interactions.

Authors

• Benedikt Spangardt, U of Wuerzburg

• Holger Schramm, U of Wuerzburg