THE ROLE OF PERSONAL VALUES AND DEMOGRAPHICS IN PREDICTING TELEVISIONVIEWING BEHAVIOR - IMPLICATIONS FOR THEORY AND APPLICATION

This study investigates the influence of values on the particular beha vior of television viewing, but within the context of other variables, specifically, the demographic variables of gender, age, income, and e ducation. Using a path analytic framework this study supports the posi tion that the relationship of values to behaviors needs to be investig ated in the context of other relevant variables; findings of studies i nvestigating the simple bivariate relationships of values and behavior can be misleading. In this study, the inclusion of the direct relatio nships between demographics and behaviors in the model reduced some ef fects of values on television viewing to nonsignificance, but also rev ealed significant values-viewing relationships that had appeared to be nonsignificant when the direct effects of demographics were excluded from the model. Discussion addresses the implications of the model for values research and the relationship of values to television viewing behavior. implications for segmentation and targeting are also discuss ed.