BUYING FROM A FRIEND - A CONTENT-ANALYSIS OF 2 TELESHOPPING PROGRAMS

A preliminary study was conducted to content-analyze random samples of two teleshopping programs (The Fashion Channel and Quality Value Conv enience Network), using a measure of content interactivity and a locus of control message index. QVC spent more time in high parasocial inte raction as well as low interaction, while The Fashion Channel was high est on medium interaction. QVC also offered significantly more externa l positive and negative messages than The Fashion Channel. Based on th e indications of previous research, it appears that QVC was better tai loring its message for its intended target audience than The Fashion C hannel was at the time of the study.