Ebersole, Samuel, and Robert Woods. “Motivations for viewing reality television: a uses and gratification analysis.” Southwestern Mass Communication Journal 23, no. 1 (September 2007): 23-42.
Abstract: This survey research examines motives for viewing Reality TV programs. Employing a uses and gratifications approach, this study found five factors that explain program choice preference: personal identification with real characters, entertainment, mood change, pass time, and vicarious participation. The relationships of the aforementioned factors to viewers’ level of TV viewing, affinity for viewing, perceived realism, and parasocial interaction were examined. The study found that Reality TV viewers expand previous notions of ritualized or instrumental viewing categories identified by earlier TV viewer research, and that the interactive nature of Reality TV programming may contribute to the strong sense of personal identification that many viewers experience.
