Media Credibility Perception Among Millennials in Slovakia

Abstract

Communication professionals have been facing various challenges and one of them is how to win the audience. Past studies suggest that credibility could be the key. Therefore, credibility can be suggested as one of the key factors driving the traffi c of individuals to certain media. By gaining a better understanding of how Millennials perceive credibility, companies can more appropriately plan and execute successful media campaigns directed to this very important public. A survey with 190 respondents -Millennials -was conducted to determine how they perceive the credibility of various media types. To measure the perception of media credibility, 12 characteristics like objectiveness, activity, intelligence, professionalism, etc. were examined. The results of the study revealed general moderate credibility of newspapers and television. The most credible medium for the Millennials is the Internet, especially because of its activity, ability to act fast, independence and objectivity. On the other hand, this cohort sees both television and newspapers as better presented than the Internet. The worst rated feature of television and newspapers was their passivity and political background. When examining statistically signifi cant difference in overall perception, based on the results from the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, we can conclude that the difference in perception of television, newspapers and the Internet was unlikely to occur by chance and the Millennials perceive the Internet as signifi cantly more credible than television and newspapers.JEL classifi cation: M310; M390

Demographic Effects on TV News Credibility: Perceptions in Bangladesh

“…There seems to be a consensus that men tend to find media less credible than women (see, Choi et al, 2006; Eveland Jr & Shah, 2003; Johnson & Kay, 2002). Similar results were found in Slovakia, where a media credibility study found that ‘women are more likely to trust Slovak media than men’ (Vilčeková, 2015, p. 623). However, Shim et al (2015) found that women negatively associated media credibility with domestic television, international television, and the Internet.…”

“…Credibility as a concept can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was used to study persuasion techniques. Over time the introduction of radio, television, and the Internet has guided the evolution of credibility studies in modern times (Vilčeková, 2015). Modern-day credibility research dates back to the early 1950s with the seminal work of Hovland and Weiss (1951).…”

“…Research on relating demographic characteristics to credibility perceptions regarding TV news in other parts of the world is also surprisingly limited. However, several demographic characteristics of media users such as gender, age, income, and education have been considered essential predictors of media credibility (see Fisher, 2016; Golan & Baker, 2012; Vilčeková, 2015; Shim et al, 2015). The ideological congruence perspective can play an important role here.…”

“…The ideological congruence perspective can play an important role here. Thus, female, younger, lower-income, and less educated news consumers tend to evaluate the media as more credible than male, older, higher income, more educated audiences who are more likely to be critical of the media (Bucy, 2003; Vilčeková, 2015); the difference may be attributable to ideological incongruence.…”

The Future of TV Advertising Targeting Young Slovak Consumers

“…Because they are online (almost) all the time (Stefko et al, 2019), it's natural for them to multitask and while watching TV, be involved in other digital activities simultaneously. Understanding how millennials perceive media credibility can support the planning and execution of successful media campaigns directed at this vital consumer group (Vilcekova, 2016). This phenomenon is referred to as multi-screening and has been explained by an earlier Google study (Google, 2012).…”