Understanding entertainment value: an investigation into the subjectivity of people who experience entertainment

Abstract

The purpose of this doctoral dissertation and the research presented herein is to test and refine a general method of observing, capturing, describing and comparing subjective viewpoints on entertainment value. Of particular interest and equally important is the effort to provide a theoretical foundation for the conceptualization, operationalization, and empirical testing of the entertainment value concept, adopting the perspective of those experiencing performance-based and screen-based entertainment. This dissertation is also a crossover study between and among amusement, recreation, entertaining experiences, audience research, and events and live performances. Results will be integrated into the broader study of entertainment, where the core phenomenon under investigation is the entertainment experience. Entertainment value is a multi-faceted concept, widely used but poorly, or at least not effectively, operationalized for use in scholarly and commercial research. It is proposed herein that entertainment value refers to the type of value that screen-based products and live performances yield to those who experience these generic forms of entertainment. Entertainment value is perceived consumer value, experiential and subjective, a multi-dimensional concept and construct intrinsic to the entertainment experience. In three complementary studies, respondents are grouped based on shared subjective experiences resulting from the consumption of three different kinds of innovative entertainment products: a) an animated, short documentary film, b) one episode a described video television comedy; and c) a live cultural performance. In an innovative way, Stephenson’s Q Methodology (1953) and Typology of Consumer Value proposed by Morris Holbrook (1999) are adopted, tested and refined to empirically identify, describe and compare the subjective viewpoints of those who experience entertainment. The Q Methodology allowed for a rich description of a range of entertainment experiences from almost three hundred respondents. Interpretation of subjective reactions and self-reports, and the differences among these viewpoints, have been facilitated by and pointed to corresponding types of perceived entertainment value. In this sense, Holbrook’s (1999) typology for consumer value proved useful, by complementing in a number of ways the design and implementation of this exploratory research with Q methodology.

Impacts on quality: Enjoyment factors in blind and low vision audience entertainment ratings: A qualitative study

“…Blind and low vision access to media content, comparable to that which sighted audiences have, means unprejudiced and direct content access through an AD delivery style that suits the content which it is describing (similar to what a Deaf person would expect of his or her oralto-signed translator) [2,7,10,19]. AD is part of how a show is delivered to and consumed by B/LV audience.…”

“…. .." [10]. A sighted audience does not receive the facts of show but a director's interpretation of it in all manners (e.g., costumes, set, lighting, actor intonation, etc.).…”

“…Dramatic emphasis is crucial in AD as it is the only vehicle the describer has to translate visual stimuli to audio stimuli. Dramatic emphasis is also essential in AD as it is salient to whether or not B/LV viewers become engaged in the show and thus, it impacts the entertainment value experience for this audience [2,7,8,10,19,23,36]. AD in the following three episodes were analysed for dramatic emphasis and style.…”

“…As emphasized in the AD literature [2,7,10,23,41], there is limited time and space to include extensive information on plot especially a multi-leveled plot as that of Death Comes To Town. Lopez, Kearney and Hofstadter [21], asserted that B/LV viewers will have to rely on other access strategies such as digital media, which would allow them to "personalized their access strategies" to obtain additional information that is not provided by AD (p. 4).…”

“…Discriminatory perceptions of B/LV people have resulted in exclusion of B/LV people's experiences and contributions to past AD research. However, most current AD research is taking account of B/LV audience needs and preferences [7,8,9,10,11], but there is fairly limited research into B/LV feedback on methods of AD production in televised media content, and even fewer longitudinal AD studies have taken place with B/LV audience feedback [12].…”