Environmental cognitions in a dual‐product marketplace: A participant‐observation perspective on the U.S. broadcast television industry

Abstract

This study employs participant observation methodology to examine the U.S. broadcast industry's cognitions of its external environment. Previous research has documented a tendency among industry participants to operate under outdated mental models of their environment. This tendency ‐ labeled ‘cognitive inertia’ ‐ provides the analytical framework for this study. The results provide indications that broadcasters operate under what appear to be outdated mental models of their external environment, with broadcasters appearing to pay inadequate attention to competing program sources and failing to account for the changing demographic composition of the television audience. However, these conclusions are tempered by the broadcast industry's dual‐product marketplace characteristics, wherein cognitions that would appear to reflect inadequate assessment of the content market may in fact reasonably reflect the contemporary realities of the audience market.