Disentangling antecedents of audience exposure levels: Extending expectancy‐value analyses of gratifications sought from television news

Abstract

This work extends previous applications of expectancy‐value theory to gratifications research in a study of student exposure to television news. It offers several conceptual refinements, a more complete account of the system of forces in which the central constructs operate, and illustrates methods of analysis more suited to emerging theory. The present findings suggest that expectancy‐value and gratification‐seeking orientations are highly related but distinctly different judgments. In the context of television news viewing, the former influence intentions and exposure levels through their impact on attitude, whereas the latter appear to have more direct effects on both intention and exposure levels. The report concludes with a brief discussion of issues in research on emotion‐cognition and problems in attitude scaling as they relate to the present findings and possible future extensions.