"COME ON DOWN": How Consumers View Game Shows and the Products Placed in Them

Abstract

Game shows and the products placed in them as prizes are part of the broad mediascape that both advertisers and consumers inhabit. However, reflecting a dearth of research in this area, this paper reports on two interpretive studies of game show viewers to uncover the meanings they apply to the products placed as contest-puzzle subjects and/or prizes in these shows. A model emerged consisting of three interacting sites of constructed meaning--(1) consumers, (2) game shows, and (3) products placed--each with their own emergent themes. Implications are drawn that apply not only to game shows and the products placed in them, but also to related promotional mediascape meanings in general.