Selective Exposure Theory in Communication: Social Media, Mass Media, and Personal Impact
Overview
This paper evaluates the application of Selective Exposure Theory across multiple communication contexts, with particular emphasis on how social endorsements influence news consumption on social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube. The analysis examines research findings showing that social endorsements impact political selectivity while also exploring the theory's manifestation in mass media advertising and individual-level effects.
What this essay covers
- Introduction and theoretical overview of Selective Exposure Theory
- Part One: Analysis of social media research examining selective exposure in the era of social media, including methodology, results, and discussion of social endorsements' impact on news consumption
- Part Two: Application of Selective Exposure Theory to mass media advertising, using Coca-Cola as a case study to demonstrate consumer preference formation through repeated advertising exposure
Preview
Introduction to Communication and Information PP
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Selective Exposure Theory
Introduction
The paper evaluates how the way Selective Exposure Theory is used in communication. Special attention is given to a research article that looks at Selective Exposure in the era of Social Media. The effect of social endorsements will be addressed on how they facilitate the theory of Selective Exposure. The second part will look at how Selective Exposure theory is used in mass media. Finally, the paper will show how Selective Exposure affects an individual on a personal level.
Part One
Rationale, methods, result, and discussion
The article looks at the effect of Selective Exposure in the era of Social Media. The research paper seeks to show that social endorsements have an impact on the way Americans consume news through social media channels. Types of social media channels that have been mentioned in this paper are Facebook and YouTube, amongst others (Messing &Westwood, 2014). The article explains that social media gives consumers a choice on the following on a similar story of different kinds of social media.
The method that was used in this research paper was selecting one to four stories that had a choice between alternatives that were multiple and ‘unordered.’ The research included individual-level factors and alternative predictors concerning the choice of news channel together with the use of a cue of social endorsement (Messing & Westwood, 2014).
The results from the research indicate that social endorsements do dilute the impact of selectivity when it comes to politics.