Expectangy Theory in Media and Message Selection

Abstract

New broadcasting technologies give audience members more control over the mass communication process than previously assumed. This article argues for reversing the traditional emphasis on uses and gratifications research in favor of a single expectancy theory capable of handling media and message selection processes at once. The two-stage expectancy value model here is adapted from Vroom's valence andbehavioral choice models. holding that the likelihood of selecting a particular medium depends o n the expectation that the choice will be followed by a message of interest, and on the importance of that message in satisfying the user's most important personal values. If implemented, the model would provide a n avenue for comparing value profiles of target audiences to see how different message categories appear to specialize in the enhancement of certain values. As a result. by comparing ditferences between message values and personal ones. social policymakers are given a tool for measuring the “media welfare” of different audience subgroups.

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