Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In previous research cultural proximity has been operationalized by ‘hard facts’ such as geographical distance, the exchange of goods or persons (tourists and immigrants) and the similarity of political systems. This paper will try to complement current work in the field by suggesting a new operationalization derived from Hofstede’s (1991) cultural dimensions. He defined four different cultural dimensions that are based on work and life values: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism and masculinity/femininity. A survey was conducted in eight countries with a student sample (N = 325) to find out if international audiences, which resemble each other in terms of Hofstede’s (1991) cultural dimensions, have similar attitudes towards television entertainment. It was asked if either common operationalizations such as geographical distance or Hofstede’s cultural dimensions work better to indicate cultural proximity. The results show that Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions significantly differentiate between the U.S.A., Asian and European countries in a student population. However, operationalizations based on geographical distance allow a better differentiation between cultures in terms of how they evaluate TV entertainment. It will be discussed if cultural dimensions in general are able to measure cultural proximity and if it makes sense to complement the current understanding and operationalizations in this respect.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper is an analysis of how nightly news programs are using entertainment and marketing techniques to present President Bush's War on Terror to the viewer and with what effect.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between popular entertainment and the political. In order to do that, it asks the following questions: What is the relationship between popular culture and the geopolitical world in the aftermath of the Cold War? What does popular culture tell us about terrorism? What, according to popular culture, are our collective fears after the Cold War? Can popular culture respond to the foreign policy-makers? Did popular culture anticipate the complex of issues that led to the evens of September 11? To answer these questions I first provide an explanation of the emergence of the discourse of terrorism and the role of Hollywood in the construction of that discourse. Next I concentrate on one specific film, The Siege (1998), as a text of popular culture produced in the years between the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the events of September 11, 2001. I argue that popular culture engages the political on its own term.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The present study is a thematic macro-analysis of education entertainment campaign (EEC) research published in academic journals over time. Based on the entertainment perspectives, the study examined (a) a general overview of EEC research, (b) the characteristics of campaign vehicles, (c) applied theories, and (d) measured variables. Key findings included the quantitative growth of EEC research, in particular family planning campaigns through radio and TV drama in developing countries, with increasingly diversified campaign topics, channels, formats, and target audiences, in recent years. While the theoretical and methodological developments seemed to orient educational perspectives, very little EEC research has used entertainment-based theories and concepts. Based on the results, this study suggested that entertainment-driven studies incorporate a broader range of theories as well as methodological approaches that allow scholars to further advance this field.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Beyond explaining differences in media preferences, information processing, and media effects by socio-demographic variables, personality psychology provides for finding explanations by incorporating so-called psychographic variables. One prominent way of describing differences in personality is by measuring a person’s personality type. Extraversion, as one personality type, distinguishes between individuals more or less in need of external stimulation. According to Eysenck, this difference is biologically based and influences behavior. Media offers are an easily accessible way of meeting this need for external stimulation. The study examines differences in information processing of television offers due to a person’s personality type being extravert or introvert. A more or less optimal media offer should result in a satisfaction of the need for external stimulation, and thus in a better entertainment experience. Entertainment is described according to the triadic-dynamic entertainment theory as a positive emotion on a macro-level evolving when a recipient experiences a feeling of control during the reception process.