The Impact of American Television on Chinese College Students
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THE IMPACT OF AMERICAN TELEVISION ON CHINESE COLLEGE STUDENTS BY ZIXUAN ZHOU A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Communication May 2011 Winston-Salem, North Carolina Approved By Michal D. Hazen, Ph.D., Advisor Ananda Mitra, Ph.D., Chair Ling Chen, Ph.D ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to express my gratitude to all those who had contributed to the completion on this study, especially my cordial thanks to Dr. Michael Hazen, Dr. Ananda Mitra and Dr. Ling Chen. The completion of this project would not have been possible without your guidance and support. i TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………iv LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………v ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………..1 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………….4 Globalization and Flow of Entertainment………………….……………...5 American Television in China……………………………………………………….6 Cultivation Theory, Cultural imperialism and the Paradigm Shift ……………11 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………14 Participants………………………………………………….………………15 Measurement………………………………………………………………………16 Media Exposure……………………………………………………………….16 Uses and Gratification ………………………………………………………17 Perceived Impact …………..………………………………………………….18 Perception of Traditional Chinese Values …………………………………..19 Data Analysis Strategies…………………………………………………………..20 CHAPTER IV RESULTS……………………………………………………………..21 Section I ………………………………………………………………………...22 Viewership……………………………………………………………………22 Exposure…..…………………………………………………………………24 Viewing Pattern……………………………………………………………26 Section II ………………………………………………………………………...33 Values…………………………………………………………… …………..38 Other Cultivation Effects…………………………………………………39 CHAPTERV DISCUSSION………………………………………………………….43 ii Significance of Results…………………………………………………………44 The Participants ………………………...………………………….………..44 Viewing Pattern……………………………………………………………….45 Cultural Values.………………..…………………………….……………….46 Cultivation Effects………………………………………..………………….47 Limitations and Recommendations……………..…………………………………..50 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………..52 APPENDIX A Descriptive CVS Ratings……………………………………………57 APPENDIX B T-tests for Different Viewer Groups…………………………….….58 APPENDIX C English Questionnaire…………………..…..……………………….62 APPENDIX D Chines Questionnaire……………………………………………...…75 APPENDIX E English Consent Form………………………………………..….…..88 APPENDIX F Chinese Consent Form………………………………………..….…..89 APPENDIX G IRB Approval Memo………………...………………………………..90 APPENDIX H IRB Protocol…………………………………………….……………..91 CV………………………………………………………………………………………..96 iii LIST OF TABLES Page 1 Frequency of Viewership by Year 23 2 Frequency of Viewership by Gender 23 3 Frequency of Viewership by Hometown 23 4 Frequency of Viewership by Oversea Experience 24 5 English Proficiency Ratings (1-10) by American TV Viewers and Non- 24 viewers 6 Preference in Different Genres of American TV Shows 29 7 Extracted Factors and items contained I 33 8 Extracted Factors and items contained II 35 9 Impact Factors Ratings by How Many Hours Spent on Watching American 39 TV Shows 10 Impact Factors Ratings by How Long Have Been Watching American TV 40 Shows 11 Impact Factors Ratings by How Many American TV Shows Ever Watched 41 12 Impact Factors Ratings by How Many American TV Shows Regularly 42 Watched Now 13 Significant Finding Summary 49 iv LIST OF FIGURES Page 1 Approximately how many hours do you spend on watching American TV 25 show per week? 2 How long have you been watching American TV shows? 26 3 How do you watch American TV show (channel) usually? 27 4 How do you usually watch American TV shows (forms)? 28 5 Why do you want to watch American TV shows? 30 6 After watching American TV shows, what do you get from it? 30 7 How do you choose which American TV show to watch? 31 8 If you stop watching a show, it was probably because 32 9 Why are American TV shows appealing to you? 32 v ABSTRACT The present study examined the viewing of American Television among Chinese college students and the relationship between American TV exposure and its impact in terms of value, knowledge, belief, attitude and behavior. Data were collected from 279 Chinese college students using a cross-sectional online survey. The findings helped to better understand the viewing pattern of Chinese college students and more importantly, the results confirmed the overreaching impact based on substantial significant differences found between viewing groups. However, values are relatively hard to change and significant difference in values was only found between long-term and short-term viewers, which indicates that the length of viewership is the most powerful indicator in cultivation effects. vi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1 We are used to the fact that American brands such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, Nike and Disney becoming global. America has been, for at least a century, the most powerful brand on the planet (Anholt, 2005). American-labeled leisure products such as television programs have also spread around the world, reaching a large and diverse audience. Most media programming, imported in the world, originates in the United States (Harrington & Bielby, 2004; Atkin, 2003; Davis, 1999) even though significant amounts also originate in Europe, Latin America and parts of Asia (Banerjee, 2002). The topic of the impact of the imported television on domestic audiences throughout the world is one that has aroused a high degree of interest but a limited number of studies have resulted (Tan, Tan &Tan, 1985; Tan, Li & Simpson, 1986; Zaharopoulos, 2003). Unfortunately, the studies that exist are often also not very sophisticated methodologically (Elasmar & Hunter, 1997). The status of imported television in China differs from countries like Brazil, Philippine or India, which early on imported US media. In China the foreign media penetration was minimal for about 30 years after WWII. Even after China’s economic reforms, opening up in 1970s, and the joining the WTO in 2001, western television programming still was limited in China because of the government's tight control over media. However, with the rapid growth of the Internet, millions of the Chinese youth now spend their time consuming much of their entertainment online (Chu, 2010), and new means of watching foreign TV programs have evolved. As a result, Wentworth Miller, the lead actor in American TV show Prison Break became the spokesperson for a Chinese local clothing line; His latest Chinese TV Commercial of the Chevrolet Cruz is playing over and over again while the hit show has 2 never been aired; Go down many streets in Shanghai that are lined with little boutiques for women clothing, and don’t be surprised to see that “As seen on Gossip Girl” plastered across the store window. Blake Lively and Ed Westwick (stars in Gossip Girl) are becoming fashion icons among young Chinese people without ever having a single episode of Gossip Girl on-air. The facts are testaments to how much and to what degree American Television has been pervasive in China nowadays. This underbelly of China’s media market is playing a significant role in Chinese society yet often overlooked and misunderstood in academia, therefore deserves the attention. This study proposes to examine the increasing popularity of American Television in China as well as its impact, that is, to take a closer look at American TV viewing in China and its influence on Chinese audience. Before framing detailed research questions, it is useful to review past research on imported television and media effect as well as their theoretical framework. A literature review that explores different aspects related to this topic is presented below. First, some key concepts of globalization and flow of entertainment are introduced. Second, American Television in China, including historically how American Television got in the market and its current status is examined. Third, in order to explore the impact on the audience, different theories and models are discussed, along with examples of relevant studies. 3 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 4 Globalization and Flow of Entertainment Globalization became a commonly used term to explain the international information flows nowadays. Armony and Lamy (2000) explain that economic processes of globalization result in increased: trade, trans-border communication and movement of people, which is bound to bring some cultural convergence throughout the world. According to Weber (2010), globalization is an increase in interconnectedness and linking of economies due to advances in digitalization, knowledge and intermingling of cultures. Globalization also can be defined as the erosion of the borders of nation-states through expansion of international companies, international communications, international financial networks, and the homogenization of consumer culture (Sheehan, 1996). The flows of information between countries are complex because it includes any kind of communication from the point of view of flows, such as the most studied types: news and entertainment. According to Nordenstreng (1974) and Varis (1984), there are two trends within international flow that deserve attention. The first trend is the one way traffic flow from large exporting countries; the second trend emphasizes that entertainment material dominates the flow of information to the rest of the world. In terms of international flow of entertainment, the United States is definitely the dominant