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Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9219041 The communication of recorded country music: A Q-technique portrait of seven listener types Wacholtz, Larry Edward, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1992 Copyright ©1992 by Wacholtz, Larry Edward. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 THE COMMUNICATION OF RECORDED COUNTRY MUSIC: A Q-TECHNIQUE PORTRAIT OF SEVEN LISTENER TYPES DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Larry Edward Wacholtz, B.A., M.A. •k ~k ~k -k ~k The Ohio State University 1992 Dissertation committee Approved By A. Elgabri J. Harless Adviser R. Monaghan Department of Communidation ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I express sincere appreciation to Dr. Robert Monaghan for his guidance and insight in this research. Gratitude is also expressed to committee members Dr. Ali Elgabri, and Dr. James Harless for their suggestions and comments. I also express my thanks to the management and staff of radio station WHOK, Columbus, Ohio, for their assistance in this research. To my wife, I thank you for your support and love. ii VITA November 3, 194 7 Born-Spokane, Washington 1975 B.A., Eastern Washington State University, Cheney, Washington 197 6 Audio Engineer/Producer, William Tanner, Memphis, Tennessee 1977-1979 High School Teacher, Kingsbury Vocational Center, Memphis, Tennessee 1979-1981 Instructor of Music Business, Belmont College, Nashville, Tennessee 1981-1983 Director of The Television Production Center, Eastern Washington State University 1983-1988 Associate Professor, Belmont College Nashville, Tennessee PUBLICATIONS 1986 Inside Country Musicr Billboard Publication FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Communication, with studies in the entertainment industry and media. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii VITA iii LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES xi CHAPTER PAGE I. PREDICTING CONSUMER PREFERENCES IN RECORDED COUNTRY MUSIC 1 Current Consumer Research 3 The Role of the Producer 4 The Role of the Consumer 5 Purpose of This Research 7 The Research Question 8 Limitations and Definitions 8 II . REVIEW OF RELEVANT RESEARCH 11 Research and Books on Country Music 17 III. A CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY FOR PREDICTING ENJOYMENT PREFERENCES IN RECORDED COUNTRY MUSIC.20 Play Theory 21 The Role of Country Music Recordings 23 Construct Theory 24 Kelly' s Choice Corollary 2 6 Individuality 2 6 Construct Theory And Communication Research 27 IV. A SYSTEMATIC METHOD FOR PREDICTING CONSUMER PREFERENCES IN RECORDED COUNTRY MUSIC 31 Development of the Q-Sort 33 Test Instrument Design 34 Levels of Independencies 35 Song Variables 37 Vocal Presentation Variables 37 iv Production Variables 38 Human Subjects Committee 39 Stratified Quota System 39 Procedures 40 Data Gathering 40 Frequency Arrays 41 The Questionnaire—Part One 42 The Probe Questions 42 The Questionnaire—Part Two 42 Data Analysis Procedures 43 V. RESULTS AND THEORETICAL CONCLUSIONS 45 Respondents 45 McQuitty and SYSTAT Theoretical Listener Types...47 Common McQuitty and SYSTAT Respondent Types 51 Theoretical Country Music Listener Types 51 Type 1: Positive Romantics 53 Type 2 : Old Gold Dabblers - 62 Type 3 : Urban Cowboys 72 Type 4 : Beverly Hillbillies 82 Type 5 : Trailblazers 91 Type 6 : Star-Struck Boppers 103 Type 7 : Marlboro' s 112 Frequency Analysis and Preference Trends 122 Correlation of Recordings 124 Factor Analysis of Recordings Selected by Theoretical Types 128 Typal Commonalties 131 McCoy' s Emotions as Personal Constructs 132 Correlation of Ideal to Actual Enjoyment 139 General Discussion 143 Prototypes 149 APPENDICES A. The Interview Guide 154 B . Instrument Key 164 C. Pearson Correlation and Varimax Rotation Tables.168 D . Pearson Correlation of Recordings 186 E . Instrument/Inserts 195 BIBLIOGRAPHY 22 6 v LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. The Country Music Communication Balanced Block Design Research Model 34 2. The Country Music Recording Predictive Instrument Coding Matrix 3 6 3. Guideline For Stratified Quota System 40 4. Country Music Listener Respondents Demographics ... 47 5. SYSTAT Varimax Rotation Factor "Types" 50 6. Common Theoretical Country Music Type Respondents Devised from McQuitty's Elementary Linkage Analysis and SYSTAT Factor Analysis with Varimax Rotation 51 7 . Recording Format Terms 52 8. Positive Romantics "Most Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 56 9. Positive Romantics "Least Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 56 10. Positive Romantics "Most Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 57 11. Positive Romantics "Least Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 57 12. Old Gold Dabblers "Most Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 65 13. Old Gold Dabblers "Least Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 65 vi Old Gold Dabblers "Most Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 66 Old Gold Dabblers "Least Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 66 Urban Cowboys "Most Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 75 Urban Cowboys "Least Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 75 Urban Cowboys "Most Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 7 6 Urban Cowboys "Least Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 7 6 Beverly Hillbillies "Most Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 85 Beverly Hillbillies "Least Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 85 Beverly Hillbillies "Most Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 8 6 Beverly Hillbillies "Least Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 8 6 Trailblazers "Most Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 95 Trailblazers "Least Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 95 Trailblazers "Most Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 96 Trailblazers "Least Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 96 Star-Struck Boppers "Most Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 107 vii 29. Star-Struck Boppers "Least Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 107 30. Star-Struck Boppers "Most Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 108 31. Star-Struck Boppers "Least Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 108 32. Marlboro's "Most Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 115 33. Marlboro's "Least Enjoy" Recordings at the 10% and 20% Levels 115 34. Marlboro's "Most Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 116 35. Marlboro's "Least Enjoy" Country Music Recording Formats at the Top 10% and 20% Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 116 36. Demographic Comparison Analysis 120 37. The Country Music Recording Predictive Instrument for predicting theoretical country music listener preference types 121 38. "Most Enjoyed" Frequency per Country Music Listener Types 124 39. "Least Enjoyed" Frequency per Country Music Listener Types 124 40. Meaningful Correlations of Actual Recordings 125 41. Factor Analysis of Recordings Selected by Each Theoretical Country Music Listener Type 12 9 42. Correlation of Terms Selected by Respondents for "Most Enjoy" 138 43. Pearson Correlation Between Ideal and Actual Frequency Distributions per Respondent and Listener Type 141 44 . Three Levels of Experienced Enjoyment 142 45. Subgroup Types per Experienced Enjoyment 143 viii 46. PEARSON CORRELATION MATRIX of (n = 50) respondents 169 47 . SYSTAT ROTATED FACTORED 177 48. ITERATIVE PRINCIPAL AXIS FACTOR ANALYSIS 17 8 49. FINAL COMMUNALITY ESTIMATES 17 8 50. LATENT ROOTS (EIGENVALUES) 17 9 51 . FACTOR PATTERN. 180 52 . VARIANCE EXPLAINED BY FACTORS 182 53 . PERCENT OF TOTAL VARIANCE EXPLAINED 182 54 . ROTATED FACTOR PATTERN 183 55 . VARIANCE EXPLAINED BY ROTATED FACTORS 185 56 . PERCENT OF TOTAL VARIANCE EXPLAINED 185 57 . PEARSON CORRELATION OF RECORDINGS 187 ix LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES PAGE 1. A Music Producer's Model of Intended Communication.5 2. A Consumer's Model for the Selection of Country Music Recordings 6 3. The Decision/Validation Process 2 9 4. Model of Similar and Non-Similar Choice Patterns..30 5 . McQuitty Type 1: Positive Romantics 48 6 . McQuitty Type 2 : Old Gold Dabblers 4 8 7 .