Determining the Consumer Information Content of Newspapers: A Proposed Analytical Framework and Illustrative Application.

Determining the Consumer Information Content of Newspapers: A Proposed Analytical Framework and Illustrative Application Research addressing consumer information has characteristically limited its focus to distinct types of product information within the context of particular purchase situations or in given markets. Yet, the mass media, a dominant source of information in developed societies, usually has been conceptually as well as empirically neglected. Such neglect may stem from the fact that the consumer area consistently has devalued the mass media as a reliable or adequate source of consumer information (Preston 1969). However, regardless of empirical trends, if consumers' total information environment, supply of information, or stock of informational capital at both the micro and macro levels are ever to be assessed accurately, a complete inventory of sources and types of consumer information must be established and examined. If consumer research has often overlooked the mass media as a source of consumer information, it has virtually ignored the news media. For example, of the many definitions of consumers' information environment, only Schudson (1984) includes "news" as one of the multiple and cumulative informational sources available to consumers. Similarly, mass communications research has examined almost every area of news coverage (e.g., politics, energy, medicine, education, science, crime, religion, labor, and law) but largely has failed to consider the consumer-relevant information content of the mass media. Although consumer activists have been skeptical about the effectiveness, quality, and desirability of information received from the news media (Hayes and AlYasiri 1985), there has been no attempt to assess the actual coverage of consumer news objectively. Specifically in terms of newspapers, this oversight is unfortunate not only because consumers want more consumer news from this source (Bogart 1981; Clark 1979; Morgan 1980) but also because consumers view newspapers as an important, reliable source of consumer information (Clark 1979; Louis Harris and Associates 1982; Ferree 1961; Whirlpool Corporation 1983). Existing research that has studied the consumer-related content of news has focused primarily on newspapers: Johnson and Kitchen's (1982) analysis of Canadian newspapers assessed the location and amount of information about inflation, Miller's (1976) examination of women's/lifestyle sections included a consumer news category, Barkin's (1982) investigation of business sections included a "news for the consumer" category, and Friedman's (1985) analysis of news accounts of consumer boycott actions included newspapers and magazines. Empirical attention to the news coverage of consumer-related issues and topics is relevant to consumer interest and mass communications professionals. Both areas' philosophical and theoretical roots foster a concern for protecting and promoting consumers' "right to information." Additionally, consumer and mass communication scholars need to identify news as a source of consumer information to improve their models of the economic, psychological, and behavioral implications of the mass media. The purpose of this research is to develop an analytical framework for producing a valid and reliable instrument to assess the consumer information content of news. The framework's empirical application is tested in a national, mass-circulation, general interest newspaper--USA Today. Because the concern of this research is measurement of the consumer information content of news, an extensive search of the literature for existing categorical configurations was undertaken. Included were Shepard's (1978) framework for investigating consumer issues, Kroll and Hunt's (1980) conceptual analysis of consumer science, Herrmann's (1982) classification of the coverage of consumer education topics, Goebel and Miller's (1983) appendix of concepts in consumer science, Way's (1984) instrument to analyze the consumer related content of prime time television programs, Haefner and Permut's (1975) categories of major consumer issues, and the indexes for the Journal of Consumer Affairs, The Journal of Consumer Research, and Advances in Consumer Research. …