Preference for genre of publications as a determinant of category consumption

Genre of publication read by an individual could be seen as another way to describe the individual. In that sense, genre is at least another descriptor of an individual, in addition to the conventional demographic descriptors. Indeed, genre of titles patronized by an individual could tell us a few things about that person that demographics may or may not be able to tell us. Certainly genre is the most unrestricted manifestation of a person’s interests since the cost of exhibiting these interests through reading behaviour is relatively low. There are very few barriers to translation of an individual’s interests into media behaviour and, specifically publication title (or even program viewing) behaviour. Thus, genre preference is perhaps the most uninhibited expression of a person’s interests and concerns. And therefore understanding genre preference could give us a peep into a person’s mind.

Download Paper (PDF)