Use of the Internet in Response to TV Consumption: Applying Framing Theory to Explaining People’s Online Searching Behavior

• In Event: Online News and Information Consumption

Abstract

Using the Internet parallel to or after television consumption changes the way people receive news. Among others, this is true for information related to science and health. In an experiment combining eye tracking and content analysis, participants (n = 72) in this study were exposed to one of three TV clips with different media frames (based on a full-sample content analysis) that focused on Alzheimer’s disease. After exposure, participants used the Internet to inform themselves about the issue. Framing was found to influence the individual online searching and reading of information on a descriptive level (such as entering search words and viewing a website’s contents), but not on a procedural level (such as selecting online search results). Three differently distributed frames of online content were found among the experimental groups. Applying framing theory can probably help to better understand Internet users’ behavior in various contexts.

Authors

• Sabrina Heike Kessler, University of Zurich; IPMZ – Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research

• Lars Guenther, Institute of Communication Research / Friedrich Schiller U Jena