The Popularity of Dating TV Reality Shows in China

The Popularity of Dating TV Reality

Shows in China

On the perspective of Audience

Master Thesis within Economics and Management of

Entertainment and Arts

Author: Jie WANG

Tutor: Mary Alice SHAVER & Dan SHAVER

Jönköping 2011

Master‘s Thesis within Economics and Management of Entertainment and

Arts

Title: The popularity of Dating TV Reality Shows in China

----On the perspective of Audience

Author: Jie WANG

Tutor: Mary Alice Shaver; Dan Shaver

Date: 2011- 5- 22

Abstract

Problem: The dating reality show If You Are the One, won the largest audience rating in

China after 2 weeks of its debut. The sudden popularity led to more and more TV stations

rushing to produce dating reality shows, and the majority gets even higher ratings from

critics, from media, the Chinese government and common Chinese citizens.

Method: Quantitative analysis of a multi-question online survey by logistic regression to

determine whether certain variables, identified through academic research, correlate with

satisfaction and use by audiences.

Result: There are three types of audience.

One is eager to get married and aims at finding true love through dating shows or

getting some guidance for finding their perfect match.

The second is already married and consider their relationship with their spouse to be

a major life issue. They will hope to receive beneficial advice from watching

dating shows.

The third type simply watches for entertainment, to relax after a day of harsh work

and study.

All the audiences watch dating shows, more or less trust on the authenticity of TV and

dating shows.

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... - 1 -

1.1 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................................................... - 1 -

1.2 RESEARCH QUESTION ............................................................................................................................................ - 3 -

1.3 PURPOSE................................................................................................................................................................... - 3 -

1.4 LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................................................................ - 3 -

2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................ - 4 -

2.1 THE USES AND GRATIFICATION THEORY ............................................................................................................. - 4 -

2.1.1 Classical Models ...........................................................................................................................................- 4 -

2.1.2 Fields of Application.....................................................................................................................................- 8 -

2.2 DATING TV REALITY SHOWS IN CHINA............................................................................................................... - 9 -

2.2.1 Chinese Television System ...........................................................................................................................- 9 -

2.2.2 Introduction of Dating TV Reality Shows in China .............................................................................. - 10 -

2.2.3 Critics of Dating TV Reality Shows......................................................................................................... - 14 -

3 METHOD .............................................................................................................. - 17 -

3.1 RESEARCH APPROACH .........................................................................................................................................- 17 -

3.2 DATA GATHERING................................................................................................................................................- 17 -

3.3 SAMPLING ISSUES ...............................................................................................................................................- 18 -

3.4 SURVEY DESIGN ..................................................................................................................................................- 19 -

4 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS .................................................................................... - 21 -

4.1 DATA ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................................- 21 -

4.1.1 Variables ...................................................................................................................................................... - 21 -

4.1.2 Statistics Method ........................................................................................................................................ - 22 -

4.2 DEMOGRAPHIC AND ATTITUDINAL VARIABLES ON INDIVIDUAL ISSUES AND VALUE / CREDIBILITY ISSUES- 23 -

4.2.1 Demographic and Attitudinal Variables on Individual Issues ............................................................... - 23 -

4.2.2 Demographic and Attitudinal Variables on Value / Credibility Variables ........................................... - 25 -

4.3 DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES, INDIVIDUAL ISSUES AND VALUE/CREDIBILITY ISSUES ON MEDIA

CONSUMPTIONS AND OTHER BEHAVIOR.....................................................................................................................- 27 -

4.4 DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES, INDIVIDUAL ISSUES AND VALUE/CREDIBILITY ISSUES ON REASONS TO

WATCH DATING SHOWS ................................................................................................................................................- 28 -

5 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... - 30 -

6 DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................... - 33 -

6.1 THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS.................................................................................................................................- 33 -

6.2 PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS......................................................................................................................................- 35 -

REFERENCE............................................................................................................... - 36 -

APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. - 38 -

Appendix 1 – Questionnaire .................................................................................................................................. - 38 -

Appendix 2 –Descriptive Statistics ....................................................................................................................... - 46 -

Appendix 3 –Variables ............................................................................................................................................ - 48 -

TABLE

Table 4.1 - Outcome Summary o f Demographic Variables on the Perceived Importance of Individual

Issues - 23 -

Table 4.2 - Outcome Summary o f Attitudinal Variables on the Perceived Importance of Individual Issues- 23 -

Table 4.3 - Outcome Summary o f Demographic Variables on Value/Credibility Variables........................ - 25 -

Table 4.4 - Outcome Summary o f Attitudinal Variables on Value/Credibility Variables ............................. - 25 -

Table 4.5 - Outcome Summary o f Individual Issues and Value/Credibility Issues on Media Consumptions- 27 -

Table 4.6 - Outcome Summary o f Importance of Individual Issues and Value/Credibility Issues on Other

Behavior - 27 -

Table 4.7 – Demographic Variables, Individual Issues and Value/Credibility Issues on Reasons to Watch

Dating Shows. .......................................................................................................................................................... - 28 -

FIGURE

Figure 2.1 The example of The underlying logic of investigation Models........................................................- 5 -

Figure 2.2 Rosengren’s Uses and Gratifications Paradigm (McQuail & Windahl, 1986d).......................- 6 -

Figure 5.1 Summary of Variables Related to Media Consumption, Other Behavior and Gratifications of

Watching Dating Shows.......................................................................................................................................... - 30 -

Figure 6.1 Model for Watching Dating Shows ................................................................................................... - 33 -

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1 Introduction

In this section, the background of Chinese dating shows is discussed. Furthermore, it

presents the research questions, purpose and limitations of this thesis.

1.1 Background

Dating shows appeared on Chinese TV channels twenty years ago. However, they

gradually faded out of the public attention because of the declining audience rating until the

debut of Let’s Go on a Date (Wo Men Yue Hui Ba), at the end of 2009 from Hu Nan

Satellite TV. Hu Nan is the most prestigious provincial TV station for entertainment

programming. A month later, Jiang Su Satellite TV started a similar program called If You

Are the One (Fei Chen Wu Rao), which soon became the number one entertainment TV

show. Because of the success of these two shows, more and more TV stations followed

suit and produced similar programs and this kind of reality show became vital for

competition among TV stations.

These shows penetrate deep into Chinese‘s everyday life. People talk about the

participating girls on the show and some of the participants instantly gained fame.

Sina.com classified some of the female participants on the same page as movie stars.

Even a new Chinese vocabulary was created -- BMW girl, because one female participant

at If You Are the One claimed she would rather cry sitting in a BMW than smile riding on

bicycle.

These programs also get international attention. Some participants came from the USA,

Korea, Vietnam, Sweden and the Ukraine. USA Today commented with an article titled

―China smitten by TV dating‖ (Macleod, 2010). The Jindu newspaper described the

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debates resulting from the date programs as unprecedented.

Popularity brings critics. The main criticisms are of incorrect messages of money

worshiping being sent to the younger generation. In one of the Let’s Go on a Date

episodes, a good looking male participant received 0 popularity from the girls after

revealing his monthly salary is a low 2,500 RMB; while a much less attractive boy with a

doctoral degree, not good at expressing himself, got high attention. The motivation of

those girls also draws a lot of criticism. Are they really looking for a relationship or

simply wanting to appear in gossip magazines the next day? Could it be that these girls

are actresses hired by TV stations? If so, does it violate the basics of a TV reality show?

As the media industry is censored by the central government in China, a slight distaste

from government officials can be crucial for any program. Last summer, the Chinese

central government propaganda officials issued a directive calling the shows ‗vulgar‘ and

criticizing them for promoting money-oriented values, openly discussing sexual matters

and ‗making up false stories, thus hurting the credibility of the media‘ (Yang, 2010). The

result was a big makeover for those dating shows. Instead of claiming property

possession and social status, the participants showed more involvement of public welfare

and willingness to build a good relationship with a future mother- in-law. Zhejiang TV‘s

Run for Love (Wei Ai Xiang Qian Chong) ended in June 2010, though the producer refused

to admit it had any relationship to the directive. If You Are the One began to use a

professor from the local Communist Party School as a judge.

Supporters view reality dating shows as sign of significant social progress as TV show can

offer ordinary people the opportunity to freely express themselves. And the fact that the

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shows passed censorship proves an increasing level of social tolerance towards diversity of

opinion. The producer of If You are the One, Mr. LIU points out that criticism that these

dating programs demoralize society is largely due to the audience‘s unfamiliarity with

reality shows. ‗Before, the Chinese audience did not associate or connect TV with real

life, but rather a platform beyond reach‘ (cited in Jin, 2010).

1.2 Research Question

The research question is why dating reality shows became so popular with audiences in

China within a relatively short period of time from the perspective of use and gratifications

obtained from watching dating shows. Why from the audiences‘ perspective? Media

firms draw profits from two sources, one is revenue from audiences buying tickets and

paying for subscriptions; the other is from advertisement (Webster, Phalen & Lichty, 2000).

Thus, we can conclude that audiences are critical to mass media research.

1.3 Purpose

The purpose of this thesis is to provide answers to the specified research question by

investigating various factors that contribute to the popularity of Chinese TV Reality Shows.

1.4 Limitations

The limitations of the survey are firstly the size of the sample, 209 cases is fairly small

comparing to the entire population in China and have a 6.8% margin of error at the 95%

confidence level. Secondly, the samples are all from big cities in China, mainly southeast

of China and Beijing, and lack data from the countryside or undeveloped areas of China.

Lastly, most survey participants are below 50 years old. Thus, the conclusion gets from

this research only for Chinese citizens below 50.

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2 Theoretical Framework

This section presents the usage and gratification theory which is widely used in media

research and gives a brief introduction of Chinese television system and dating TV reality

shows in China.

2.1 The Uses and Gratification Theory

While much of communication research focuses on media‘s influence on people, the uses and

gratifications approach deals with what people do with the media.

McQuail & Windahl (1986a) indicate that research within the uses and gratifications

approach focuses on the use of media content for obtaining gratifications or need fulfillment.

Audience behavior is explained by the needs and interests of the individual.

2.1.1 Classical Models

The Underlying Logic of Investigation Model

Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch (1974) initiated a uses and gratifications model---the

underlying logic of investigation. The main idea is that ‗They are concerned with the

social and psychological origins of needs, which generate expectations of the mass media

or other sources, leading to differential patterns of media exposure (or engagement in other

activities), resulting in need gratifications and other consequences, perhaps mostly

unintended ones‘ (cited in McQuail & Windahl, 1986b)

Apart from the key element above, uses and gratifications models always include motives

for satisfying the needs and functional alternatives for fulfilling the needs. (McQuail &

Windahl, 1986c)

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An example of a typical uses and gratifications chain of reasoning might go as follows for a

TV-reality show: A 30 year old single man wants to get married soon. This generates

the need. Instead of searching for girls he knows in his social circle, he expects that

certain mass media consumption would give fulfillment of his need. He can either go to a

dating website or watch dating TV reality shows. He chooses the most popular dating TV

reality show If you Are the One. The result can be that he finds a target girl, maybe then

contacts her or even attends the show. He may continue to watch If You Are the One, and

starts to talk about it with friends, family and workmates. The whole process itself is a

functional alternative to real interaction. The model is presented in Figure 2.1

Figure 2.1 The example of The underlying logic of investigation Models

Real interaction: searching girls from his social circle

Functional alternative

Social and psychological origins: A 30 year old single man wants to get married soon

Needs : date

Expectations of the mass media or other sources: find a date

Differential patterns of media exposure: dating website or watching dating TV reality

shows

Need gratifications: find target girls Other consequences: talk about it with

friends, family and workmates;

contact the target girl; participate in

the show If you are the one

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Rosengren’s Version

Rosengren develops the underlying logic of investigation model and identifies eleven

variables related to the uses and gratifications approach (Figure 2.2).

Under interaction with

And

Result in

as

well as

The combination of problems and solutions constituting

resulting in

and

both behavior categories giving

and, possible affecting

as well as, ultimately, +

Figure 2.2 Rosengren‘s Uses and Grat ifications Paradigm (McQuail & Windahl, 1986d)

1 Certain basic human needs of lower and higher order

2 Differential combinations of intra- and extra- individual characteristics

3 The structure of the surrounding society, including media structure

4 Differential combinations of individual problems, being more or less strongly felt,

5 perceived solutions to these problems

6 Differential motives for attempts at gratification-seeking or problem-solving

behavior,

7 Differential patterns of actual media consumption

8 Differential patterns of other behavior,

9 Differential patterns of gratifications or non-gratifications

10 The individual‘s combination of intra-and extra- individual characteristics

11 The media structure and other social, political, cultural and economic structures in

society

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The needs of human beings constitute the starting point, which is the same as the

underlying logic of the investigation models. Boxes one through three explain the origin

of needs to be satisfied, that is, interaction with elements within individuals and

surroundings around the individual. Rosengren claims that higher level needs (the need

for company, love, acceptance and self-actualization ) are the most relevant to the uses and

gratifications approach compared to lower level needs (psychological and safety needs),

which are classified at Maslow‘s hierarchy of needs (cited in McQuail & Windahl, 1986e).

The interaction of needs, individual characteristics and surrounding social conditions

generate individual problems, which differ between individuals (box four). Once the

solutions of the problem are perceived (box five), the motive for attempts at

gratification-seeking or problem-solving behavior is formed (box six). However, in

empirical research, it may be hard to separate ‗motive‘, ‗need‘ and ‗problem‘ (McQuail &

Windahl, 1986f).

Motivations thus affect patterns of either media consumption (box seven) or other behaviors

(box eight). The result of consumption is either gratification or non-gratification. The

effects of the process influence the individual himself, society and media patterns within

society.

We can take Rosengren‘s version as an extension of the underlying logic of the uses and

gratifications investigation model. It clarifies the elements forming ‗needs‘ and the

processes involved in choosing to consume media or other products and services to satisfy

that need. Rosengren‘s approach predicts the possibility of non-gratification. However,

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McQuail & Windahl (1986g) conclude that empirical research has always failed to evaluate

gratifications, often assuming consumers get the gratifications they are expecting. The

last new idea in Rosengren‘s model is of the social and media influence resulting from

media consumption or other consumption, while the underlying logic of investigation

models only considers effects on consumers individually.

2.1.2 Fields of Application

Traditionally, the uses and gratifications approach is used to explain audience behavior for

certain mass media, especially TV. Kilborn (1992), adopting the uses and gratifications

perspective, offers different reasons for watching soap operas from both individual needs

(entertaining rewards from work; fulfilling individual needs; identification and involvement

with characters) and social interaction perspective (focus on debate on topical issues; a kind

of critical game involving the rules and conventions of the game).

Though uses and gratification has a long history, it is still useful for analyzing modern

audiences. The uses and gratifications approach has been extended to digital media. Ancu

and Cozma (2009) adopted uses and gratifications to examine what attracts voters to visit a

political candidate‘s social network profile on Facebook and MySpace. Park, Kee &

Valenzuela (2009) examined Facebook Groups users‘ gratifications and the relationship

between users‘ gratifications and their political and civic participation offline.

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2.2 Dating TV Reality Shows in China

2.2.1 Chinese Television System

There were 314 television stations, not counting the number at county level, in China in

2004 (22-9 Basic Statistics on Radio and Television Stations, 2005). Out of 314, only two

were national television networks -- CCTV (China Central Television) and China

Educational Television. The rest are provincial and local stations. Television stations in

China are government owned. CCTV and China Educational Television are affiliated

with the State Administration of Radio Film and Television. The other television stations

are affiliated with the provincial and local Administration of Radio Film and Television.

Each level of Administration of Radio Film and Television is then affiliated to one higher

level. For example, Radio Film and Television Bureau of Zhejiang Province is affiliated

to The State Administration of Radio Film and Television. Radio and television stations

throughout the country currently reach 96.95 percent of the total Chinese population, which

is ranked number one in the world with the largest audience numbers and television content

delivered (Li, 2010).

Since The State Administration of Radio Film and Television is a bureau of the state

council, in theory, Chinese television stations should get total government funding.

However, in reality, ‗the largest source of funding for Chinese television is commercial

revenue‘ (Li, 2001a, p3). Even for CCTV, government subsidies only supply 0.5% of

total CCTV funds (Li, 2001b). Thus, Chinese television has to seek revenue from

commercial advertising and sponsorships.

The TV industry in China is extremely competitive because of the large number of

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television stations and the lack of public funding. Competition is especially severe among

provincial television stations that are satellite transmitted and reach a nationwide audience.

In order to get a share from the pie of 1.3 billion viewers, each provincial station needs to

first compete with CCTV, which is the ironclad winner; followed by competing with

numerous peers. In addition to battles among different stations, there is also competition

from other media forms like radio, print and newly developed Internet media.

To gain a better understanding of the actual situation in television stations, I interviewed an

editor named REN Haiquan at Zhejiang Satellite TV. He said that (REN, Haiquan,

personal conversation, 2011-03-20), unlike the past, audience ratings have become the

dominant factor for TV programming decisions. In Zhejiang Satellite TV, staff get bonus

according to the audience ratings of the program they work on. If the program fails to

reach a certain audience rate, it will be removed or rescheduled to a less desirable hour, like

late evening. However, the competition for ratings does not mean government

supervision can be ignored. TV stations must also satisfy strict government demands.

The stations‘ producers work under heavy political and economic pressures. The only

way to survive is to provide programs that meet the audience‘s likings within the

government‘s bottom line requirements. They are walking a fine line between modern

creative entertainment and stern conservative political guidelines.

2.2.2 Introduction of Dating TV Reality Shows in China

History

The history of dating reality TV Shows in China is not a long one. In 1988, Shan Xi TV

Station created a program called TV Matchmaker (Dian Shi Hong Niang), which is

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considered the original mainland China dating TV show. The object of the show is to find

a girl friend for bachelors who are financially unsound. In the beginning, no one signed

up to go on the show. After three months of advertising in newspapers, a man from the

Nan Zhang village in Qi Zhou registered for the show. The show became popular after

the first girl participant appeared which is considered to be very untraditional in the

Chinese value system at that time.

In 1988, a Taiwan dating reality show, Super Woman & Men (Fei Chang Nan Nv), started

broadcasting in mainland China. Shortly after, various TV stations produced more than

20 similar programs, including: Rose’s Date (Mei Gui Zhi Yue) by Hu Nan TV Station;

Man & Woman Should Get Married (Nan Nv Dang Hun) by Nai Nan TV Station; Good

Men & Good Woman (Hao Nan Hao Nv) by Shan Xi TV Station. Among these, Rose’s

Date is the most influential. It was broadcast by Hu Nan TV Station, which is known as

the ‗King of Entertainment‘ station in China. Within 60 minutes, six single men and six

single women interviewed each other and selected his/her date at the end. This show is a

masterpiece in Chinese dating reality TV shows‘ history. It lasted for 7 years and 15% of

the participants managed to find a date (Satellite TV stations compete for dating TV show,

If you Are the One at top of audience rate, 2010a).

In 2004, Hu Nan TV station produced a singing reality show, Super Girl, which is similar

to American Idol. Super Girl, followed by Super Boy, dominated the reality show

market till the end of 2009 when the same TV station, Hu Nan Satellite, launched a dating

reality show called Let’s Go on a Date. Within a month, another giant among provincial

TV stations, Jiang Su Satellite, came out with a dating show, If You Are the One. The

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show gained unprecedented popularity and, in two weeks, became the most popular show

with a huge audience (Satellite TV stations compete for dating TV show, If You Are the One

at top of audience rate, 2010b).

Current Most Popular Shows

If You Are the One (Fei Chen Wu Rao)

Jiang Su TV Satellite 2010.1

Each episode has 24 single girls who want to meet a guy and 5 single males to choose from

the 24. Each girl has a podium with an assigned number and their name, age and job are

displayed in front of the podium. Each guy comes on stage and does a self introduction -

name, age, residence location and, sometimes, profession. He then chooses a girl he is

interested by secretly entering the girl‘s assigned number on a machine that only the host

can see. At the same time, the girls also decide if they want to know the man better. If

she does not, she will turn off the light on her podium. This is the first round. Three

rounds of video segments, taped by the guy himself and his friends or family, follow.

Girls can continue to turn off their podium light between the three rounds if they lose

interest. If, after the three video segments, there are more than two girls whose lights are

still on, the guy can turn off all the lights leaving those of the two girls he likes most. The

two female finalists, along with the girl who caught the guy‘s attention in the beginning of

the show, walk onto the center of the stage. The guy can ask them a question and make

his final decision. If the chosen girl accepts, they are successfully matched up to have a

date. They win a pair of shoes from the sponsor shoe company - Aokang. They also win

a trip to Hawaii if the guy receives at least 22 lights at the first round.

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The host is MEI Fei, an experienced journalist for local news. The show also includes

two psychologists. LE Jia is the founder of personality analysis by color in China and is

famous for his direct and sharp comments. The other psychologist is a professor from

Jiang Su provincial Committee party school, a very nice easy going person called HUNG

Han. Ms HUNG joined the show in the summer of 2010, after the programs were

criticized of being too vulgar.

Connect to Love (Ai Qing Lian Lian Kan)

Zhejiang TV 2010.11.14

This is a new show from Zhejiang TV station that started in November 2010, after ending

its controversial dating show Run For Love in June 2010, which is said to have been

banned by the Administration of Radio Film and Television, though Zhejiang TV station

denied it. There are fifty girl candidates, but only 10 can participate each episode. The

10 girls are chosen as follows: each male participant lists two requirements, like ‗must be

taller than 163cm; prefer to travel as individuals rather than joining a travel group; prefer

the girl‘s personality to be subtle rather than outgoing.‘ Those girls who think they don‘t

meet the requirement turn off their podium lights. If there are still more than 10, all the

candidate girls‘ numbers are entered into a random draw on a screen. When the guy says

‗stop‘, the 10 numbers left on the screen become the final participating girls.

As in If You Are the One, the man can choose the girl who caught his eyes when he first

came on the stage. There are video segments for the girls to know the man better. The

difference is at the last round, the boy can decide whether he wants to turn the light back on

of the girl who caught his eyes in the beginning. There is also a psychologist in the show,

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named LEI Ming, who analyses the personality of the participants and suggest suitable

matches.

If a date is confirmed, the girl can get a cell phone from the sponsoring cell phone company,

Duo Wei, and they together can win a free trip to Aegean Sea.

Let’s Go on a Date (Wo Men Yue Hui Ba)

Hu Nan TV 2009.12.24

This is the Chinese version of Take Me Out, for which Hu Nan TV station bought the rights

from the British Fremantle Company. There are two main differences from the previous

shows. One, instead of girls waiting for love, there are also episodes where a girl will

choose from a number of men. Two, instead of having psychologists as guests, this show

invites two famous entertainment program hosts as guests.

2.2.3 Critics of Dating TV Reality Shows

The debates started because of a scandal about the reality TV show If You Are the One.

MA Nuo, a 22-year-old girl from Beijing, haughtily rejected an offer from a male

contestant to take a ride on his bike by saying ‗I'd rather cry in a BMW than laugh on the

back seat of a bicycle‘.

The dating show scandal swept through the Internet immediately. WANG Xi Jie, wrote

on the popular Internet forum Tianya.cn: ‗Yes, the world needs money, but your idea that

money is the master of everything is not right.‘ XIE Yong, wrote on the Web portal

Sohu.com: ‗The most controversial aspect of these programs is the value these contestants

place on worshipping money and rich people. These opinions are so contrary to our

traditional values, like loving one's country and respecting one's elders ... But we can't do

http://sohu.com/

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anything if these people just prefer repulsive things‘ (Cited in Bergman, 2010a).

Half a year after the debut of Let’s Go on a Date, in early June of 2010, the State

Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued new rules for matchmaking programs.

The rules require that inappropriate social and love values, such as monetary desires,

should not be displayed in the shows and that morally provocative hosts and hostesses

should be banned. It is required that participants undergo stricter screening procedures

and be cautious about making spontaneous and questionable remarks (Bergman, 2010b).

In a Chinese TV program conference last June in Shanghai, scholars, critics and various

media celebrities discussed current Chinese TV shows. CAO Kefan, a well-known host

of Shanghai's Dragon TV, predicted that those dating shows can‘t last long as they go

against the mainstream values of Chinese society (Luo & Shi, 2010a). He also claimed

that a large part of these dating shows are just staged acts. The goal ‗is not about really

finding a match, but rather having a debate, a staged debate‘ (cited in Xing, 2010a).

WANG Xiaoya, a renowned hostess of CCTV, viewed the dating shows as negative for

China‘s broadcast industry because they overstress unconventional values. ZHAO

Zhongxiang, a former host of CCTV, pointed out that the problem of those shows is

content, not the concept. He expected to see high quality and cultural based content rather

than vulgar expression. According to him, high quality content, not shocking words,

would ensure a program‘s longevity (Luo & Shi, 2010b).

On the other hand, people with the opposing views argued the dating programs actually

reflect the real Chinese society. GU Xiaoming, a professor at Fudan University, said that

the majority of the comments from contestants reflect how they feel, but that most people

http://news.163.com/10/0608/03/68KJI8TT00014AED.html

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dare not express themselves honestly in their daily lives. ‗Instead of criticism, we should

calm down to discuss how to improve the esthetic sentiment‘ (cited in Luo & Shi, 2010c).

GU Jun, professor from Shanghai University, said more bluntly, ‗Nowadays how many

girls would really smile sitting on the backseat of a bicycle?‘ (cited in Luo & Shi, 2010d).

A famous critic from Hong Kong ifeng Satellite, MA Jiahun, encouraged dating shows to

be even more open. He admits fake elements do exist, like hiring aspiring actors and

models as contestants. However, the value system presented from those young people

can‘t be bogus and the enjoyment audiences get from watching can‘t be forged either. He

feels the values reflected in those shows, rather than controversial, are actually very much

mainstream: women prefer to have a man who is handsome and rich; men would like a

woman who is sweet, tender and good to elderly parents. He said he would let his

daughter watch the dating shows to let her see how young people choose dates now (Luo &

Shi, 2010e).

Even though some of the contestants come across as very offensive, people continue to

watch. ‗Audiences like the programs because they're honest. They show the current

reality of Chinese society,‘ said YAN Mu, one of the founders of Baihe.com, an online

dating service with 21 million registered users, ‗Many people feel pressure from their

parents and peers to find a mate. It can be a struggle to find one.‘ (cited in Bergman,

2010a). ‗You can see the show as a reflection of our society today‘, writes a resident from

Nan Jing on Sohu.com. ‗The reason we like watching the show is because real life conflicts

are larger-than- life on the shows‘ (cited in Xing, 2010b).

http://baihe.com/

http://comment2.news.sohu.com/n271867429.html

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3 Method

This section provides a detailed portrayal of the choice of method used in the research.

Motivation of the research approach chosen, process of data collection and design of survey

will also be explained in detail.

3.1 Research Approach

A web-based survey was used for data-collection. According to Wright (2005), the

advantages of online survey research includes access to individuals in distant locations,

cost and time saved in contacting participants, and the convenience of having automated

data collection, which reduces researcher‘s time and effort. Disadvantages of online

survey research include uncertainty over the validity of the data and sampling issues，and

concerns surrounding the design, implementation and evaluation of an online survey.

The reasons for choosing this method are that ‗This method allows for elaborately designed

questionnaires with color, graphics, audio features and sophisticated skip patterns.

Moreover, the software is usually programmed automatically to collect and provide

ongoing summaries of the data‘ (Gunter, Nicholas, Huntington and Williams, 2002, p.232).

3.2 Data Gathering

Originally the survey was designed in English. However, during pre-testing, 14 out of 15

survey participants responded that the language of the survey bothered them a lot and the

survey was translated to Chinese. The online survey was conducted through a Chinese

professional online survey website called Questionnaire Star (Wen Juan Xing).

Original plans called for 200 respondents in 2 weeks, from April 13 through April 23. The

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result was better than expected. By April 19, 209 respondents completed survey and it was

closed on April 19. To minimize response time, survey methods were employed. First, the

questionnaire was embedded in an e-mail sent to a number of potential respondents. The

recipient of the E-mail was told he/she could respond to the survey by clicking on the link

provided. Secondly, the survey was posted on major social networks in China - Kai Xin

Web, QQ, and Dou Ban web. Kai Xin Web, similar to Facebook, is the largest and most

popular Social Network Site in China. QQ, similar to ICQ, is the most dominant Instant

Message software used in China, with more than 100 million users. Dou Ban web is a

social network site mainly for young people, originally set up for sharing books and movies.

Thirdly, the exchange filling survey service from Questionnaire Star was utilized. By using

this service, those who are conducting an online survey on Questionnaire Star complete

another‘s survey and theirs is completed in return. However, the sampling results were not

as good as expected from the above methods. After two day, only 15 respondents have

completed the survey, which is nothing in a country with 420 million netizens as of June

2010 (Statistical Report on Internet Development in China, 2010a). Messages were then

sent on QQ and MSN to people on the researcher‘s friends list asking them and their friends

to complete the survey. This led to notable success. By the third day, the number of

respondents reached 71.

3.3 Sampling Issues

The sampling issue creates limitations for the data. First is the sample demographic issue.

According to CNNIC‘s (China Internet Network Information Center) recent report

(Statistical Report on Internet Development in China, 2010b), 51% of netizens are between

- 19 -

the ages of 20 and 39 and 72.6% are urban residents. This means limited or no statistics

were gathered from rural and older viewers. Second is the sample size issue. Due to

time and cost limitations, there were only 209 respondents, which is fairly small in the

world‘s most populated country.

3.4 Survey Design

An online survey was used as source of primary data since it could be distributed to a large

number of people simultaneously across the whole nation. A total of 23 questions (Refer

to Appendix 1 – Questionnaire) were created with each question set as ‗mandatory‘, which

means the respondents would not be able to submit the survey if there was any question left

unanswered. This setting was used to guarantee there were no missing answers for any of

the 23 questions.

The survey is designed according to the Rosengren model variables. The questions

associated with each of the Rosengren variables were:

Basic human needs of lower and higher order

Differential combinations of intra- and extra-individual characteristics

a. Demographic variables

i. Q 18—Gender

ii. Q 19—Age

iii. Q20—Marital Status

iv. Q21—Education

v. Q 22—Employment

vi. Q 23—Income

- 20 -

b. Q14—Attitude Towards Marriage

c. Q15/16—Important Factors in Marriage

Structure of the surrounding society, including media structure

Result in

Differential combinations of individual problems, being more or less strongly felt

a. Q 17 a-e—Major Life Concerns

As well as perceived solutions to these problems

a. Q10—You can find true love through dating reality shows

b. Q 6—Credibility

c. Q7—Importance of Credibility

The combination of these problems and solutions constitute differential motives

for attempts at gratification-seeking or problem-solving behavior

Resulting in

Differential patterns of actual media consumption

a. Q2—How often do you watch dating shows?

b. Q3—What‘s your favorite dating TV show?

And differential patterns of other behavior

a. Q8 a-c—Activities Resulting From Watching Dating Shows

Both behavior categories giving differential patterns of gratifications or

non-gratifications

a. Q4 a through f—Important reasons for watching dating shows

- 21 -

And possibly affecting the individuals combination of intra- and extra-individual

characteristics

As well as ultimately, the media structure and other social, political, cultural and

economic structures in society

4 Analysis and Findings

The purpose of this section is to present and analyze the statistical results gathered

from the online survey.

4.1 Data Analysis

The object of this analysis is to investigate two questions:

1) How does watching dating shows affect audience decisions about media

consumption and other behaviors?

2) What uses and gratifications affect the decision to watch dating shows?

It is conducted by examining three relationships:

The demographic and attitudinal variables on individual issues and value/

credibility issues;

Impact of demographic variables, individual issues and value/credibility issues

on media consumption and other behavior;

Impact of demographic variables, individual issues and value/credibility issues

on uses and gratifications of watching dating shows.

4.1.1 Variables

The demographic variables include gender, age, marital status, education, employment and

- 22 -

income. The attitudinal variables include attitude towards marriage and the individual‘s

values regarding marriage. Individual issues refer to current major life concerns. Value

stands for the belief of the chance of finding true love through dating shows. Credibility

means how believable or authentic these TV dating reality shows and TV as a medium

itself is perceived to be.

Variables of media consumption are the frequency of watching dating shows. Other

behavior refers to activities resulted from watching dating shows including the variables of

social discussion of the shows, fashion influence and re-evaluate of one‘s relationship.

The variables for uses and gratifications of watching dating shows are: a) understanding

current social trends; b) fine contestants and background music; c) good entertainment; d)

common topic for conversation; e) anticipate to contact interesting contestants; f) expert‘s

advice is beneficial.

4.1.2 Statistics Method

Stepwise regression was used to identify key variable, then correlation was used to identify

the strength of the relationship. T-Tests were used to identify statistically significant

differences between groups and crosstabs to identify specific distributions for further

analysis. The whole process was conducted using SPSS.

- 23 -

4.2 Demographic and Attitudinal Variables on Individual Issues and

Value / Credibility Issues

4.2.1 Demographic and Attitudinal Variables on Individual Issues

Table 4.1 - Outcome Summary of Demographic Variables on the Perceived Importance of Individual

Issues

Variables Stepwise Regression Correlation

Independent Variable Dependent Variable Adjusted R2 Sig F. Change Correlation Sig. (2-tailed)

Education Job/education 0.035 p=0.004 0.199 p=0.004

Monthly Income Marriage 0.061 p<0.001 0.256 p<0.001

Monthly Income Parents 0.067 p<0.001 0.268 p<0.001

See Appendix 3 for more detailed description of the variab les

Table 4.2 - Outcome Summary of Attitudinal Variables on the Perceived Importance of Individual Issues


Independent Variable Dependent Variable Adjusted R2 Sig F. Change Correlation Sig. (2-tailed)

Personality Importance Job/Education 0.313 p<.001 0.565 p<.001

Financial Importance

Marriage

0.204 p<.001 0.454 p<.001

Material Requirement 0.300 p<.001 0.423 p<.001

Education Importance

Health

0.202 p<.001 0.448 p<.001

Material Requirement 0.237 p=0.002 0.246 p<.001

Material Requirement Parents 0.243 p<.001 0.399 p<.001

Family Importance

Spouse

0.156 p<.001 0.400 p<.001

Material Requirement 0.200 p=0.001 0.340 p<.001


Stepwise regression analysis identifies the relationship between key variables for each

major concern in daily life. Concern for health and the importance of one‘s relationship

with one‘s spouse have no significant relationship with any of the demographic variables.

The demographic independent variable related to the dependent variable of concern about

job/education is education level. All groups with different education levels have high

concern on job or education, with the mean of 5.01 out of 7 as the highest mark, and Std.

- 24 -

Deviation of 1.887. However, there is no significant linear relation between the

independent variable and dependent variable through Crosstabs analysis (X2=25.383, df=24,

p=0.385).

Monthly Income is the independent variable for both concern about marriage and the

relationship with parents. A linear relation is discovered through T-Test, that is, the higher

the income, the greater the concern about getting married (mean for group monthly income

below 1,000 Yuan is 2.83, above 20,000 Yuan is 5, p=0.01) and the importance of one‘s

relationship with parents (mean for group monthly income below 1,000 Yuan is 2.57, above

20,000 Yuan is 4.73, p=0.01).

Material importance is the major attitudinal variable that affects individual concerns.

From the correlations, we can conclude that individuals placing a strong emphasis on

monetary values have greater concerns about individual issues such as marriage,

relationships with parents and spouse, and personal health. This supports the critics of the

venality of dating shows.

- 25 -

4.2.2 Demographic and Attitudinal Variables on Value / Credibility

Variables

Table 4.3 - Outcome Summary of Demographic Variables on Value/Credibility Variables


Independent Variable Dependent Variable Adjusted R2

Sig F.

Change Correlation

Sig.

(2-tailed)

Gender

Believe of Finding True Love

through dating Shows

0.133 p<0.001 -3.710 p<0.001

Monthly Income 0.224 p<0.001 0.370 p<0.001

Age 0.292 p<0.001 -2.840 p<0.001

Monthly Income

Believe Everything on TV

0.110 p<0.001 0.339 p<0.001

Gender 0.177 p<0.001 -3.260 p<0.001

Age 0.221 p=0.001 -0.231 p=0.002

Gender Authenticity of Dating Shows 0.053 p=0.001 -0.240 p=0.001


Table 4.4 - Outcome Summary of Attitudinal Variables on Value/Credibility Variables


Independent Variable Dependent Variable Adjusted R2 Sig F. Change Correlation

Sig.

(2-tailed)

Material Requirement

Believe of Finding True Love

through Dating Shows 0.372 p<0.001 0.636 p<0.001

Material Requirement


0.319 p<0.001 0.588 p<0.001

Personality 0.351 p=0.002 -0.256 p=0.001

Material Requirement Authenticity of Dating Shows 0.046 p=0.002 0.226 p=0.002


The dominant demographic variables on value and credibility of TV dating shows are

gender, monthly income and age. It can be concluded through T-Test that men have a

stronger belief in finding true love through dating shows (mean of men 4.61 and women

3.22, p<0.001) and the authenticity of TV (mean of men 4.67 and women 3.47, p<0.001).

Also, men care more about the authenticity of dating shows compared to women (mean of

men 5.23 and women 4.40, p=0.001).

The data show that people with higher income have higher levels of belief in finding true

- 26 -

love through dating shows (the mean of the group with monthly income below 1,000 Yuan

is 2.89, mean for those with monthly income above 20,000 Yuan is 4.9, p<0.001) There is

also a linear relationship between income and belief in the authenticity of TV content for

responses whose monthly salary below 20,000 Yuan (mean responses for those whose

monthly below 1,000 Yuan is 3.22, mean for respondents whose monthly income is

10,000-20,000 is 5.04, p<0.001).

There is a linear relation between the age variable and strength of belief in finding true love

through dating shows for respondents between age 10 and age 50 (X2=91.180, df=42,

p<0.001). The younger the respondent, the stronger his belief in finding true love through

dating shows. The same relationship holds between age and the belief in the authenticity

of TV content (X2=980.228, df=42, p<0.001). The younger the respondent, the stronger

his belief in the value/authenticity of everything on TV. There were too few respondents

in the age categories of 50-60 and 60 and above to conduct meaningful analysis.

For the attitudinal variables, the key factor is the importance of financial requirements for

marriage. This explains how the dating shows‘ focus on the capital power of contestants

appeals to a significant audience segment.

- 27 -

4.3 Demographic Variables, Individual Issues and Value/Credibility

Issues on Media Consumptions and Other Behavior

Table 4.5 - Outcome Summary of Individual Issues and Value/Credibility Issues on Media

Consumptions



Sig.

(2-tailed)

Marriage Frequency of Watching 0.043 p=0.001 -0.219 p=0.001

Believe Everything on TV Dating Shows 0.143 p<0.001 -0.37 p<0.001


Table 4.6 - Outcome Summary of Importance of Individual Issues and Value/Credibility Issues on Other

Behavior


Independent Variable Dependent Variable Adjusted R2 Sig F. Change

Correlatio

n

Sig.

(2-tailed)


Talk to People

0.061 p=0.001 0.259 p<0.001

Marriage 0.064 p<0.001 0.261 p<0.001


Fashion Influence

0.101 p<0.001 0.34 p<0.001

Spouse 0.122 p<0.001 0.355 p<0.001

Believe of Finding true Love

through Shows Re-evaluate

current

0.130 p<0.001 0.397 p<0.001

Marriage 0.133 p<0.001 0.370 p<0.001


Demographic differences have no influence on media consumption and other behavior.

However, differences in individual issues and views regarding the credibility of TV lead to

individual differences in behavior regarding media consumption and different perceptions

of the results of watching dating shows. For people who believe the authenticity of

television content, the reality show has a bigger impact on their understanding of the

current social (X2=61.372, df=36, p=0.005) and fashion trends(X2=76.925, df=36, p<0.001).

People who have bigger concern of getting married tend to talk more about dating shows

- 28 -

(X2=79.746, df=36, p<0.001) and reconsider their current goal of getting married

(X2=302.125, df=36, p<0.001). This can be explained by the underlying logic of

investigation model presented in the theoretical frame part.

4.4 Demographic Variables, Individual Issues and Value/Credibility

Issues on Reasons to Watch Dating Shows

Table 4.7 – Demographic Variables, Individual Issues and Value/Credibility Issues on Reasons to Watch

Dating Shows .



Sig.

(2-tailed)

Job/Education Fine Contestants 0.081 p<0.001 0.244 P=0.001

Authenticity of Dating Shows and Background Music 0.144 p<0.001 0.268 p<0.001

Monthly Income

Good Entertainment

0.091 p<0.001 -0.310 p<0.001

Job/Education 0.091 p<0.001 0.317 p<0.001

Job/Education Topic for Conversation 0.067 0.001 0.270 p<0.001

Belief of Finding True Love

Through Dating Shows

May Contact

Contestants 0.157 p<0.001 0.418 p<0.001

Authenticity of Dating Shows

Beneficial Advice

0.132 p<0.001 0.371 p<0.001

Spouse 0.170 P=0.004 0.325 p<0.001


If we separate the types for reasons to watch dating shows, the data indicate:

1) Knowledge function: help to understand current social values, especially on marriage;

get beneficial advice from the expert panel;

2) Social function: have common topic with friends, coworkers and family;

3) Hedonic function: good entertainment; enjoy watching pretty female contestants and

fantastic background music;

4) Utility function: may find and contact an interesting contestant.

- 29 -

One can‘t learn from things that they don‘t trust. Thus, there is a relationship between

belief in the authenticity of dating shows and the reliance on them for beneficial advice.

Cross table analysis on variables of ―bothered if dating shows are staged‖ and ―obtain

beneficial advice from experts‖ shows that the degree of advice obtained from shows and

the belief of the authenticity of shows have a linear relationship. That is, the stronger the

belief in the authenticity of shows, the more perception of learning. The same goes for

the utility function, the stronger the belief in finding true love through dating shows, the

greater the chance the respondent would try to contact contestants.

People with high pressure jobs or school work tend to focus more on the hedonic value of

dating shows as a way of relaxing. The shows therefore influence their social life through

conversations about dating shows.

Andersson & Andersson (2006) point out that income is an important factor affecting

consumers of experience goods. People in lower income groups like watching TV, while

people with higher income prefer opera. Through T-Test, the same conclusion is obtained

here that the lower the income, the higher entertainment gratification get from watching

dating shows (Mean for group monthly salary below 1,000 Yuan is 4.41, Above 20,000

Yuan 2.05, p=0.001).

- 30 -

5 Conclusion

Notes:

Gratifications of watching dating shows

Media consumptions and other behavior

Individual issues Credibility issues

Demographic variables

Figure 5.1 Summary of Variables Related to Media Consumption, Other Behavior and Gratifications of

Watching Dating Shows

Can find true love though

shows

Watch dating shows

Talk to people about shows

Rethink current relationship

Job/education

Believe authentic ity of shows

Spouse

Believe everything on TV

Social

Hedonic

Learning

Utility

Marriage

Fashion influence

Monthly

Income

- 31 -

The above figure is a summary of variables influencing media consumption and other

behavior and gratifications from watching dating shows. The variables influencing the

frequency of watching dating shows are the level of concern about marriage and belief in

the authenticity of TV. The same variables influence people‘s behavior in talking about

dating shows in daily life. The variables influencing fashion uses are belief in the

authenticity of TV and high value placed on one‘s relationship with their spouse. The

variables related to rethinking one‘s individual‘s current relationship are high concern about

marriage and a belief in finding true love through dating shows.

The summary serves as a solution for the questions proposed at Chapter 4.1, which is the

aim for doing the analysis.

Q1: How does watching dating shows affect audience decisions about media consumption

and other behaviors?

Demographic variables show no influence on choices about media consumption and other

behavior. When individuals have a high importance rate on marital relationship or have

the desire of getting married, holding the belief of finding true love through dating shows

and trusting the authenticity of TV, they are more likely to watch dating shows, talk about

shows in daily life, be influenced in their get dress by shows and to rethink their

relationship.

Q2: What uses and gratifications affect the decision to match dating shows?

People with differences in individual and credibility issues and incomes get different

gratifications through dating shows.

People get hedonic gratifications from watching dating shows in the belief that dating

- 32 -

shows are authentic. The first group is low income people. Watching dating shows is a

good entertainment when people have tight budgets. The second group is people with

high concern for job/education in life. For them, watching dating shows is a good source

to release the pressure of work and study. It also serves as topic for daily conversation,

thus they obtain social gratification as well.

People who believe the authenticity of dating shows and place a high value on their

relationship with their spouse get learning gratification from watching dating shows.

Advice from psychologists on shows to the participants also benefit audiences in solving

their problems in marriage or simply strengthening their relationship with their spouses.

People who believe they can find true love through dating shows get utility gratification

from watching dating shows. They may find some interesting contestants and contact

them to see if they can get a date.

- 33 -

6 Discussion

The purpose of this chapter is to tie empirical findings back to uses and gratification models,

discuss some detailed insights that do not relate specifically to the research questions that

guided the author, and further explain the practical implications to economic agents.

6.1 Theoretical Implications

Figure 6.1 Model for Watching Dating Shows

1Demographic

variables 2Attitudes

towards marriage

4 Value/credibility on TV

and dating shows

5 Watch dating shows

6 Other behaviors

3Individual

issues

7Gratification

- 34 -

The above model explains the reasons individuals watch dating shows based on survey

results. Demographic variables (Box 1) include education and monthly income, together

with attitudes towards marriage (Box 2) form individual issues. Among various

individual issues, those who have the strongest concern about marriage, believe that they

can find true love through dating shows and trust TV as a media (Box4), choose to watch

dating shows to solve their personal problem (Box5). Individual audience members

receive different kinds of influences from watching dating shows and engage in different

behaviors (Box 6) -- talk about shows for daily conversation, fashion/style information and

information for rethinking their current relationship -- based on their individual concerns

and the perceived value/credibility of TV and dating shows. As a result of watching

dating shows, individuals get different forms of gratification (Box 7) -- hedonic, social,

learning or utility. These gratifications then influence the individual‘s decisions about

watching dating shows, together with other social behavior and levels on concern about

individual issues.

The finding is consistent with uses and gratification theory. Box 1 and Box 2 explain the

origin of needs. Box 3 and 4 explain the motivation for watching dating shows and other

behavior, which in my study is assumed to be influenced from dating shows. Box 7 is the

gratifications audiences get from watching dating shows, which affect their next choice of

media consumption together with other behavior and individual issues. This is a new point

to add to Rosengren‘s version of uses and gratification theory.

- 35 -

6.2 Practical Implications

An interesting finding when examining the relationship between attitudinal variables and

value/credibility issues (Table 4.4) is that material requirements for marriage has a

connection with the belief in finding true love through shows and the perceived credibility

of TV and authenticity of dating shows. And all these values and credibility are important

elements in deciding to watch TV shows. This discovery explains the money worship

spirit of dating shows, and also, serves as a defense from their critics. If the audiences are

vulgar, how can the program be elegant? Instead of criticism, we should calm down to

discuss how to improve the social value system.

Income is an important variable affecting forming individual issues and perceptions of the

value/credibility on TV, which are motives for watching dating shows. The higher the

income, the greater the concern about getting married and one‘s relationship with parents

(Chapter 4.2.1) and the higher the level of belief in finding true love through dating shows

and in the authenticity of TV (Chapter 4.2.2). This gives producers of dating shows a new

view on audience segment. Though low income group are the major group choosing TV

as entertainment consumption, in the case of dating shows in China, high income audience

can be a blue ocean market.

- 36 -

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Appendices

Appendix 1 – Questionnaire

Questionnaire

1) Have you ever heard of any dating shows, like If You Are the One, Run For Love，

Let’s Go on a Date?

□ Yes

□ No

2) How often do you watch dating TV shows?

□ Everyday

□ once a week

□ once a month

□ once a year

□ Never (Go directly to 5)

3) What’s your favorite dating TV shows?

□ If u are the one (Fei Chen Wu Rao)

□ Let‘s Go on a date (Wo Men Yue Hui Ba)

□ Connect love (Ai Qing Lian Lian Kan)

□ Date on Saturday (Xiang Yue Xing Qi Liu)

□ Love Knock the Door (Ai Qing Lai Qiao Men)

- 39 -

□ Other (Please Specify)

4) Please race the importance of the following reasons for watching dating shows。

a. It helps me get to know current social condition and social value, especially about

marriage.

Not Important Extremely Important

1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

b. The female contestants are pretty and the background music is fantastic, etc …


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

c. It is good entertainment for relaxing through some vulgar but funny comments. Not

Important Extremely Important

1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

d. I can have common topic with my workmates during lunch.


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

e. Maybe I can find a contestant whom I am interested in and contact them to get dating

opportunity.


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

f. The advices from panel psychologists are beneficial to me.


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

5) Please rate the importance of the following reasons for NOT watching dating

shows。

a. These programs are vulgar for my taste.

- 40 -


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

b. I have no time.


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

c. I don‘t believe it is reality, just some acting planned by program producers.


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

d. Others(Please Specify)

6) Do you believe everything you see on TV?

Not at all Believe in everything

1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

7) Would it bother you if you knew some of the show was staged?

Not at all A lot

1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

8) “Watching the show is one of the highest priorities in planning the things I do that

day”. Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements.

a. I discuss it a lot with my friends, workmates and family.

Never A lot

1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

b. I want to dress like some of the more popular participants.

Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

c. I begin to rethink about my current relationship.


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

9) What is your attitude towards Chinese government’s intervention towards TV

- 41 -

shows? Example: Zhejiang TV’s Run For Love (Wei Ai Xiang Qian Chong) were

canceled by central government propaganda official. If You Are the One hires a

professor from the local Communist Party school as a judge. Rate the importance.

Unnecessary Strongly Necessary

1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

10) How do you feel about the following statement: “You can find true love through

dating reality shows?”


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

11) “Television should be a channel responsible for social moral value.” Please rate

your level of agreement with the following statements.


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

12) What is your attitude towards advertisements during the dating shows?

Not at all A lot

1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

13) Have you ever participate on web activity for dating shows (including SMS)?

□ Yes

□ No

14) What is your attitude towards marriage? Rate the importance.

a. Only love matters. I won‘t get married till I find true love.


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

b. I must get married at certain age. Love is important but not everything. Practicality is

more important than passion. I‘d rather find someone who is on the same level with me on

all aspects rather than get married only because of passion.

- 42 -


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

c. I would only get married when someone can reach my material requirement.


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

15) For women: Rate the following factors for their importance with marriage.

a. Appearance


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

b. Personality


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

c. Education


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

d. Financial Condition (Income, Bank Account, Owner of Real Estate)


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

e. Family Background


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

f. Others (Please Specify)

16) For men: Rate the following factors for their importance with marriage.

a. Appearance


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

b. Personality


- 43 -

1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

c. Education


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

d. Financial Condition (Income, Bank Account, Owner of Real Estate)


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

e. Family Background


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

f. Others (Please Specify).

17) All of us have various concerns and issues in our lives. Please rate the current

importance of the following concerns for you:

a. Job/ Education

Not Important Very Important

1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

b. Get married


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

c. Health


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

d. Relationship with parents


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

e. Relationship with spouse


1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7

18) Your gender?

- 44 -

□ Male

□ Female

19) Your age?

□ 10-15

□ 16-20

□ 21-25

□ 26-30

□ 31-40

□ 41-50

□ 51-60

□ 60 above

20) Your marriage status?

□Single

□Married

□Divorced/ widowed

□in a relationship

21）Your education level?

□Below Middle School

□Middle School

□Collage/University

□Master

□Doctor and above

22) What is your current job?

□ Unemployment

□ Non-management employees

□ Managers level

- 45 -

□ Student

□ Private firm owner

□ Professional

□ Retired

□ Other

23) Your current monthly salary? (in Yuan)

□Below 1000

□1000-3000

□3000-5000

□5000-10000

□10000-20000

□Above 20000

Thanks for Participation!

- 46 -

Appendix 2 –Descriptive Statistics

N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

How often watch 209 1 5 3,10 1,031

Helps know current social

value esp. marriage 180 1 7 3,22 2,126

Contestants and Music

Pretty 180 1 7 2,99 1,898

Good Entertainment 180 1 7 3,52 2,048

Common Topic for

conversation 180 1 7 2,99 1,840

May contact interesting

contestant 180 1 7 2,56 1,877

Psychological advice is

beneficial 180 1 7 2,99 2,011

Programs are vulgar 21 2 7 5,05 1,910

Have no time to watch 19 1 7 5,37 1,832

Don't belief it's real 23 1 7 5,70 1,743

Believe everything you see

on TV 185 1 7 4,17 1,800

Bothered if it were staged 193 1 7 4,87 1,704

Like to discuss programs

with others 209 1 7 3,00 1,961

Like to dress like

participants 209 1 7 2,73 1,815

Begin to rethink current

relationship 209 1 7 2,78 1,935

Attitude toward government

intervention 181 1 7 4,33 1,801

You can find true love

through dating shows 188 1 7 4,02 1,853

- 47 -

N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

Television should be a

channel responsible for

social moral value

205 1 7 5,04 1,517

Attitude towards

advertisements 204 1 7 4,82 1,531

Only love matters 209 1 7 4,84 2,090

financial importance for

women 92 1 7 4,78 1,489

Importance of job/education 209 1 7 5,01 1,887

Importance of getting

married 209 1 7 3,80 2,168

importance of health 209 1 7 4,24 1,986

Importance of parents 209 1 7 3,74 2,198

Importance of spouse 209 1 7 4,04 2,237

gender 209 1 2 1,44 ,498

Age 209 1 8 3,29 1,089

Marriage status 209 1 5 2,44 1,147

Education 209 1 5 2,80 ,789

Current occupation 209 1 8 3,43 1,592

Monthly Income 209 1 6 3,36 1,468

Total appearance 203 1,00 7,00 4,3103 1,94662

personality 205 1,00 7,00 5,1220 1,87338

education 204 1,00 7,00 4,8039 1,73085

financial importance 204 1,00 7,00 4,5686 1,80044

- 48 -

Appendix 3 –Variables

Column Variables

Item on

Questionnaire Name on SPSS

Demographic gender 18 gender

Variables age 19 age

marital status 20 marriage status

education 21 education

employment 22 current occupation

monthly income 23 monthly income

Attitudinal towards marriage 14

Variables only love matters 14( a ) only love matters

must get married at

certain age 14( b )

must get married at certain

age

material requirement 14( c ) material requirement

individual‘s value in

marriage 15&16

appearance importance 15&16( a ) appearance importance

personality importance 15&16( b ) personality importance

education importance 15&16 ( c ) education importance

financial importance 15&16( d ) financial importance

family importance 15&16( e ) family importance

Individual

current major livelihood

concerns 17

Issue Job/ Education 17(a )

importance of job/

education

Marriage 17( b )

importance of getting

married

Health 17( c ) importance of health

parents 17( d ) importance of parents

spouse 17( e ) importance of spouse

Value

belief of finding true

love through dating

shows 10

belief of finding true love

through shows

Credibility

believe everything on

TV 6 believe everything on TV

authentic of dating

shows 7 bothered if staged

- 49 -

Column Variables

Item on

Questionnaire Name on SPSS

media

consumptions

frequency of watching

dating show 2 how often watch

Other behavior talk to people 8( a ) like to discuss with others

fashion influence 8( b )

like to dress like

participants

re-evaluate current

relationship 8( c )

begin to rethink current

relationship

The variables current social trend 4( a )

of Reasons

fine contestants and

background music 4( b )

fine contestants and

background music

good entertainment 4( c ) good entertainment

to Watch topic for conversation 4( d ) topic for conversation

Dating Shows

may contact interesting

contestants 4( e ) May contact contestants

beneficial advice 4( f ) beneficial advice

Documents

The Popularity of Dating TV Reality Shows in China