title: The readership of health magazines:the role of health orientation.
abstract: Two important trends have drawn the attention of medical practitioners and academics in recent years: the growth of health consciousness within the United States, and the proliferation in the number of health-oriented media outlets. In the face of the growing health care consumerism, accompanied by the proliferation of health-oriented media delivery systems, it is important to explore the audience profile of health magazines so these magazines may be effectively used for media planning. This paper applies a motivation-driven approach to health magazine readership, arguing that health orientation influences the readership of health magazines. Based on an analysis of the Healthstyles data gathered in 1999 and building upon selective exposure theory, the study demonstrates that health orientation positively predicts health magazine readership. The study results provide guidelines for strategic media planning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2098, USA. mdutta-bergman@sla.purdue.edu
authors.forename: Mohan J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Dutta-Bergman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D018156:Journalism, Medical; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010809:Physical Fitness; D011932:Reading; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States