« What shall we watch tonight?” An exploration of consumers’ decision styles for audio-visual products
(A2021-93964)

AUTHORS

Nathalie Dumont, University of Namur, NADI Research Institute, Center for Research on Consumption and Leisure (CeRCLe); Alain Decrop, University of Namur, NaDi Research Institute, Center of Research on Consumption and Leisure (CeRCLe)

ABSTRACT

Entertainment matters! Consumers spend a lot of time, and often money, on products designed to entertain them. The market is flooded with all kinds of alternatives and in particular audio-visual productions. But surprisingly, although the pleasure principle has been widely studied as a driver of consumption, little research has focused on the choice among video entertainment alternatives that are nowadays overabundant and available on-demand. In an inductive approach aimed at addressing this gap, in-depth interviews and observations were analyzed and interpreted according to the methodology of Grounded Theory. The results suggest a typology of four decision styles for video content in which choices may be based either on engagement, desire, mood, or thinking.