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Subject: AEJ 94 MerskinD MCS Adoption of personal advertisements by daily newspapers
From: Elliott Parker <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To:AEJMC Conference Papers <[log in to unmask]>
Date:Sat, 24 Feb 1996 11:34:40 EST
Content-Type:text/plain
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COMPANIONSHIP IN THE CLASSIFIEDS:
 
THE ADOPTION OF PERSONAL ADVERTISEMENTS BY
 
DAILY NEWSPAPERS
 
 
Debra L. Merskin
 
University of Oregon
 
Mara Huberlie
 
Syracuse University
 
 
COMPANIONSHIP IN THE CLASSIFIEDS:  THE ADOPTION OF
 
PERSONAL ADVERTISEMENTS BY DAILY NEWSPAPERS
 
 
ABSTRACT
 
        This study investigates advertising for romantic partners in the daily
 
              newspaper.  A telephone survey of  U.S. daily newspapers shows
that
 
          mate-finding is becoming a matter of mediated information, suggesting
a new
 function for the media.  Media dependency theory predicts that individuals
 will tend to turn to the mass media for this information.  The adoption of
 innovation model explains the process needed to do so.
 
COMPANIONSHIP IN THE CLASSIFIEDS: THE ADOPTION OF PERSONAL ADVERTISEMENTS
 
          BY DAILY NEWSPAPERS
 
        Finding a romantic partner is an age-old process.  In modern times,
 
      finding a partner has become complicated by urbanization and social and
 
         geographic mobility.  This has resulted in a loss of personal contacts
for
 
          locating and identifying eligible others.  Consequently, many singles
have
 
          turned to less personal means of securing a partner.
        Today, opportunities for meeting others can be found in the daily
 
    newspaper.  This medium is relied upon as a source of many kinds of
 
     important information,  such as identifying employment opportunities,
 
       locating housing, and now, finding a partner.  This change from
traditional
 means of securing a partner in the United States suggests that mass media
 
          serve a new function--that of interpersonal intermediary.
        Few studies have looked at dependency on the mass media as a part of
 
       everyday life.  This study suggests that media dependency theory predicts
 
          the use of the mass media for mate-seeking, in the absence of other
more
 
          personal sources of information.  A  telephone survey was conducted
among
 
          67 metropolitan daily newspapers.  The findings describe how daily
 
    newspapers have responded to readers needs by adding personal
          advertisements to their repertoire of features.
BACKGROUND
        Clearly, whatever form courtship, betrothal and marriage take within
 
       different cultures, their function is to mark the passage from one status
 
          to another, such as from youth to maturity, outsideness to belonging,
and
 
          aloneness to companionship.   The importance of marriage changes as
 
     societies become increasingly industrialized, urbanized and modernized.
 
Searching for Companionship.
        Methods of mate-seeking vary by culture.  In many cases,  parents select
 
          partners for their children.  For example, in traditional Arab
society,
 
         systems of infant betrothal and cross-cousin marriage are not uncommon
.[1]
 
          In traditional/tribal societies, such as that of the Trobriand
Islanders,
 
          partner selection is left largely to the whims of youth.  According to
 
        Malinowski, young persons in this society cohabitate to find compatible
 
         partners.  Among the Yanomama Indians of the Amazon, securing wives is
 
        often accomplished through acquisitions of women by force from other
 
      tribes.[2]
        In many societies, the role of matchmaker is important.  Japan has a
 
       particularly long tradition of matchmaking, facilitated by an individual
 
          known as the nakado.  The nakado  is responsible for introducing
 
  prospective partners to one another, for carrying on background
 
 investigations, and for officiating at the marriage ceremony.  According to
 Dore, the arranged marriage (miai-kekkon) means that the parties have been
 brought together expressly to be married on the initiative of parents, a
 
          friend of the family or by way of a go-between.[3]   Evidence that
this system
 is still in use was the 1993 marriage of Japan's Prince Naruhito to Masako
 Owada.[4]
        Another well-known example of the arranged marriage can be found in Jewish
 culture.  Marriage is one of the most important milestones in the lives of
 Jewish men and women.  A matchmaker (shadkan) often arranges meetings
 
        between young people.  Popular portrayals, such as in the film Crossing
 
         Delancey and in plays such as Fiddler on the Roof and Hello, Dolly!,
depict
 the duties of this individual.
        Throughout the world, drastic changes have been taking place in the ways
 
          in which people select mates.  Some say that parental involvement is
 
      declining, or even extinct, and that individual choice is an increasingly
 
          preferred method of finding a partner.  According to Murstein, factors
 
        related to the rise of self-selection are urban living,
industrialization,
 
          changes in religion, declining influence of parental control, and
later age
 at marriage.[5]
The Role of the Mass Media
        Changes in mate-selection are related to changes in society.  One of the
 
          most important changes to society in the last 200 years has been
 
  industrialization.  Several 19th century theorists anticipated
          industrialization and predicted that this process would have a variety
of
 
          effects on society.  According to Comte, as specialized functions
grow, and
 ineffective social organizations fail to provide adequate linkages between
 people, the individual becomes isolated from others.  Social groups begin
 
          to play a lesser role, leading eventually to the notion of the "lonely
 
        crowd," which is identified by feelings of isolation, loneliness, and
 
       unhappiness.
        Spencer suggested that specialization is a natural, evolutionary outgrowth
 of industrial society and that "society undergoes continuous growth."  As
 
          society grows, its parts become dissimilar. [6]   T nnies' theory of
social
 
          bonds portrayed a pre-industrial society existing in a state of
 
 "Gemeinschaft," of "reciprocal binding sentiment."  This condition would be
 replaced by an industrial society  called "Gesellschaft,"  characterized
 
          by "reciprocal binding contract."  This later stage was described as
 
      featuring impersonality, anonymity, social distance, distrust and
 
   isolation.[7]   The accompanying division of labor would also increase social
 
          individuality.
        Durkheim suggested that society would thrive on specialization, but
 
      concurred with his peers that there would be social consequences.
 
    Suggesting that the conditions of solidarity would vary, Durkheim proposed
 
          that the division of labor that produces solidarity would increase
social
 
          individuality.  As a result, the individual in such a mass society
becomes
 
          subject to psychological isolation, reduced effective interpersonal
 
     communication,  an increase in confusion and ambivalence--a state called
 
          anomie.[8]   Individuals become confused about how to interact with
the world
 
          around them and close and intimate ties between people are reduced.
This
 
          lessens influences from interpersonal communication and leaves the
 
    individual more vulnerable to influences from other sources such as the
 
         mass media.
        A theory that incorporates the mass society concept is media  dependency
 
          theory.[9]   This theory suggests that as a society becomes more
complex and
 
          there are fewer traditional, interpersonal routes available to
individuals
 
          for solving problems, they tend to turn to the mass media for that
 
    information.[10]   DeFleur defines dependency as "a relationship in which
the
 
          satisfaction of needs or the attainment of goals by one party is
contingent
 upon the resources of another party."[11]
        Media dependency can be defined as "a relationship in which the capacity
 
          of individuals to attain their goals is contingent upon the
information
 
         resources of the media system."[12]  The basic propositions of the
theory are
 
          that people in all societies need information to make numerous
decisions
 
          about political affairs, to obtain food, shelter and transportation
and to
 
          find a mate.  In traditional societies, people tend to pursue similar
ways
 
          of life and are linked by word-of-mouth networks of extended families,
 
        long-term neighbors and other channels from which they obtain the
 
   information they need.  In urban-industrial societies, dissimilar
 
   populations are brought together, despite differences in ethnicity,
 
     occupational specialization, and economic class.  Because of this social
 
          differentiation, there is a weakening of effective word-of-mouth
channels
 
          based on deeply established social ties through which people can
obtain the
 information they need in daily life.  Therefore, people in these societies
 become dependent upon mass communications for information needed to make
 
          decisions.[13]
        In a modern urban-industrial society, such as in the United States,
 
          the media system is part of the social fabric.  The key relationships
 
          are based on dependency, which may be with the entire media system or
 
          with a particular medium, such as television or newspapers.  According
 to Ball-Rokeach and DeFleur, as the quality of the media improve
 
        technologically, the media assume more and more unique information
 
         functions.  These functions include the gathering, processing and
 
        delivery of information.[14]   Lasswell wrote in 1948 that the media
serve
 three functions within American society:  (1) surveillance of the
 
         environment, (2) correlation of the parts of society responding to the
 environment,  and (3) transmission of the social heritage from one
 
          generation to the next.[15]   Wright added a fourth function to this
 
       array, entertainment.[16]   As changes in society have occurred along
with
 industrialization, such as increases in social conflict and social
 
          change,  individuals rely on the mass media to reduce resultant
 
      feelings of ambiguity.  The media provide new methods of answering
 
         questions associated with the problems of daily life.  This has
 
      occurred before in newspapers, when features such as advertising,
 
        entertainment, gossip, political analysis, comics and advice columns
 
          arose to usurp such functions previously fulfilled through interp
 
       ersonal means.
 
 
Mate Finding in Modern Society
        A successful life in a complex society requires that individuals rely upon
 others to attain both personal and collective goals.  Traditionally,
 
       channels of communication have been based on interpersonal relationships
as
 is found between parent and child, neighbor and neighbor, clergy and
 
       parishioner, or teacher and student.  The concept of opinion leadership
is
 
          related to these interactions.  Individuals tend to seek out others
whom
 
          they feel are knowledgeable about  particular topics.  Lazarsfeld et
al.,
 
          suggested that ordinary people identify with people who are (1)
 
 knowledgeable, (2) trustworthy, (3) available, and (4) acceptable.[17]   A
 
        person interested in finding a mate might analyze where they could find
the
 necessary information to meet someone.  He or she may ask a  neighbor; his
 or her mother or father may invite someone to dinner; two people might
 
         meet in church.
        Up until recently, such informal methods have been sufficient.  However,
 
          several changes in society have led to the break-up of traditional
 
    patterns:  (1) families have become disrupted, (2) people have become
 
       increasingly geographically mobile, (3) society has become increasingly
 
         racially and ethnically diverse, and (4) society has become
increasingly
 
          specialized in its occupational roles and social status.  Therefore,
it has
 become more difficult to breach barriers to interpersonal interaction.
 
          According to Schudson, relationships with people who helped socialize
the
 
          individual have become weakened.
 
The rules, norms, attitudes, and behaviors that to the child seemed
 
               natural, seem foreign to the adult who has moved away.  What was
 
            internalized is now seen as external, arbitrary, even alien.  The
 
             individual is separated from the past.  Therefore, they tend to
rely
 
               more and more on the mass media to serve these needs and a
dependency
 
               develops.[18]
 
        Some methods for locating romantic partners, such as singles bars, have
 
          become  unacceptable to many.  This is due, at least in part, to
rising
 
         concerns over sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS, limits on
free
 
          time, and decreasing acceptance of social drinking.  For many years
 
     advertising for companionship carried a similar stigma--"a discrediting
 
         attribute" that suggested desperate and even deviate behavior.[19].
Personal
 
          ads have historically had a seedy image, mainly due to their
association
 
          with the alternative press such as the Village Voice and the Berkeley
Barb.
  According to the Chicago  Tribune:
 
The increased volume [of personal ads] is in part a measure of the
 
              increasing respectability of finding a date through ads or
services.
 
               No longer reserved for seedy types looking for one ([or] two or
three)
 kindred spirits for some kinky fun, everyone from church-going single
 mothers to university professors are signing up.[20]
        Even today some stigma remains.  Several recent movies and television
 
        dramas have stressed that finding companions through ads is dangerous.
For
 example, in the film Sea of Love,  Al Pacino portrays a police officer
 
         investigating the murders of men who advertised in the personal
ads.[21]   A
 
          1993 made-for-television movie (Dying to Love You) describes the story
of a
 woman who uses personal ads to lure wealthy male companions whom she would
 murder for their money.[22]
 
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
        This study investigates the presence of media dependency in everyday life.
  Media dependency theory predicts that as traditional systems of
 
   mate-finding became inadequate in a mass society, the media will take on
 
          that role as it becomes socially acceptable.  Previous studies on
media
 
         dependency theory have focused primarily on quasi-experimental
situations
 
          in which dependence on the media was measured under circumstances of
 
      natural disasters.  For example, Hirshburg, et al.., found that the media
 
          were the primary information source used by persons at the 1980 Mount
Saint
 Helens volcano eruption and that individuals continued to rely on the
 
        media to reduce feelings  of ambiguity associated with the
experience.[23]
 
          Donlon and Roush studied the tendency for people to turn to the media
 
       during the 1986 U.S. attack on Libya.[24]   A dependency theory framework
was
 
          used by Nigg to describe the seeking of earthquake forecasting
information
 
          from the media.  In their study of the mass media in earthquake
warnings,
 
          Turner and Paz found low reliance on interpersonal channels consistent
with
 media dependency theory.[25]
        In the Great American Values Test, Ball-Rokeach, et al..,  found that
 
        television was implicated in all of the dependency types and that
watching
 
          even a small amount of television could alter beliefs, related
attitudes
 
          and behavior.[26]   Grant, et al.. discovered that  genre dependency
plays a
 
          central role in television shopping behavior.[27]  Becker and Whitney
 
   demonstrated that individuals can become dependent on a particular medium
 
          for information and that people who are dependent upon different media
tend
 to have different views of the world.[28]   Champaigne-Alman discovered that
 
          foreign-born individuals who immigrate to the U.S. tend to rely on the
mass
 media of the host culture, particularly television,  and tend to use that
 
          media before arrival.[29]
        Other researchers have also drawn upon media dependency theory under
 
       experimental conditions.  Miller and Reese found that the more an
 
   individual depends on a particular medium, the more likely it is that a
 
         message contained within that medium will have its intended effect.[30]
 
       Gaziano's study of  dependency stressed that individuals are located in
 
         specific social environments.  The researcher found evidence that
people
 
          depend on media other than television and that dependence might be
more a
 
          factor of lifestyles and social roles.[31]
        To date, little research has focused on the presence of media dependence
 
          in everyday life.  Previous studies have focused on media dependency
in the
 context of natural disasters, under conditions of migration, or under
 
        specific conditions such as concerns over politics or health.  This
study
 
          examines media dependency as a naturally occurring phenomenon under
the
 
         conditions present in  industrial society.
Adoption of Personals
        Media dependency theory stresses the tripartite relationship of media,
 
         audience and society.  Media dependency is bi-directional.   Just as
 
      individuals become increasingly reliant on the media, the media also rely
 
          on society.  The media, therefore, have to adapt to perceived needs
and
 
         interests of their audience.
        Rogers' adoption of innovation model suggests that ideas, practices or
 
         objects which are perceived as new are selected and used as the best
option
 available.[32]   The adoption of innovations in modern society suggests
 
      choices which help to solve the problems of daily life for individuals and
 
          organizations.   Previous studies have shown that the adoption of an
 
      innovation follows an S-shaped cumulative curve.  The reason for the
normal
 S-shaped curve is based upon the role of information and uncertainty
 
       reduction.  Adopter categories can be set forth as ideal types on an
 
      innovativeness continuum.  The types are innovators, early adopters, early
 
          majority, late majority and laggards.  In all of these categories,
opinion
 
          leadership plays an important role.
        Although discussion of the adoption of innovations tends to focus
 
    primarily on the individual, organizations also adopt.  Examples include
 
          computerization of government offices, computerized photographic feeds
of
 
          newspapers, and technology in schools.
        As well as being a sign of changing lifestyles, personal advertisements
 
          that use voice mail also represent the adoption of a technological
 
    innovation for the newspaper industry.  These ads are a new function for
 
          the daily press, evolving out of people's basic information needs.  As
 
        individuals in a mass society come to rely on the media for the
information
 they need, the media will respond by redefining themselves through the
 
         adoption of new communications technologies.   The adoption of personal
 
         advertisements to the repertoire of products featured in the evolving
daily
 press, newspapers have had to face questions about the proper role of the
 
          newspaper in a changing society.  Just as the conditions of industrial
 
        society suggest that individuals will turn to the mass media for
 
  information, adoption of innovation provides an explanation of how this
 
         takes place in the newspaper industry.
        Few studies have investigated personal advertisements from a mass
 
    communications or theory-oriented perspective.  Previous research has come
 
          primarily from the disciplines of family studies, sociology, and, to a
 
        lesser extent, marketing.  Studies have focused on  physical appearance
of
 
          advertisers and partners,[33] age,[34] deviance,[35] psychological
balancing,[36]  gender
 
          differences,[37]  stereotyping,[38] a marketing perspective,[39] and
the bargaining
 
         processes involved.[40]
        This study is not a formal test of either dependency  or adoption theory.
 Rather, these theories serve as general frameworks suggesting that: (1)
 
          the use of personal advertisements will spread because of the
dependency
 
          function, and (2) newspapers' adoption of personal advertisements will
 
        follow an s-shaped curve similar to the diffusion of many other
 
 innovations.
        Two research questions were posited with respect to each theoretical
 
       perspective:  (1) To what extent have newspapers actually begun to
provide
 
          personal advertisements? and (2) What pattern did the adoptions follow
over
 time?  Additional information was sought about the reasons newspapers have
 added the ads, methods of responding to the ads, and the physical
 
    characteristics of this section of the newspaper.
METHOD
        A telephone survey was conducted to measure the extent of the adoption of
 
          personal advertisements by daily newspapers.  The sampling frame
consisted
 
          of 268 newspapers with circulations of 50,000 or more as listed in
Editor &
 Publisher Yearbook, 1991.  A random sample of 67 newspapers was drawn
 
        using the systematic skip interval method.
        From November 1992 to May 1993, classified managers were interviewed at
 
          each of the 67 newspapers. A 100 percent response rate was achieved.
The
 
          newspaper managers were called during regular business hours,
typically in
 
          mid-afternoon when pressure from deadlines was less likely to
interfere.
 
          Occasionally, reaching the right person to interview was difficult.
At a
 
          California paper, the interviewer was connected with seven different
people
 before finally reaching the appropriate person.  Approximately two to
 
        three calls were necessary to complete each interview.  Two newspapers
 
        refused to answer the questions by phone but did reply via fax.  These
 
        representatives were asked questions, following a ten-item
questionnaire,
 
          about whether or not the newspaper was running voice personals and if
so,
 
          the year of adoption.  Additional questions addressed any criteria
used in
 
          accepting or rejecting ads, such as those from gays/lesbians or
 
 "alternative lifestyle" ads.  Other questions concerned the mechanics of
 
          the ads, the days of the week the ads were run, how responses were
made to
 
          the ads, what costs were involved and how responses were made.  A
tearsheet
 was requested from each paper to verify these replies.
 
FINDINGS
        Nearly four out of five (55) of the newspapers were carrying personal
 
        advertisements, as Table 1 shows.  An additional 11 percent of the
dailies
 
          said they had plans to add the personals within the next few months.
Five
 
          newspapers were not carrying dating ads, nor did they indicate having
any
 
          plans for doing so.
 
Table 1
 
NEWSPAPER ADOPTION OF THE PERSONALS
 
                                Frequency               Percent
        Carries                55                 82.1
 
        Plans to add                    7                         10.4
 
        No plans to carry               5                           7.5
                                      67                        100.0
 
        Table 2 shows nearly two-thirds of the newspapers began running the ads
 
          between 1991 and May of 1993.
 
Table 2
 
YEAR OF ADOPTION OF THE PERSONALS
 
        Year            Frequency           Percent     Cumulative Percent
 
        1993                    6                    10.9               100
 
        1992                  21                     38.1                 89.1
 
        1991                  17                     30.9                 50.9
 
        1990                    6                    10.9                 20.0
 
        1989                    1                      1.8                  9.1
 
        1988                    1                      1.8                  7.3
 
        1987                    3                     5.5                   5.5
 
        Total                 55                  100.0
 
Figure 1 shows that the cumulative diffusion curve follows a classic
 
      S-shaped pattern.
 
Figure 1
CUMULATIVE ADOPTION
OF PERSONAL ADVERTISEMENTS BY NEWSPAPERS
1987 - 1993
 
 
 
 
 
Percent of
    sample
 
 
 
Year
 
        More than one third of personal ads sections (36 percent) occupied
 
     one-half to one page of space.  Another third of the papers filled 1 to 2
 
          pages.  Two newspapers (3 percent) had personal ads sections of three
pages
 or larger while the remainder of the papers had sections of one-half a
 
         page or less.  Nearly two-thirds of the newspapers ran the personals in
a
 
          full-sized section of the newspaper while a smaller percentage
presented
 
          the personals in tabloid inserts.
        More than a third of the dailies (36 percent)  ran the ads on Fridays,
 
         Saturdays and/or Sundays.  Approximately 27 percent of the papers ran
the
 
          ads on some combination of weekdays and about a quarter of the papers
ran
 
          the ads seven days per week.  A few papers had other arrangements.
        Newspapers also varied in the types of advertisements they would accept.
 
          As Table 3 reveals, more than half (59.7 percent)  would not accept
gay
 
         ads.  Most (80.6 percent) would not accept "alternative lifestyle" ads,
 
         such as those seeking multiple partners or more exotic variations.
More than two-thirds of the newspapers applied their own criteria to
 
      screening the language of the ads while 22 percent relied on a voice mail
 
          service to perform this task.
Table 3
ACCEPTANCE POLICY
 
                                        Frequency               Percent
Accepts gay ads                      27                     40.3*
Does not accept gay ads              40                     59.7
Accepts alternative lifestyle ads            13                     19.4
Does not accept alternative lifestyle        54                     80.6
 
*  Newspapers may have a combination of these policies, totals therefore do not
equal
 
          100%.
 
 
        Voice mail was found to be the most common method of responding to
 
     personals (79 percent).  Only nine papers offered the more traditional way
 
          of responding, which is by letter only (13.4 percent).  Frequently,
the
 
         daily newspaper was not the only local publication carrying the
personals.
 Two-thirds of the papers surveyed had competition from another local paper
 for personal advertisers (66 percent).
        Although most of the newspapers surveyed would not reveal detailed
 
     financial information, almost half of the papers indicated that the ads had
 been a financial success.  According to one manager, the paper receives
 
          approximately 300 ads per month and that the average time spent
responding
 
          is 3 minutes at a cost of $1.95 per minute.  Even if the advertiser's
ad is
 free, each ad generates approximately $108.  This would result in revenues
 of over $30,000 per month or roughly $400,000 per year.  Another paper
 
         indicated that their take was over $500,000 during the same period.
The
 
          amount of revenue generated is likely to vary with market size,
promotional
 efforts,  and amount of repeat business.
        Many papers have invested in their own voice mail hardware.   Others rely
 
          on vendors.  The financial success of the personals has been a selling
 
        point for the many voice mail vendors involved in the personal ads
 
    business.  Although this study did not specifically investigate the
 
     involvement of vendors, many representatives mentioned that  the work load
 
          (and the revenue) are shared with a vendor.  Often, these companies
manage
 
          the advertising placement, response retrieval, and reply process.
Most
 
         vendors represent more than one newspaper.  Compensation arrangements
vary.
  For example, one newspaper representative indicated her paper takes 90
 
          percent of the revenue generated from the ads and the vendor retains
10
 
         percent.
 
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
        The findings suggest that the increasing trend of personal ad use by both
 
          newspapers and individuals is a result of changing social and cultural
 
        conditions in modern society.  As traditional ways in which people can
find
 and locate others who can fulfill their social and sexual needs decline,
 
          the media--and especially the classified section of the daily
          newspaper--take on this important function.  According to Adelman and
 
       Aaron, the aim of personal advertising is to expand the number of
eligible
 
          others, whether in print, by computer, or through dating services.  As
a
 
          result, individuals frequently use the mass media to position the
single's
 
          search as a consumer activity.[41]
        Daily newspapers' adoption of these ads begins with, but goes beyond, the
 
          need to raise revenue.  At an increasing rate, daily newspapers are
 
     carrying these "self"-advertisements in the classified section of the paper
 as a response to the perceived needs of their subscribers at a time when
 
          targeting sections of the paper to appeal to the interests of an
 
  increasingly fragmented audience is mandatory for financial survival.
        Among the newspapers surveyed, three primary reasons were given for adding
 personal ads: (1) revenue, (2) readership, and (3) service.  Voice
 
     personal advertisements also represent newspaper industry experiments with
 
          innovations.  Also,  the public's information needs are changing.
 
    Newspapers face stiff competition from television, particularly for the
 
         attention of young people.  Many of the newspapers surveyed have
adopted
 
          the personals to attract this younger audience.  This has not been the
 
        case--the most frequent users of personal ads are women over the age of
35.
  Yet the inclusion of personals in the daily paper has appealed to a wider
 group of users--those who simply enjoy reading the ads for entertainment.
 These folks aren't necessarily seeking a dating partner but enjoy reading
 
          this part of the paper as "breakfast table voyeurs."
        This study demonstrates that daily newspapers have adopted the personals
 
          widely, recently and rapidly.  Among the dailies studied, 82 percent
were
 
          carrying the ads and most had adopted them within the last three
years.
 
          The adoption followed the s-shaped diffusion curve, as predicted by
Rogers.[42]
        Not all of the dailies surveyed (8 percent) were carrying the personals.
 
          Representatives of these newspapers provided several reasons for this
 
       decision.  One individual indicated that since the newspaper had
undergone
 
          a recent ownership change,  the new owners had discontinued them,
thinking
 
          the personals were not "in good taste".  He further stated that the
paper's
 image "is that of a small family newspaper and the newspaper owners felt
 
          the information in those ads did not mesh with their image."
Another
 
         paper worried about "protecting the reader" from "this kind of thing".
One
 individual felt that meeting others is a "private matter,"  inappropriate
 
          for the press.  This same individual did point out that her paper is
 
      starting to recognize that "lifestyles have changed and it (personal ads)
 
          is a valuable service, but we are responsible first to our readers,
then to
 our advertisers."
        This study explored the adoption of personal advertisements by daily
 
       newspapers.  The use of personal advertisements by individuals for dating
 
          is predicted by media dependency theory.  As society continues to
become
 
          more complex, and individuals become more isolated, methods of finding
 
        partners will further become the responsibility of the individual and
off
 
          less concern to the family.  Therefore, as traditional mechanisms for
 
       partner selection continue to drift away, men and women will turn to the
 
          mass media to seek eligible others.  Faced with real financial
threats, the
 daily  press will respond in kind by providing this service to readers as
 
          well as creating a new revenue base for itself.  The pattern of
adoption of
 the ads by daily newspapers can be predicted by the adoption of innovation
 model.
        As societies become more urbanized, modernized, and industrialized ( i.e.,
 
          more complex), the individual is less able to rely on sources of
 
  information for assistance in answering important questions and making life
 decisions.  With many roots to the past essentially severed, people become
 more dependent on those around them.  If these other people are unfamiliar
 or unapproachable, the individual is more likely to identify with that
 
         which is familiar:  the media.  Together this information provides
evidence
 for proposing a fifth function of the media--a dependency function of
 
        interpersonal intermediary.  In this role the media act as agents
between
 
          individuals in the absence of traditional informal sources of
information.
        Severin and Tankard suggest that the media dependency model may provide a
 
          synthesizing framework within which other theories can be understood,
 
       including cultivation and agenda-setting.[43]    Research has also
indicated
 
          that dependency on the media may depend upon that individual's
location in
 
          the social system.  Future studies could explore this possibility.
 
     Research could also explore the changing role of the daily press, the
 
       organizational adoption of innovation process, the legal implications of
 
          advertising acceptance criteria and the gay community, how the media
 
      respond to social change, and the relationship of the media to the
 
    audience.  In addition, survey research could be conducted with those that
 
          place personal ads.  This study suggests that personal advertisements
are a
 rich source of information about people and what they are looking for in a
 partner as well as offering a source of documentation of social change.
 
 [1] NOTES AND REFERENCES
 
          Unni Wikan, Behind the Veil in Arabia  (Ch
icago: The University of Chicago Press,
 
         1982).
 
[2]   Joh
n F. Peters, "Yanomama Mate Selection and Marriage,"  Journal of Comparativ
e
 
          Family Studies 18 (Spring 1987), 79-98.
 
[3]   Ronald P
. Dore, City Life in Japan  (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1958), 167.
 
 
 
[4]   Murray Sayle, "How to Marry a Mikado,"  The New Yorker, 10 May, 1993
, 43-52.
 
[5]   Bernard I. Murstein, Love, Sex and Marriage Through the A
ges (New York: Springer,
 
            1974), 412.
 
[6]   Herbert Spen
cer, The Principles of Sociology (New York:  D. Appleton, 1898); in
 
 
         Melvin L. DeFleur and Sandra Ball-Rokeach, Theories of Mass Commun
ication, 5th ed., (New
 
            York:  Longman, 1989): 152.
 
[7]
 Ferdinand T"nnies, Community and Society (Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft);
trans. and
 ed. Charles P. Loomis (East Lansing: Michigan State University
 Press, 1957): 47. First
 
            published in German in 1887; quote
d in DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach, 152-155.
 
[8]   Emile Durkheim,  The Divis
ion of Labor in Society; trans. George Simpson (New York:
 
            F
ree Press of Glencoe, 1964); quoted in DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach, 157.
 
[9
]   Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin L. DeFleur, "A Dependency Model of Mass
Media
 
       Effects," Communication Research 3 (1976): 3-21.
 
[
10]   Ibid.
 
[11]   Ball-Rokeach & DeFleur, 6.
 
[12]   Ibid, 3-21.
 
 
 
[13]   Melvin L. DeFleur and Everette Dennis, Understanding Mass Communica
tion, 5th ed.,
 
            (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991), 18-19.
 
 
[14]   Melvin L. DeFleur and Sandra Ball-Rokeach, Theories of Mass Communic
ation, 5th ed.,
 (New York: Longman, 1988), 302-304.
 
[15]   Harold Lass
well, "The Structure and Function of Communication in Society," quoted
 
 
            in L. Bryson (ed.)  The Communication of Ideas (New York:  Inst
itute for Religious and
 
           Social Studies, 1948).
 
[16]   Ch
arles Wright, Mass Communication, 2d ed., (New York:  Random House, 1959),
9.
 
[17]   Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson and Hazel Gaudet, The People
's Choice  (New York:
 Columbia University Press, 1948), quoted in Shearon
 A. Lowery and Melvin L. DeFleur,
 
          Milestones in Mass Commun
ication Research, 2nd ed., (New York:  Longman, 1988), 79-103.
 
[18]   Mi
chael Schudson,  Advertising, The Uneasy Persuasion (New York:  Basic Books
,
 
          1984), 153.
 
[19]   Erving Goffman, Stigma: Notes on th
e Management of Spoiled Identity  (New York:
 
            Simon & Schus
ter, Inc., 1963), 3.
 
[20]   "The Dating Game Boomer Style," Chicago Trib
une, 15 August 1992, 4.
 
[21]   Suzanne Moore, New Statesman and Societ
y 23 February 1990, 46. Quoted in Film
 
         Review Annual ed. Je
rome S. Ozer (Englewood, New Jersey: Jerome S. Ozer Publisher, 1990),
 
 
           1129.
 
[22]   N.F. Mendoza, "Demure Actress Revels in Crafty,
Manipulative Role,"  The Oregonian,
 14 March 1993, 39.  Joe Treen, Art Le
vine and Johnny Dodd, "Lethal White Female," People,
 7 September 1992, 65
-68.
 
[23]   Peter L. Hirshburg, Don A. Dillman and Sandra J. Ball-Rokeac
h, "Media System
 
        Dependency Theory:  Responses to the Erupt
ion of Mount St. Helens," in Media, Audience and
 Social Structure, Sandra
 J. Ball-Rokeach and Murial G. Cantor, eds.  (Newbury, CA:  Sage,
 1986),
117-126.
 
[24]   B. Donlon and M. Roush,  "News to Libya draws viewers to
 their TV's," USA TODAY, 17
 April 1986, 1 D.
 
[25]   Ralph H. Turner an
d Denise H. Paz, "The Mass Media in Earthquake Warning," in
 
 
 Media, Audience and Social Structure, Sandra J. Ball-Rokeach and Murial G.
 Cantor, eds.
 
            (Newbury, CA:  Sage, 1986), 108.
 
[26]   S
andra Ball-Rokeach, Milton Rokeach and Joel Grube, The Great American Value
s Test
 (New York:  The Free Press, 1984).
 
[27]   August E. Grant, K.
Kendall Guthrie and Sandra J. Ball-Rokeach, "Television
 
       Sho
pping:  A Media System Dependency Perspective," Communication Research 18 (
December
 
           1991): 773-798.
 
[28]   L. B. Becker and D.C. Wh
itney, "Effects of Media Dependencies:  Audience Assessment
 of Government
,"  Communication Research 7:  95-120.
 
[29]   Karen Champagnie Alman, "T
he Role of Television Advertising in Acculturation:  A
 
            Medi
a System Dependency Approach," (Ph.D. diss., Michigan State University, 199
3).
 
[30]   M. Mark Miller and S. D. Reese, "Media Dependency as Interact
ion:  Effects of
 
         Exposure and Reliance on Political Activit
y and Efficacy,"  Communications Research 9:
 
           227-248.
 
[3
1]   Cecilie Gaziano, "Media Dependence for News:  Some Neglected Groups,"
 Mass
 
       Communication Review (1990):  2-13.
 
[32]   Everett
 M. Rogers,  Diffusion of Innovation, 3rd ed., (New York: The Free
 
 
     Press,1983), 21.
 
[33]   Jane E. Smith,  V. Ann Waldorf and David
 L. Trembath, "Single White Male Looking
 
            for Thin, Very Att
ractive . . . ,"  Sex Roles 23 (1990):  675-685.
 
[34]   Karen Vice Irey,
 "Interpersonal Communication Through the Mass Media:
 
  Char
acteristics of Personal Advertisers,"  (Ph.D. diss., University of Oklahoma
, 1985).
 
[35]   Donna K. Darden and Patricia R. Koski, "Using the Person
al Ads: A Deviant
 
     Activity?"  Deviant Behavior  9 (1988):
383-400.
 
[36]   Theresa Montini and Beverly Ovrebro, "Personal Relations
hip Ads:  An Informal
 
         Balancing Act," Sociological Perspect
ives  33 (1990):  333-334.
 
[37]   Sarah Sitton and Edward T. Rippee, "Wo
men Still Want Marriage:  Sex Differences in
 
            Lonely Hearts
Advertisements,"  Psychological Reports 58 (1986):  257-258. and Simon
 
 
         Davis, "Men as Success Objects and Women as Sex Objects:  A Stu
dy of Personal
 
  Advertisements,"  Sex Roles 23 (1990):  43-5
0.
 
[38]   Kay Deaux and Randel Hanna, "Courtship in the Personals Column
:  The Influence of
 
            Gender and Sexual Orientation,"  Sex Ro
les 11 (1984):  363-375.
 
[39]   Elizabeth C. Hirschman,  "People as Prod
ucts:  Analysis of a Complex Marketing
 
          Exchange," Journal o
f Marketing 51 (January 1987): 98-108.
 
[40]   Catherine Cameron, Stuart
 Oskamp and William Sparks, "Courtship American Style:
 
            New
spaper Ads,"  The Family Coordinator 26 (1977): 27-30.
 
[41]   M.B. Adelm
an and A.C. Aaron, "Mediated Channels for Mate Seeking:  A Solution to
 
 
            Involuntary Singlehood,"  Critical Studies in Mass Communicatio
n 8 (1991):  281.
 
[42]   Rogers, 243-245.
 
[43]   Werner J. Severin an
d James W. Tankard, Jr.  Communication Theories, 2d ed., (New
 
 
   York:  Longman), 324-328.

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