The infomercial phenomenon in New Zealand 1994-2003

• Main Author: Johnson, Rosser
• Published: University of Westminster 2007
• Subjects: 384.55
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.502412

This thesis investigates the infomercial phenomenon in New Zealand from 1994 to 2003. It critically examines the infomercial as a form of television by developing analyses using a combination of research methodologies. These analyses proceed from a political-economic standpoint, with particular reference to the regulatory framework for television in New Zealand and the economic model of the infomercial. This thesis situates the infomercial within the historical development of television in New Zealand and draws upon the insights of the marketing and advertising literature in which the infomercial is seen as a persuasive tool, rather than a media formation. My fundamental argument is that the infomercial does represent an alternative formation within commercial television that is separate from advertising and programming (or 'editorial'). This is based upon the fundamental model of communication which underpins the infomercial and, in turn, the duplicity upon which this model is based. This thesis will demonstrate the remarkable degree to which the infomercial became a constituent feature of the wider system of television in New Zealand. It will also show how advertisers deploy the infomercial, how broadcasters rationalise its place in their schedules, and how viewers respond to the messages it contains, even if they do not purchase the advertised product. Further, this thesis will demonstrate the effects of permitting a non-mainstream form of broadcasting to occupy such a central role, with particular reference to the cultural meanings that can be mobilised around the infomercial. The thesis will also investigate the consequences of the New Zealand experiment where almost total broadcasting deregulation allows for the presence of a form of commercial speech that relentlessly addresses viewers as individuated consumers.