ABSTRACT
This chapter centers on yet another important force impacting the media economy, that of the consumer. The consumer is constantly changing and evolving, owing to shifts in demographics and population as well as in regard to tastes and preferences. The consumer is the ultimate goal in the media economy for rms and advertisers. Firms create content to attract consumers; advertisers purchase time and space in order to access these consumers. Consumers contribute signi cantly to a nation’s GDP; in the United States, it is estimated that consumer spending accounts for as much as 70% of America’s GDP (Facts on policy, 2006). This chapter uses the term “social aspects” to refer to consumers and their impact on the media economy. “Social aspects” is a broad label but is used purposely here to recognize the wide in uence of consumers at all levels of the media economy. In this sense, social aspects represent signi cant forces impacting the media economy through their individual and aggregate allocation of how much time the consumer spends on media products, and how much money the consumer spends on media products.
