From immediate community to imagined community: Social identity and the co-viewing of media event. Issue 4 (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cui, Xi; Rui, Jian; Su, Fanbo
• Other Names: De Ritis Anthony guest-editor.; Si Si guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Global media and China. Volume 1, Issue 4(2016)
• Page Start: 481
• Page End: 496
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: Co-viewing -- dual-screening -- media event -- social identity -- social media engagement; Mass media -- China -- Periodicals; Communication, International -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Mass media and culture -- China -- Periodicals; Globalization -- Periodicals; 302.230951
• DOI: 10.1177/2059436416681177
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2059-4364

Abstract

This study examines how different types of co-viewing are associated with viewers' emotional response to the live broadcast of media events and their social identity. A survey ( N = 206) was conducted to examine the effect of the live broadcast of a grand national ceremony in China. Results show that viewers experienced emotional arousal when they watched the media event in physical, mediated, and perceived co-viewing conditions. Among these conditions, mediated co-viewing, operationalized as social media engagement during the event, is the strongest predictor of emotional arousal. Moreover, emotional arousal fully mediates the relationship between co-viewing conditions and viewers' national identity conveyed in the broadcast ceremony. With empirical evidence, we demonstrate the continued relevance of the genre of media events and the importance of co-viewing experiences in the contemporary media ecology. We argue that this broadcast genre is still effective with regard to social integration, and dual-screening media events could be a new mechanism of this effect.