Abstract
A motivational model of newspaper consumption was elaborated. In this model, reading motives are supposed to generate certain beliefs in newspapers. The belief in the satisfying properties of a newspaper is based on an evaluation of how well the attributes of a newspaper are expected to match the motives of individuals. Once a match between the motives and the belief is established, then motivation is triggered, and newspaper consumption should occur. We tested the model with the hypotheses that reading motives explain belief in newspapers to a greater extent than the consumption of them and that beliefs explain consumption to a greater extent than reading motives. Reading motives, beliefs and consumption of general broad-sheet, business and tabloid newspapers were measured in 1343 young people between the ages of 15 and 25. The results supported the hypotheses. The results indicate that the profiling and development of the newspapers toward more loyal and new readers should be based on the readers' beliefs in newspapers and the motives explaining them.
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