The role of media in consumption under “attention economies”: A study based on the interviews of Chinese postgraduates towards the M&M’s advertisements

Abstract

The rapid development of media in the world promote the prosperity of the economy to a certain degree. Advertisement, as one of communication form of mass media, gradually becoming one of an important part in the attention economy. In view of these, the research chooses M&M’s advertisements as examples to discover what factors attract audiences’ attention and then lead to consumption, and how they play their role during the process. Three methods are employed in this research: in-depth interview, observation and textual analysis. Five Chinese postgraduate students are selected as objects, and they answer the questions by the researcher after they watched two types of M&M’s advertisements (celebrity-based advertisement and content-based advertisement). Through the combination of interview, it can be found that both celebrities, memory and social media platform can exert their role in the attention economy. This article also expects to offer a reference for advertisers and product manufacturers, helping them adjust their marketing strategies rationally by using celebrities and other elements.