This study explores the media reception patterns and impact of celebrity culture on
identity construction of Bangkok teenagers.
The hypothesis is that audiences do not necessarily decode identical media
messages in the same way as encoded. Bangkok teenagers with different ages and
genders are likely to read texts regarding celebrities differently. Celebrities may not
influence all teenage audiences to a significant degree and, for affected teenagers, the
degree of influence may differ. Celebrities may act as good or as bad role models.
This study employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods
including (1) preliminary survey, (2) analysis of media content from quantitative and
qualitative points of view, and (3) focus group discussions with different categories of
Bangkok teenagers. These evolved around a selection of media items related to issues of
fashion, substance abuse, and sexuality.
The findings provided evidencet hat the meaningst he young audiencesd erived
from the celebrity coverage did not always coincide with those encoded by the media and
that often alternativer eadingsw ere generateda longsidet he preferredr eading.C ultural
ideologies and social environment were found to be the most significant factors impacting
the text decoding.
This investigation did not corroborate the popular belief that Bangkok teenagers
were uncritical victims of media coverage. Data confirmed that they are critical and
active media users and the extent to which their behavior is shaped by the media is
relatively limited. Celebrity culture did not seem to influence Bangkok youth to an extent
that can be regarded as socially harmful or culturally detrimental. On the contrary, it had
certain positive effects in areas such as education, music, sports, and lifestyles. Peer
groups were found to be more influential than celebrities in areas such as substance abuse
and sexuality.
This project makes contributions to the area of mass communication; audience
reception and media effects in particular, and celebrity and youth culture studies.