The Role of Consumers’ TV Personality and Interaction with Audience in Teleshopping Behavior (Case Study: Ardabil City)

Although there is no distinct TV channel dedicated to teleshopping products in Iran, there is a growing number of advertising programs broadcasted among most of the TV channels everyday. This is applied to local TV channels as well. The residents of the city of Ardabil, have shown to be more willing to teleshopping because of less availability of new products and the long distance to hhe capital city or other metropolices. Such a tendency is growing among the citizens of Ardabil. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to identify the factors that can affect the consumers’ teleshopping behavior in Iran and in the city of Ardabil. For this purpose, the following variables were considered as the determining factors in the teleshopping behavior according to the literature: dependence on television and exposure to television, exposure to teleshopping and dependence on teleshopping, the effects of tele-participation and trans-social interaction.

The statistical population of this study includes the citizens of the city of Ardabil who are over 18 years old and also have the experience of teleshopping. A standard questionnaire was used to collect data to measure the variables. The questionnaire was distributed both online and face-to-face. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate the research model and to test the research hypothesis. SPSS and Smart PLS specialized software have also been used to analyze the data.

The results showed that exposure to television can have a positive effect on dependence on teleshopping. Dependence on teleshopping programs can be achieved through raising awareness of the people’ needs by watching the contents of TV programs. It is believed that dependence on television has a positive effect on dependence on teleshopping. People can increase their dependence on television in order to achieve their personal and social goals. Exposure to television can lead to exposure to teleshopping. In other words, the time spent on watching TV programs can affect the hours of watching teleshopping programs. Dependence on teleshopping programs can have a positive effect on building a friendly and social relationship with the teleshopping show hosts. Accordingly, teleshopping programs can be considered as an ideal tool to search for trans-social interactions. Such programs display fewer contents to attract viewers and trans-social interactions play a crucial role in attracting viewers in this case. The positive effect of dependence on teleshopping leads to tele-participation effects. Given the positive effect of the viewers’ tele-participation on the trans-social interactions with the hosts of the teleshopping program as well as the positive effect of the trans-social interaction with these hosts on the exposure to teleshopping, it can be stated that the viewers’ participation with the participants of the program (such as public comments in the street, short messages, phone calls from other viewers) can lead to increased trans-social interactions. Finally, the exposure to teleshopping has had a significantly positive effect on teleshopping behaviors. In other words, the more the viewers are exposed to teleshopping programs and the more time is spent on watching teleshopping programs, their behaviors will more likely lead to purchasing through teleshopping programs.  

Today, teleshopping has become one of the most widely used tools in marketing and advertising for a variety of reasons such as reduction of costs, quick and easy access to services, transparency and provision of comprehensive information. However, a review of research literature shows that such a concept has not been fully studied due to its advent, especially in Iran. The results obtained from the estimations of the research model confirmed all the hypotheses of the present study and it was found that these factors can play a positive role in the development of consumers’ teleshopping behaviors in Iran.