Media, Gender and Consumption (Study of the relationship between mass media and consumption tendency of young boys and girls in Shiraz)

Nowadays, consumption as a multidimensional phenomenon has become one of the significant research topics of sociology of culture and cultural studies. It is important to consider and investigate this phenomenon not only at an academic level but as an issue which has emerged and is wide spreading in Iranian society. To that end, this study is aimed at investigating the relationship between consumption and mass media. Therefore, by the following a persuasive communication model, the study will explore the role of communication channels such as radio, television, satellite, etc, as well as the gender of the audience (men and women) with respect to consumption. The research method conducts a survey and collects required data through questionnaires. The experimental group consists of 400 young people aged between 18 and 29 living in Shiraz. The sampling was conducted in a cluster form in multiple stages. The results of the research revealed that in terms of gender, there is a relationship between consumption and the level of affinity to the mass media showing in the meantime that men are greater consumers than women because they more in contact with mass media as compared to women.