What affects perceived quality? An examination of television fiction series

Abstract

With the number of television series increasing almost daily and resources becoming increasingly sparse, it is more important than ever for companies to determine which series will have market success or not. This paper attempts to identify the characteristics of television fiction series that cause consumers to perceive them as being of high quality. In a nation-wide survey, we surveyed 874 television viewers about ten series from four genres to investigate which characteristics of television series predict consumers’ perception of their quality. Although in most cases the coherence of the plot and the dialogues have a strong and positive effect on perceived quality, overall, we find that different genres have different predictors of perceived quality. We discuss the implications of our findings and provide recommendations for future research and practice.