1. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous:
Celebrity Media Diet and Cultivation of Emerging
Adults’ Materialism
Jennifer Lewallen
Brandon Miller
University of Missouri

2. Introduction
In 2013, a movie called The Bling Ring hit theaters everywhere. The film is a
satirical portrayal of a true story of several L.A. area teenagers who robbed
celebrity homes and were dubbed “the bling ring” by the news media. This story is
an exemplar of society’s obsession with celebrity culture over the last decade.
Media scholars have taken interest in the potential effects and implications of a
celebrity media diet. Scholars have also explored adolescent attitudes toward
celebrity culture, yet not much is known about the emerging adult population.
Members of this subpopulation typically have expendable income and are
simultaneously learning the importance of financial responsibility.
Results of the present paper indicate significant linear relationships between 1)
celebrity magazine consumption, 2) celebrity TV news consumption, 3) total
celebrity media diet, and materialism. Results suggest that a media diet high in
celebrity culture and lifestyle has significant impact on emerging adult
preoccupation with consumer culture. These findings are discussed in light of
cultivation theory.

3. • Cultivation Theory
•
•
Heavy television users are more likely to believe in a “television reality” rather than a factbased reality (Gerbner et al., 2002)
Selectivity is a significant contributor to genre-specific cultivation effects (Morgan &
Shanahan, 2010)
• Celebrity Media Diet
•
Celebrities increase the desire for identification by representing an overvalued image of the
self, with the media presenting celebrities as a glorified version of the consumer (Barron,
2006; Kitch, 2000).
• Materialism
•
•
Much of the social psychology research has focused on advertising and children
Not much has been done to examine adolescents, emerging adults, media diet, and
materialism (Chaplin & John, 2007).

4. Research Questions
RQ1: Will amount of celebrity magazines
read be related to levels of materialism?
RQ2: Will amount of celebrity TV watched
be related to levels of materialism?
RQ3: Will overall celebrity media diet be
related to levels of materialism?

5. Method
• Sample of 224 undergraduates (169 women, 55 men) from a
large university in the Midwestern region of the U.S.
• Completed an online survey about their celebrity media diet and
materialism beliefs
• Population of interest was emerging adults, thus undergraduate
students were recruited for the study.
• Only those who were 18-25 years of age were retained in the
sample for analysis.

6. DV: Materialism
Three simple linear regressions were conducted using SPSS
Independent
Variable
B
SE B
β
Adjusted R2
p-value
.076
.034
.184
.027
.027
RQ1
Celebrity
Magazine
Exposure
.086
.042
.162
.020
.043
RQ2
Celebrity TV
News
Exposure
.016
.007
.176
.026
.016
RQ3
Total
Celebrity
Media Diet

7. Limitations & Future Directions
•
It is possible that individuals with higher levels of materialism are
drawn to celebrity-based media
•
This study demonstrates that emerging adults may be an important
population to study with regard to materialism
•
Expendable income now, but will be making major purchases in
the future
•
Credit card debt is a major concern for this age demographic
•
Future studies should employ experimental methods to possibly
establish causal connections between celebrity media diet and
materialism