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Definition of Terms
The following are the definitions for some of the most important
terms utilized in this research.
1. Affective oriented parasocial interaction refers to the level
an audience member identifies with or rejects a media character.
2. Behavioral oriented parasocial interaction is the level that
the audiences overtly interact with the characters, talk among themselves
about the characters, or predict what is going to happen to the
characters (Rubin & Perse 1987). Behavioral interaction will
also be considered as Freire’s notion that action and reflection
equates praxis and Bandura’s concept of self-efficacy and
collective efficacy. For example, if posters search for other source
of information, if they report that they bought books, go on the
Internet, or if they enroll in classes, all of these examples are
considered as behavioral interaction..
3. Cognitive oriented parasocial interaction is the degree to which
audience members pay careful attention to the educational content
of a soap opera episode, reflecting on its meaning and importance.
(Sood & Rogers, 2000)
4. Collective efficacy: the common belief in the power to create
desired effects by collective action. (Bandura, 1997).
5. Critical involvement is when the audience suggests different
plots and engages in the artistic construction of the program (Liebes
& Katz, 1986). For our purposes, critical involvement is also
interpreted as the suggestions for different approaches, corrections
and disagreement to what was expressed in the telenovela “El
Clon”, as understood by the message posters.
6. Dialogical Pedagogy: the concept of liberating education, championed
by the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire. It is the combination of
education as dialogue, participation, and critical thinking.
7. Entertainment-education: the intentional placement of educational
content in entertainment messages (Singhal & Rogers, 2002).
8. E-E, Enter-edu, enter-educate, info-tainment, and pro-social
entertainment are used interchangeably.
9. Feuilletons (fascicles): newspaper novels printed in installments
(Mattelart and Mattelart, 1990). The translated word in Portuguese
“folhetim” is used interchangeably with telenovela throughout
Brazilian literature.
10. Lurker is a forum participant who reads the messages without
contributing to the discussion (Baym, 2000).
11. Merchandising: is how product placement is known in Brazil.
It is a form of advertisement inserted in a media program to increase
the visibility of a product or service, which has the unique advantage
of not breaking away from the program, but is intended to be part
of the context, usually endorsed by the characters (La Pastina,
2001).
12. Posters are forum participants that write messages (Baym, 2000).
13. Referential involvement is the degree to which the viewers relate
a media message to their own lives. This happens when audience members
discuss the television content in reference to their own experiences,
placing themselves in the situation of the television program (Liebes
& Katz, 1986).
14. Self-efficacy: is one’s belief about their ability to
exercise control over events that would affect their lives (Bandura,
1997).
15. Social merchandising: is the insertion of social relevant subjects
in the telenovela storyline.
16. Social marketing is “the adaptation of commercial market
technologies to programs designed to influence voluntary behavior
of target audience to improve their personal welfare and that of
the society of which they are a part.” (Andreasen, 1994).
17. Telenovelas (soap operas): also known as novelas, are television
serialized dramas; lasting for 180-200 episodes, with a narrative
that usually has a definite beginning, middle and end. (Lopez, 1991).
18. Television fans: viewers which participate in a variety of activities
that go beyond the private act of viewing, such as writing letters,
participating in chat rooms, buying television related publications,
reflecting a deeper emotional involvement with a television narrative
(Bielby et. al. 1999).
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