Wardrobe Malfunctions and the Measurement of Internet Behaviour
Roland Pfister
.
DOI: 10.4236/psych.2011.23042   PDF    HTML     5,434 Downloads   9,525 Views  

Abstract

The wardrobe malfunction – an unanticipated exposure of bodily parts in the public – has become a prevailing issue in concerts, shows and other celebrity events that is reliably reported by the media. The internet as the fastest source for celebrity gossip allows measuring the impact of such wardrobe malfunctions on the public in-terest in a celebrity. This measurement in turn allows conclusions about intention, motivation, and internet be-haviour of a wide variety of internet users. The present study exemplifies the use of an innovative non-reactive measure of active interest – the Search Volume Index – to assess the impact of a variety of internet-related phe-nomena, including wardrobe malfunctions. Results indicate that interest in a celebrity increases immediately af-ter such an event and stays at a high level for about three weeks (the wardrobe plateau). This special form of ce-lebrity gossip thus meets a constant interest of a substantial proportion of internet users.

Share and Cite:

Pfister, R. (2011). Wardrobe Malfunctions and the Measurement of Internet Behaviour. Psychology, 2, 266-268. doi: 10.4236/psych.2011.23042.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] American Dialect Society (2005). 2004 Words of the year final vote. Retrieved November 05, 2009, from http://www.americandialect.org /2004_Words_of_the_Year_Final_Vote.pdf
[2] Choi, C. J., & Berger, R. (2010). Ethics of celebrities and their increasing influence in 21st century society. Journal of Business Ethics, 91, 313-318.
[3] Gamson, J. (2000). The web of celebrity. American Prospect, 11(20), 40-41.
[4] Google Inc. (2009). About Google Trends. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from http://www.google.com/intl/en/trends/about.html#7
[5] Holland, S. L. (2009). The “offending” breast of Janet Jackson: Public discourse surrounding the Jackson/Timberlake performance at Super Bowl XXXVIII. Women's Studies in Communication, 32, 129-150.
[6] Kurzman, C., Anderson, C., Key, C., Lee, Y. O., Moloney, M., Silver, A., et al. (2007). Celebrity status. Sociological Theory, 25(4), 347-367.
[7] McCutcheon, L. E., Ashe, D. D., Houran, J., & Maltby, J. (2003). A cognitive profile of individuals who tend to worship celebrities. Journal of Psychology, 137(4), 309-322.
[8] Peckham, A. (2005). Urban Dictionary: Fularious Street Slang Defined. Andrews McMeel Publishing.
[9] Sheridan, L., North, A., Maltby, J., & Gillett, R. (2007). Celebrity worship, addiction and criminality. Psychology Crime & Law, 13(6), 559-571.
[10] Young, K., Pistner, M., O'Mara, J., & Buchanan, J. (1999). Cyber disorders: The mental health concern for the new millenium. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 2(5), 475-479.

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.