UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE SEGMENTATION, FROM ELITE AND MASS TO OMNIVORE AND UNIVORE

The view of cultural stratification that places a discriminating and exclusive elite on the top and an undiscriminating mass on the bottom is questioned. Using a log-multiplicative model to simultaneously stratify occupational groups and music preferences, it is clear that while those in the upper occupational groups are more apt to like symphonic music and to engage in elite arts activities, they are also more apt to like a number of kinds of music and engage in a wide range of non-elite activities. At the same time, those in the lowest occupational groups tend to engage in few activities and to strongly like one single non-elite form of music. The results are interpreted as showing a shift from an elite-to-mass status hierarchy to an omnivore-to-univore status hierarchy. © 1993.