Explaining Expectations-Evaluation Discrepancies: The Role of Consumption and Populist Attitudes in Shaping Citizens’ Perceptions of PSM Performance

Abstract

ABSTRACT In a constantly transforming high-choice, platform-dominated media landscape, PSM need clues to keep citizens engaged and deliver value while sustaining its core mission to contribute to informed citizenship, nurture public debate, and strengthen social cohesion and national identity. Based on a national survey of the Spanish population (N = 1,717), this study taps into Spanish citizens’ expectations of PSM and their evaluations of the national public broadcaster TVE to, following Fawzi and Mothes’ (2020) work, examine the discrepancies between these two measures. The analysis then focuses on how this disappointment gap relates to PSM consumption and populist attitudes. Consistent with previous literature, respondents’ expectations align with normative media functions and programming mandates as defined from a regulatory and theoretical standpoint. However, individuals show high but unfulfilled expectations for PSM. Higher expectations-evaluation discrepancies show positive associations with anti-elite populist attitudes. In contrast, consumption relates to a lower gap and hence higher fulfillment of citizens’ demands for PSM. In conclusion, this study supports the need for PSM to actively connect with its audience and reaffirms the inconsonance of populist attitudes with PSM institutions.