Vorderer, Ritterfeld develop new model for media entertainment research

Communication professors Peter Vorderer and Ute Ritterfeld, along with Cristoph Klimmt from Hannover University of Music and Drama, have outlined a new model for understanding the central role of enjoyment as a key aspect of entertainment. "Because media entertainment--and media enjoyment at the very heart of this experience--have become so crucial in multiple domains of communication and daily life, we must formalize our understanding of it by using a theoretical framework and basic foundations," they write in an article entitled "Enjoyment: At the Heart of Media Entertainment." The article is published in the latest issue of Communication Theory, the journal of the International Communication Association. Vorderer directs the entertainment education program at USC Annenberg's School of Communication. Ritterfeld directs the Annenberg Studies on Computer Games project.