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I feel that the overall findings of my research indicate, as mentioned, that the Kardashians are attempting to change their image from rich, out of touch celebrities to hardworking entrepreneurs. And, that while there are people out there who hate, & talk down upon them, there are just as many, if not maybe more, who are thoroughly entertained by them, & who support them.

However, my participants are not representative of everyone who watches the Kardashians’ shows. Thus, the family still has a long way to go to really transform their image, & still have a great deal of people to convince, but will likely always be "set" with their millions of consistent fans.

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I want to acknowledge that my sample is small & quite limited. Therefore these findings may not be completely representative of, or applicable to all viewers of the Kardashians' TV shows.

However, the motives & habits of the participants in my research may be indicative of broader changes in the larger Kardashian viewer community, & it would be interesting to do further research on a larger, & more diverse sample.

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My research indicates that viewers' opinions regarding the Kardahians & their viewing habits may be shifting. I propose that this is due in part to the Kardashians' making their way into the business world, & their shows highlighting these endeavors. The Kardashians are trying to change their image from "just being famous for being famous" to well-respected entrepreneurs.

I believe that this potential re-brand is one of the driving forces in this shift in audience perception of the Kardashians, particularly as role models. Simply put, audience members are starting to buy this re-brand.

Additionally, the context in which these viewers are watching these shows has become more passive, & their attention, more selective.

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With regard to hate-watching, there are definitely aspects of this practice present in the viewing habits of these participants, however, they are not the driving force behind their viewership of KUWTK & The Kardashians.

While participants find the Kardashians’ lack of connection to reality humorous, and some of the plotlines to be embellished, they still enjoy the shows for other, less hateful reasons.

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One interviewee finds it interesting to compare her life to the Kardashians, even though she admits this may not be the best thing to do. She said that sometimes, watching The Kardashians does make her desire their lifestyle, even though she knows it is unattainable. The vastly different lifestyles of a college student & a Kardashian are part of what makes The Kardashians entertaining to this individual.

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Regarding the Kardashians’ lifestyles, one interviewee indicated that she finds the shows entertaining because the Kardashians have the resources to do virtually anything they want. She said that, to her, it is entertaining to see what they do when they have the world at their disposal.

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One interviewee indicated that she finds watching the shows to be entertaining because they give a behind the scenes perspective to the countless headlines regarding the Kardashians, citing the Met Gala in particular, that was covered in a recent episode of The Kardashians.

Additionally, this respondent feels like the shows give the Kardashians the ability to explain themselves beyond the headlines about them, citing Kim Kardashian’s previously mentioned Variety "advice," as well as controversy surrounding Kim’s drastic weight loss in order to wear Marilyn Monroe’s dress at the Met Gala.

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In my follow up interviews with participants, I wanted to get a better understanding of why exactly viewers find the Kardashians’ shows so entertaining.

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Why are the Kardashians so entertaining?

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Why are the Kardashians so entertaining?

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[About Kim Kardashian] “She works hard through adversity (Kanye, Sex tape, etc.)”

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[About the Kardashians] “[I] wouldn’t say [I] admire [them] but I do look up to their work ethic.”

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[About Kim Kardashian] “She did work for things in her life and although she has been handed things she has a strong work ethic and is very authentic for a celebrity.”

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The Kardashians as hardworking role models.

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The Kardashians as hardworking role models.

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Many viewers look to members of the Kardashian family as role models, at least in the area of work ethic, which I found to be somewhat surprising.  It seems that Kim Kardashian’s Variety interview controversy didn’t turn off these participants. Even while recognizing that the Kardashians come from immensely privileged backgrounds, viewers still feel that the family members worked hard for the successes they have amassed, and look up to their work ethic.

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One interviewee said that she felt like in the early seasons of KUWTK, she was laughing at the Kardashians, citing instances like Khloe going to jail. However, now she feels like more recently, she has found the members of the family to actually be funny themselves, and has been laughing with them, specifically Kim and Kourtney, and especially Kris Jenner.

This respondent cited a recent episode of The Kardashians that she found to be particularly funny, where Kris Jenner took edibles (edible marijuana), proceeding to get high & create an overall funny moment.

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(About Kris Jenner) “She’s just so unintentionally funny.”

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(About Khloe Kardashian) “She's funny, normal, and doesn't take herself so seriously.”

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“It's really funny how out of touch with reality they are. It makes me laugh hearing about their lives and problems because they are so far from the norm.”

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83% of survey respondents somewhat / strongly agreed that they find humor in watching KUWTK and/or The Kardashians, whether this be finding specific family members funny, or rather, the concept of their life & events portrayed in the shows.

Viewers find entertainment in KUWTK & The Kardashians because they find the shows funny, whether they are laughing with or at the Kardashians, improving their mood because of the humor. Additionally, viewers just enjoy the behind the scenes look KUWTK & The Kardashians give into the lives of the famous family.

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One interviewee talked about how she will “zone out and zone back in" to episodes of KUWTK and/or The Kardashians when she is interested in the current plot line or segment of the episode.

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[The show is] “entertaining and doesn't require a lot of focus to watch. [It is a] nice thing to have on in the background.”

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“I watch the show because it is something to play in the background while I'm doing other things.”

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Viewers watch the Kardashians in the background.

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Viewers watch the Kardashians in the background.

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Various participants indicated that one of the reasons that they watch KUWTK and/or The Kardashians is because they can play it in the background, often while doing another task.

Rather than viewing with a sense of diversion & escaping routine, viewers have made watching KUWTK & The Kardashians a part of their routine. However, this habitual viewing does not necessarily “fill time when no other activities are available” as discussed by Mendleson & Papacharissi (365). Instead, these viewers will put on an episode of KUWTK or The Kardashians & do homework, or  clean their room. They like watching because the shows don't require their full attention & they can do something else while simultaneously having an episode on.

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100% of the participants indicated that they generally enjoy watching KUWTK and/or The Kardashians

Same 100% indicated that they generally consider the show(s) to be entertaining

88% of the participants either somewhat or strongly agreed that watching the show(s) improves their mood

83% of the participants either somewhat or strongly agreed that they enjoy watching the show(s) because the Kardashian family is ridiculous

Common themes in participants’ responses were identified and coded. These themes include:

“Putting the show on in the background,” (mentioned 6 separate times by 5 participants)

Aspects of the show being “funny,” (mentioned 7 separate times by 7 participants)

Mentioning that family members are “hardworking” or have a good “work ethic” (mentioned 6 separate times by 6 participants)

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It's important to recognize that “hate or dislike of a text can be just as powerful as can a strong and admiring, affective relationship with a text” (Cohen et al. 136). Elizabeth L. Cohen and colleagues at WVU describe hate-watching as “an antifan practice of taking pleasure in the failures, absurdities, or annoying characteristics of a show or its characters. When audience members approach a media offering as hate-watchers, they are predisposed to increase their enjoyment by focusing on a program’s shortcomings” (Cohen et al. 136).

Because KUWTK and The Kardashians focus on “an extremely rich family who just happened to get famous by chance, many people feel as though [these shows give] viewers a false representation of society” (Williams). Additionally, some hate-watchers feel that many scenes in the show are clearly staged, overly dramatic, and inauthentic, thus, making the shows worthy of ridicule (Williams).

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Mendleson & Papacharissi discussed a general finding at the time of their publication (2007) that viewers of reality TV  “tend to watch more out of habit rather than for specific needs” (Mendleson & Papacharissi 358). They found that their participants’ “engagement with reality TV was rather passive, and designed to fill time when no other activities are available” (Mendleson & Papacharissi 365). Furthermore, viewing reality TV was “integrated into the daily routine of the individual to the point where it became a ritual” (Mendleson & Papacharissi 366).

This research provides insight into the possible viewing habits of my participants, specifically for the Kardashians’ reality shows. However, this research was conducted 15 years ago, and the reality TV landscape has drastically evolved over this period of time, leading me to consider the possibility that there may be some differences in my findings regarding KUWTK / The Kardashians viewers in the year 2022.

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While the Kardashians are not generally considered to be the most relatable people on earth, they share intimate moments of their lives through their reality TV shows, such as childbirth, relationships, & addiction, in addition to seemingly mundane, routine aspects of their lives, such as going grocery shopping, or even “silly” things, like pulling pranks on each other. These aspects of the shows combine to generate a sense of reality for viewers, or at least a false sense of reality.

When participants in Hammer’s study were asked “why they stayed connected to the show after so many seasons, all participants stated that they felt connected to the family and their stories” (Hammer 92). Hammer notes that while her respondents felt connected to the Kardashian family, it wasn’t because of their lavish lifestyle or rich people problems, it was because they felt “a connection to the feelings and hardships portrayed on the screen” (Hammer 95).

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Research by Anthony Patino, Velitchka D. Kaltcheva, & Michael F. Smith looked at reality TV’s appeal to young audiences. They found that among participants between the ages of 12-18, the majority viewed celebrities, as well as participants on reality TV shows as “opinion leaders and role models” (Patino, Kaltcheva & Smith 291).

However, regarding this “role model” status, Hammer’s findings, specifically focusing on the Kardashians, differed from those of Patino, Kaltcheva & Smith. Hammer’s research, centered on college-aged students, found that “the participants did not regard the Kardashians as their role models or inspirations (Hammer 94).

Given the 6 years that have passed since Hammer’s study, & the emergence of the Kardashians in the business world during that time, I was interested in examining whether similarly aged participants in my study would have differing perspectives of the Kardashians as being role models.

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Reality TV has been found to sometimes serve as an escape or diversion from viewers' own reality.

Research by Emily Ramdhany at Columbia University found that adolescents view reality TV shows to “vicariously live the lives of reality television show characters, [which] may serve as a means for teens to forget about their own problems and lives” (Ramdhany 13).

Research by Kayla Hammer & published in the Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications found that participants felt a sense of “diversion for ‘emotional release’ or ‘escape from routine'” as a driving factor in their viewing of Keeping Up with the Kardashians; watching when they feel they need a break from the realities of schoolwork, a bad mood, or the stress of life in general (Hammer 93).

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Additionally, they have millions of followers on social media, & have started numerous successful businesses as other streams of income.

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Overall, my findings regarding motives for watching the Kardashians' TV shows were somewhat consistent with research done in the past. However, there were still some notable differences.

1. Viewers do view the Kardashians as role models, to some extent-- citing their work ethic as the primary reason that they look up to the family members for.

2. Rather than completely "passively" watching the Kardashians' shows, viewers feel that the shows allow them to multi-task while watching, often selectively paying attention to certain parts / plot lines.

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I employed an audience analysis approach for this research. Audience analysis relies heavily on the audiences’ interpretation of media texts, and how they react/behave/think as a result of those interpretations (Ott & Mack 260).

Participants in this research were 18 students at Miami University between the ages of 18-21. All participants identify as female. 17 are White; one identifies as Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander. Participants voluntarily completed a survey regarding their viewing habits of KUWTK and/or The Kardashians, as well as their motivations for watching the shows, & thoughts on the shows & Kardashian family in general.

The survey was anonymous; participants were not required to answer any questions that they didn’t want to. However, they had the choice to provide their email address, as a way to indicate that they would be interested in potentially participating in a follow up interview regarding the contents of the survey.

After reviewing my initial findings, I decided to conduct interviews with participants. I asked about either of the shows improving participants’ mood, finding humor in the shows, general enjoyment of the show and why they specifically find them entertaining, and finally, the show being played “in the background” of participants' lives.

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Why have viewers kept up with the Kardashians in the past?

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Why have viewers kept up with the Kardashians in the past?

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Despite this criticism & many other instances... 

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Despite this criticism & many other instances... 

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...the Kardashians have persisted, & continue to put out content for a loyal fan base, who tune into new episodes of their shows every week, or even regularly watch old episodes on-demand.

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In recent news...  Kim Kardashian's "advice" for working women went viral & received backlash directed both at her & her family. (0:22-0:33)

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In recent news...  Kim Kardashian's "advice" for working women went viral & received backlash directed both at her & her family. (0:22-0:33)

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People “were quick to point out that while Kim has undeniably worked hard and utilized her Keeping Up With the Kardashians success in the best possible way, she was born into immense privilege that gave her a pretty good head start when it came to being a successful business mogul” (Soteriou) and the same can be said for her famous family members.

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After distributing surveys & conducting interviews among Miami University students, I found that... 

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After distributing surveys & conducting interviews among Miami University students, I found that... 

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...viewers of Keeping Up with the Kardashians and/or The Kardashians watch these shows because of the affordances of entertainment it provides. Additionally, the nature of these shows make it easy for viewers to multitask while watching. Viewers look up to the Kardashians for their work ethic, while also approaching the media from a hate-watching perspective, finding enjoyment in shows' shortcomings & absurdities.