Catey Traylor
True crime, a genre that has piqued the interest of individuals for decades, has taken on a new form in the age of digital media, with more access to behind-the-scenes details, first-person accounts, and courtroom proceedings than ever before. Through television shows, podcasts, books, and community-driven online forums, investigations of the coldest of cases have been met with newfound enthusiasm and determination from professional storytellers and armchair detectives alike. While true crime audiences are comprised of both men and women of all ages, research shows that females disproportionately flock to the genre as compared to their male counterparts; in fact, females are more likely to choose the true crime genre over others when given an option (Marks, 2017). There has been little research done to determine why this is, and the research that has been done has landed on a combination of psychology, adrenaline, and natural instinct as the driving forces behind female interest in the genre. The purpose of my project is to dive deeper into the exploration of women’s overwhelming interest in true crime storytelling through research methods I’ve learned in the Emerging Media Design & Development program.
"This research connects the true crime genre to audience entertainment preferences by exploring the media platforms used in popular true crime documentaries, and how those forms affect immersion and engagement in the genre."
Why is it that a disproportionate amount of women consume true crime, regardless of the medium, in comparison to their male counterparts? A variety of hypotheses exist already, including psychological elements such as fear of becoming a victim (Marks, 2017), the subconscious desire to learn survival techniques (Marks, 2017), and the deep-rooted hope to form community around these elements (Bogart, 2018). I want to test the validity of those explanations through the opinions and experiences of real true crime aficionados.
Amanda Vicary, a social psychologist and author of a groundbreaking 2010 study titled “Captured by True Crime,” is one of the leaders in researching women and true crime, often citing the normalcy of victims as attractive to a female audience, who see themselves as vulnerable in the same ways. In their 2010 study, Vicary and co-author Chris Fraley conducted research to determine whether women were drawn to true crime specifically or just the sensationalism of gory details. When presented with an option to read three true stories, participants overwhelmingly chose the story of women who reminded themselves of their friends and family, and who never saw a tragedy coming. These results were repeated when additional details were added to stories, specifically about how the victims attempted to survive their killer, suggesting that readers were interested in learning survival techniques. Vicary was also cited in a 2016 Rolling Stone article exploring the genre, noting that statistically, men are more likely to be targeted for a murder, but women are 50 percent more afraid of the crime happening to them. In this light, I explore the content of true crime stories: women are disproportionately featured as victims of crimes over men, eliciting a psychological response from female consumers to fear crime because the entertainment value of the stories outweigh the truth of the statistics, yet curiosity and desire to learn causes them to keep tuning in.
This study uses a multi-method approach including surveys, focus groups, and design thinking sessions that explore the varied elements of storytelling across four platforms. It also identifies the preferred method of consumption by audiences. Respondents expressed a desire to engage with a detailed story on a convenient platform with visuals to aid in the retelling of the crime. This research connects the true crime genre to audience entertainment preferences by exploring the media platforms used in popular true crime documentaries and how those forms affect immersion and engagement in the genre.