All the while, enviable aspects of such a prize are strongly reinforced on the show. .

             As for the payoff for the audience, a significant part likely remains unconscious, or at least covert. On an overt level, though, viewers feel "entertained" by the action at hand: that of bright, attractive, well-dressed, ambitious, industrious contestants scrambling to be the best. Second, again overtly the backdrop of who will be "fired" at the end of the show provides suspense. Third and more covertly, however, one may implicitly assume, without even thinking about it, that he or she is learning valuable lessons about corporate life, and may therefore become successful, or more successful, just by watching the show. What the show is really "teaching", however, is that corporate values, and corporations themselves, are good, beneficial, and admirable, and that a job within one is not just a good, but a glamorous career to which to aspire, especially if one can turn oneself into a "corporate winner" like some of those on TV. Fourth, again largely unconsciously, viewers experience a presentation of implicit values with which they likely already agree (since no one is forcing them to watch the show). These include material capitalism, acquisitiveness, a winner/loser mentality; and the validation of competition and individualism: all of them reinforced and rewarded. .

             A fifth key reason "The Apprentice" remains popular with so many people is that they can vicariously identify with contestants participating in a staged version of dog-eat-dog corporate life, for the hoped for opportunity of a plum job (in an corporate sense, something like being crowned Miss America; being named the American Idol of the Year, or being the last survivor on a deserted island. In essence, then, one voyeuristically experiences a top-echelon corporate scramble (where only "big dogs" play) without needing to actually qualify (or participate).