WHAT DO USERS NEED? EXPLORING INFLUENCES ON THE ADOPTION OF MOBILE CONTENT AND THE DIFFERENCES AMONG CATEGORIES OF ADOPTERS

Businesses develop products and services with the goal of earning a satisfactory return on their original investment of time and capital. For their part, consumers seek out products and services that meet a recognized need. However, predicting the adoption rate of any new technology is an inexact science, and some businesses find themselves on the wrong side of the curve. The variables factoring into consumers’ purchasing decisions are manifold and contingent on a wider network of influences. This research suggests that a primary variable that influences consumers’ adoption of a technological innovation (in this case, mobile content) is the perception of 10 proposed Mobile Content Needs. The first goal of this research is to propose a framework for the relationships among the adoption of mobile content, users’ perception of their need for mobile content, and users’ innovativeness, which is a measure of the likelihood to adopt a new product. This research seeks to explore the differences among groups (categories) of adopters in the context of the perceived needs influencing their decision to adopt mobile content. In other words, it examines the prominence of particular mobile content needs for each of the five categories of adopters. This examination provides indirect evidence of how the mobile content adoption process evolves over time in relation to a specific innovation and within specific groups. This research is useful for those seeking to better understand the mobile content market in its totality, in particular the motivations driving different adopter groups. The results of this research may enable the development of more relevant, targeted content, with a surer knowledge of what a potential consumer needs at each stage of the adoption lifecycle. Similarly, this research offers a foundation for more extensive studies in the near future

Use, but pay? Factors affecting the adoption of news websites among young adults

This study explored young people\u27s consumption of and willingness to pay for traditional news websites with both uses and gratifications and diffusion of innovation theory as theoretical frames. Based on a survey sample of U.S. college students, it revealed similarities and differences among certain groups of adopters. Regression analyses found when aiming for new young readers and potential payers, news producers should focus on addressing needs for surveillance, understanding, and entertainment, give as many people the opportunity to try out the website, and target particularly e-book readers, but avoid those playing a lot of online games. Social media features, expressed through the observability characteristic, were found to still underperform and currently work best for those already engaged with the sites

Understanding the Value of Social Media in the NBA’s Digital Communication: A Fan(s)’ Perspective

Social media (SM) has become sports organizations’ most preeminent vehicle to engage with fans and to enhance relationship marketing. Prior studies have mostly focused on the standpoints of sports organizations; less is known about fans’ SM experience and perspective. This study focuses on sports fans’ SM use during a game, and seeks to understand their popular SM uses and gratifications and the effect of individual characteristics. Informed by the uses and gratifications theory (UGT), we analyze survey data of 400 season-ticket holders of a professional NBA team. Our quantitative data analysis suggests that during a game the NBA sports fans use SM for posting on Twitter & Facebook, on Instagram & Snapchat, and checking emails. The less popular uses and gratifications include accessing teams’ website, downloading video, and accessing mobile Apps. These usage behaviors varied by individual age, gender and household income. Research contribution and implications are discussed

USER-GENERATED CONTENT AND CONSUMER EMPOWERMENT IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY: A USES & GRATIFICATIONS AND DUAL-PROCESS CONCEPTUALIZATION

User-Generated Content (UGC) on the World Wide Web has empowered travellers, enabling them to exchange opinions or experiences with others, and consequently, influencing their travel decisions. Travellers are able to make comments in a large variety of forms such as photos, videos, podcasts, ratings, reviews, articles and blogs. When people use the Internet to obtain travel information, they do research about the trip on the Internet, read and generate content and reviews, and interact with other travellers in social networks. This is empowering tourists by giving them the opportunity to receive and pass on recommendations of their travel experiences. Despite the importance of UGC in the travel industry, our understanding of how UGC empowers online consumer remains limited. By employing the Uses & Gratifications and Dual-Process Theories, we propose that Consumer Empowerment in the context of UGC can be formed through Content Empowerment, Social Empowerment and Process Empowerment

48P. User-Generated Content and Perceived Control: A Pilot Study of Empowering Consumer Decision Making

There is growing interest in understanding of how User-Generated Content (UGC) empowers online consumer behavior. In this paper, we explore the relationships between Consumer Empowerment and Perceived Control (mediated by Self-Efficacy) over the decision making process using UGC. The results of this study reveal that Perceived Control has an influence on intention to use UGC. The findings also suggest that Consumer Empowerment has the capacity to influence Perceived Control, both directly (primarily via Content Empowerment), and indirectly (via Social Empowerment and Process Empowerment, mediated by Self-Efficacy, which in turn influences Perceived Control)

Multinational Web Uses and Gratifications: Measuring the Social Impact of Online Community Participation Across National Boundaries

This paper describes the rationale and findings from a multinational study of online uses and gratifications conducted in theUnited States,Korea, and theNetherlandsin spring 2003. Survey questions developed in three languages by native speaking researchers was presented to approximately 400 respondents in each country via the Web. Web uses and gratifications were analyzed cross-nationally in a comparative fashion focusing on involvement in different types of on-line communities. Findings indicate that demographic characteristics, cultural values, and Internet connection type emerged as critical factors that explain why the same technology is adopted differently

Internet dependency, motivations for internet use and their effect on work productivity: the 21st century addiction

Past research has studied peoples’ addiction to the radio and television. Today some media scholars suggest that one can become addicted to or dependent on the Internet. The present study compares Internet use among college students and full-time employees to determine differences between those who are dependent and non-dependent Internet users, their motivations for Web sites visited and the effect of dependency on work productivity. The present study discovered that dependent Internet users are more likely to report that Internet use negatively affected their work productivity at both school and work and also reported higher levels of motivation for going online than non-dependents. No significant difference was found between students and full-time employees and their reported levels of Internet dependency. Keywords: Addiction, Internet, Dependency, Motivations, Productivit

The Diffusion of the Internet and the Geography of the Digital Divide in the United States

This paper analyses the rapid diffusion of the Internet across the United States over the past decade for both households and firms. We put the Internet's diffusion into the context of economic diffusion theory where we consider costs and benefits on the demand and supply side. We also discuss several pictures of the Internet's physical presence using some of the current main techniques for Internet measurement. We highlight different economic perspectives and explanations for the digital divide, that is, unequal availability and use of the Internet.