Museum Visitors’ Perceptions of Mobile Games: A Case Study

Previous research in mobile gaming focused on use among grade school students and heavy gamers (e.g., Groff, Howells, & Cranmer, 2010; Poels, Kort, & Ijsselsteijn, 2012), but little is known about museum visitor usage. This study examined museum visitors\u27 mobile technology habits and perceived uses of mobile games in museums. A survey of individuals on a local museum\u27s mailing list found a positive relationship between visitors\u27 familiarity with mobile devices and their perceptions of enjoyment and learning experiences with mobile games. This indicates that mobile games may be a welcome addition to the museum experience for heavy users of mobile devices. Additionally, gratifications among respondents for intention to play mobile games at museums were categorized as information discovery, entertainment, and information quality

Use of Social Media in the Workplace

As social media become more pervasive and widespread in the workplace, there is an increasing need to study and understand the factors driving working professionals to use social media for work related purposes. Yet, knowledge about the factors influencing the use of social media technologies at work remains limited. Drawing from the uses and gratifications (U&G) theory, the objective of this study is to uncover the motivational factors driving the use of social media in the workplace. The U&G framework can help to understand the needs and wants of working professionals with regards to the use of social media for work related purposes. In addition, this study also investigates the influence of prior social media experience to complement the U&G theory. A survey was designed and administered to 157 working professionals. Results from the hierarchical regression analysis revealed that respondents with prior social media experiences were more likely to use social media at work. In addition, we also found that factors such as gratifications obtained from socializing and tasks accomplishment were also significant in influencing the use social media for work related purposes. Implications and directions for future work are discussed

Online users' behaviours and behavioural intentions with reference to live streaming : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 26 March 2023.

Embargoed until 26 March 2023Live streaming, as a new medium, allows users to participate in real-time interaction. It has attracted a large number of online users, and become a new social commerce venue and lucrative business, especially in China where the live streaming industry is growing explosively and is the largest in the world. This thesis aims to comprehensively investigate users’ behaviours and behavioural intentions in live streaming through both qualitative and quantitative approaches using the Chinese live streaming as an example. This thesis contains four studies to investigate from both streamers’ and viewers’ aspects. Firstly, we conducted two qualitative studies to investigate users’ online behaviours in the social commerce practice in live streaming by exploring how streamers attract viewers (Chapter 2) and encourage gifting (Chapter 3). Novel multiple triangulation was used, including data source triangulation and methodological triangulation. Through multiple triangulation, three behaviours for viewer attraction and four behaviours for gifting encouragement were identified. These two chapters help to comprehensively understand streamers’ online behaviours in this new form of social commerce. Next, we conducted two quantitative studies to explore why viewers continue to watch streams (Chapters 4 and 5). Based on expectation-confirmation theory (ECT), in Chapter 4, we modified the post-acceptance model of information system continuance and re-defined the constructs in a structural equation model of predictors of continuance intention of watching live streams. Chapter 4 successfully connects intention and continuance intention of watching, and integrates disparate understandings of viewers’ watching behaviours. To solve the deficiencies identified in current ECT-based models and further increase the explanation of variance in continuance intention of watching, in Chapter 5, we proposed a value-based continuance intention model (V-ECM), which theoretically extends ECT-based studies by including a process of overall practical assessment between users’ perceived benefits and perceived sacrifices. V-ECM appears to be a better model for explaining users’ continuance intention in the stream-watching context. Also, V-ECM could be used broadly in online and/or technology-related fields. Overall, this thesis comprehensively investigates both streamers’ and viewers’ behaviours and behavioural intentions in live streaming. Insights from this thesis can improve the design, functions and marketing within live streaming platforms. Also, this thesis provides strong foundations for further online behaviour studies, for example, stream-watching addiction

The e-teen phenomenon: a conceptual model for new media technology use and appropriation

Text in EnglishBorn at a time of abundance of technology, including new media, e-teens have their lives woven around the use of new media technologies to the extent that they virtually do everything with the aid of these technologies, including learning, playing, socialising and communicating. E-teens, besides, demonstrate marked expertise in the use of these technologies. Although there have been various studies done on this group of users supported by models and theories on the use, gratifications and appropriation of new media technologies, the premise of this study was on two assumptions. First, there are limited studies that have been conducted in the sub-Saharan African context, especially, Ghana. Second, most available theories and models that guide the study of e-teens’ use, appropriation and the use of new media technologies are generalized and do not sufficiently highlight the unique attributes and gratification needs that are tied to their developmental stage. In light of these assumptions, the study was undertaken to provide empirical evidence on the types of new media e-teens have access to; the types of new media used by e-teens in their scheme of things and e-teens’ purposes for using new media. It also sought to find out the gratifications sought and obtained from the use of new media technologies by e-teens; the key features of new media appropriation and experience among e-teens and to identify the features of new media technologies which are most appealing to e-teens. The other objective, which serves as the main contribution of this study, was to develop a conceptual model representing new media use and appropriation among e-teens, thereby filling the theoretical or conceptual gap that exists in this context. The study adopted a quantitative approach whereby data was collected using close-5ended questionnaires. The target population were teens from age 13 to 19 in senior high schools in the Greater Accra region of Ghana, selected using a simple random sampling. The results of the study show that, overall, the most popular new media technology that e-teens had access to and owned was the smartphone. Leading among the apps that e-teens found to be appealing were educational, entertainment and information/news, with communicative and participatory features of new media technologies appealing to e-teens highly. Also, educational, sociability and social inclusion, respectively, were the most popular gratifications sought and obtained by e-teens. It is submitted that social inclusion, educational and sociability gratifications are considered to be directly in line with the unique developmental needs of e-teens. However, it is recommended, among other things, that educational use of new media, which was one of the strong points for new media use, should be further encouraged as new media provides borderless opportunities forlearning. The researcher believes that the conceptual model for e-teen use and appropriation of new media technologies provide a firm ground for further research on topics related to this subject matter. To provide support and substance to the e-teen model, other researchers are encouraged to test and extend it where necessary. In conclusion, the findings provide evidence that new media technologies are highly appropriated by e-teens because the technologies help them meet their unique gratification needs. Therefore, the study recommends that, although new media use among e-teens can be encouraged, it is important to ensure proper usage, which will not be detrimental to them.Communication ScienceD. Litt. et Phil. (Communication

The e-teen phenomenon: a conceptual model for new media technology use and appropriation

Text in EnglishBorn at a time of abundance of technology, including new media, e-teens have their lives woven around the use of new media technologies to the extent that they virtually do everything with the aid of these technologies, including learning, playing, socialising and communicating. E-teens, besides, demonstrate marked expertise in the use of these technologies. Although there have been various studies done on this group of users supported by models and theories on the use, gratifications and appropriation of new media technologies, the premise of this study was on two assumptions. First, there are limited studies that have been conducted in the sub-Saharan African context, especially, Ghana. Second, most available theories and models that guide the study of e-teens’ use, appropriation and the use of new media technologies are generalized and do not sufficiently highlight the unique attributes and gratification needs that are tied to their developmental stage. In light of these assumptions, the study was undertaken to provide empirical evidence on the types of new media e-teens have access to; the types of new media used by e-teens in their scheme of things and e-teens’ purposes for using new media. It also sought to find out the gratifications sought and obtained from the use of new media technologies by e-teens; the key features of new media appropriation and experience among e-teens and to identify the features of new media technologies which are most appealing to e-teens. The other objective, which serves as the main contribution of this study, was to develop a conceptual model representing new media use and appropriation among e-teens, thereby filling the theoretical or conceptual gap that exists in this context. The study adopted a quantitative approach whereby data was collected using close-5ended questionnaires. The target population were teens from age 13 to 19 in senior high schools in the Greater Accra region of Ghana, selected using a simple random sampling. The results of the study show that, overall, the most popular new media technology that e-teens had access to and owned was the smartphone. Leading among the apps that e-teens found to be appealing were educational, entertainment and information/news, with communicative and participatory features of new media technologies appealing to e-teens highly. Also, educational, sociability and social inclusion, respectively, were the most popular gratifications sought and obtained by e-teens. It is submitted that social inclusion, educational and sociability gratifications are considered to be directly in line with the unique developmental needs of e-teens. However, it is recommended, among other things, that educational use of new media, which was one of the strong points for new media use, should be further encouraged as new media provides borderless opportunities for learning. The researcher believes that the conceptual model for e-teen use and appropriation of new media technologies provide a firm ground for further research on topics related to this subject matter. To provide support and substance to the e-teen model, other researchers are encouraged to test and extend it where necessary. In conclusion, the findings provide evidence that new media technologies are highly appropriated by e-teens because the technologies help them meet their unique gratification needs. Therefore, the study recommends that, although new media use among e-teens can be encouraged, it is important to ensure proper usage, which will not be detrimental to them.Communication ScienceD. Litt. et Phil. (Communication

Social Tagging: Exploring the Image, the Tags, and the Game

An increasing amount of images are being uploaded, shared, and retrieved on the Web. These large image collections need to be properly stored, organized and easily retrieved. Tags have a key role in image retrieval but it is difficult for those who upload the images to also undertake the quality tag assignment for potential future retrieval by others. Relying on professional keyword assignment is not a practical option for large image collections due to resource constraints. Although a number of content-based image retrieval systems have been launched, they have not demonstrated sufficient utility on large-scale image sources on the web, and are usually used as a supplement to existing text-based image retrieval systems. An alternative to professional image indexing can be social tagging -- with two major types being photo-sharing networks and image labeling games. Here we analyze these applications to evaluate their usefulness from the semantic point of view. We also investigate whether social tagging behaviour can be managed. The findings of the study have shown that social tagging can generate a sizeable number of tags that can be classified as interpretive for an image, and that tagging behaviour has a manageable and adjustable nature depending on tagging guidelines

Motivations in the adoption and conversion of Music Freemium Services

Mestrado Bolonha em MarketingCom o recente avanço tecnológico, é possível ouvir música de novas maneiras. Isto resultou no aumento do valor de mercado da música e no surgimento de diversos serviços de streaming on-demand com o modelo de negócio freemium. Estes serviços têm sucesso, especialmente, quando os seus utilizadores convertem a sua subscrição de free para premium. O presente trabalho propõe-se a estudar quais as motivações que levam os consumidores a adotar uma plataforma de streaming de música, e quais as motivações e características de utilizador que levam à conversão para o serviço premium. Alguns estudos dedicaram-se a explicar o porquê desta conversão, mas pouco foi pesquisado no que toca às motivações dos consumidores para distinguir entre diferentes plataformas. Para aprofundar estas questões, este estudo analisa um conjunto de motivações e caraterísticas de utilizador como variáveis explicativas em conjunto, de forma original, não encontrada na literatura. Deste modo, os dados foram obtidos através de um inquérito online, com uma amostra de 231 utilizadores portugueses de plataformas de streaming. Os resultados principais apontam que a satisfação, valor percebido e ubiquidade são motivações estatisticamente significativas que influenciam positivamente a escolha de diferentes plataformas. Para além disto, as mesmas motivações, bem como a idade e ocupação (características de utilizador) mostraram-se impactantes no que diz respeito à conversão, sendo relevante do ponto de vista teórico e do ponto de vista prático. No entanto, os resultados destacam a influência negativa da satisfação e idade nesta compra. Isto significa que um utilizador altamente satisfeito não se converte e de modo semelhante, quanto mais velho for o utilizador, menos provável é que a compra ocorra. Não há evidência estatística que as motivações de descoberta, exclusividade, social e personalização e as restantes características de utilizador influenciem a conversão de utilizadores free em utilizadores premium.With the recent technological advancement, music is being experienced in new ways. This resulted in the rising value of the music market and the surge of diverse on-demand streaming services with the freemium business model. These services thrive especially when its users convert their subscription from free to premium. The current dissertation aims to study what motivations drive consumers to adopt different music streaming platforms and what motivations and user characteristics leads them to convert to the premium service. Several studies endeavoured on explaining this phenomenon, but little research was dedicated on what are the motivations for consumers to distinguish between different platforms. To enhance comprehension in this matter, this study analysis a group of motivations and user characteristics as explanatory variables together as a set, in a original way, not found on the literature. Thus, data was obtained via an online questionnaire, with a sample of 231 Portuguese users of streaming platforms. The main results suggest that satisfaction, perceived value and ubiquity are statistically significant motivations that positively influence choosing a different platform. Regarding subscribing to the premium service, the same motivations, as well as age and occupation (user characteristics) present influential results, which poses relevancy from a theorical point of view and managerial point of view. However, the findings highlight satisfaction and age as negative influences for this purchase. This means that highly satisfied free users don’t convert and similarly, the older the consumer, the less likely the conversion happens. No statistical evidence was found in discovery, exclusivity, social and personalization motivations alongside the remaining user characteristics for the conversion of free users into premium users.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sharing "happy" information

This study focuses on the sharing of “happy” information: information that creates a sense of happiness within the individual sharing the information. We explore the range of factors motivating and impacting individuals' happy information-sharing behavior within a casual leisure context through 30 semistructured interviews. The findings reveal that the factors influencing individuals' happy information-sharing behavior are numerous, and impact each other. Most individuals considered sharing happy information important to their friendships and relationships. In various contexts the act of sharing happy information was shown to enhance the sharer's happiness

Revisiting Uses and Gratification Theory: A Study on Visitors to Annah Rais Homestay

Uses and gratification theory has always been discussed within the functional paradigm where the media serve a specific purpose for any given audience. The perspective assumes that people know even before using the media why they are using it. It is argued in this article that the actual purpose of using mass media is never determined beforehand. Audience is made aware of the purpose after accidentally finding something of interest while using the traditional mass media. Serendity of information occurs after using the mass media. Thus, functionality is assumed rather than verified while using the various mass media. With the advent of the Internet, people shift through the various websites to obtain information relating to a specific purpose. To deduce functionality, a study was conducted on the uses and gratification of websites on homestays. A survey was carried out with 100 actual visitors to Annah Rais Homestays, Sarawak using a specially built questionnaire to collect data relating to perceive and actual uses, and perceive and actual gratification of information obtained from websites of three homestays’ service provider. The findings of the study conclusively found that the actual use of information after visiting a homestay is higher than the perceived use before visiting it. The actual gratification of information after visiting is higher than the perceived gratification before visiting it. Thus, the findings confirm the functionality of websites that could not have been proven in the various studies on traditional mass media

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