Factors driving generation Z’s media consumption of OTT platform utilising unified theory of acceptance and use of technology

Over-the-top (OTT) platforms, including iQiyi, Youku video, and Tencent Video, are changing how people consume media as a result of the internet’s explosive growth and expansion, which is having an unprecedented effect on the media industry. OTT platforms have brought fierce user competition to traditional TV because of their ease of use. The segment of consumers is a result of the altered media ecosystem. But there were limited studies that considered the personal perception about the relationship between traditional TV and OTT platforms into the adoption of OTT platforms. Additionally, Generation Z has distinct media consumption traits and is gradually making up a significant portion of the audience for both present and future OTT platforms. However, the factors that impact Generation Z’s segmented OTT platform adoption have not been precisely investigated, which is the main objective of this study. This study mainly utilised the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model 2 (UTAUT2) and segmented media consumption for theoretical underpinning. This study primarily employed a quantitative survey design, collecting a total of 511 questionnaires from members of Generation Z in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen using three-stage cluster sampling and snowball sampling methods. Through the use of Likert scales developed by researchers, all variables were measured. For the data analysis in this study, Smart PLS 4 software was used in conjunction with partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The segmented adoption of OTT platforms by Generation Z was found to be significantly influenced by effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, habit, and platform ecosystem. These factors together fully explained 57.1% of variations in Generation Z’s behavioural intention to adopt OTT platforms. Furthermore, habit, social influence, hedonic motivation, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions were the secondary factors that influenced Generation Z to use OTT platforms. The platform ecosystem was the primary influence. This study also showed that Generation Z believed OTT platforms and traditional TV had either a complementing or substitutable relationship, both of which had a substantial impact on segmented adoption of OTT platforms. In addition, there were no noticeable variations between the influence of the aforementioned predictors on the behavioural intention of solely using OTT platforms or using both traditional TV and OTT platforms. This study discovered that there was no gender-based moderating influence on any relationships between any of these markers and behavioural intention. This study provided innovative scholarly viewpoints on studies of media consumption and transferred ecological concept into communication studies for understanding the relationship between old and new media. As well as this study offered guidance for OTT platform companies to improve their operations to attract more users. For media policymakers, this study also supplied further resources with empirical evidence for improving media convergence.

Text 123237.pdf Download (4MB) Official URL or Download Paper: https://ethesis.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/18713

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