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Through a large-scale national survey, this study provided the first comprehensive examination of podcast users in the United States from the perspectives of motivation and usage. It deepened our understanding of this new on-demand audio platform in the context of consumption drivers, behaviors, and competing media options. The results showed that entertainment, information, and audio platform superiority were the most important motivators for podcast consumption. In addition, motives were found to affect listening behaviors, including listening settings, width, depth, and routine of listening, and usage of competing audio media, such as regular radio, online radio, and streaming music. The findings revealed that podcasting is a distinct medium with unique characteristics rather than a mobile, on-demand extension of existing audio platforms like radio. Podcast consumption, especially on today’s complex media platforms, is multidimensional and should be measured from multiple aspects and examined in various settings.

To adapt to Millennials’ mobile-centric lifestyle, the U.S. radio broadcasters are integrating mobile apps into their services. Through a national survey, this study explores Millennial radio users’ functionality preferences regarding station-specific apps from radio stations, and factors affecting their adoption intentions and actual adoption behaviors of such apps. The potential contribution of these apps to brand loyalty is also examined. Three types of factors are investigated: technology, brand, and media factors. The results suggest that all of them affect adoption and loyalty building. As such, this study contributes to the literature of technology acceptance, mobile marketing, and media management.

This study investigates the factors affecting the cord-cutting behavior of media consumers. Adopting the frameworks of diffusion of innovations, uses and gratifications theory (U&G), channel repertoire, and media usage/segmentation, we conducted an online survey of 860 respondents in the United States to examine the use, perception, and motivation of cord-cutting behavior among three different consumer segments: cord-cutters, cord-loyalists, and cord-couplers. The results show that cord-cutting is predicted by eudaimonic and exploration motivators, perceived compatibility and complementarity, and age.

Digital technologies have redefined how people use audio media, especially for the millennial audience segment. Faced with the challenge from streaming music, many broadcast radio stations have launched their own mobile apps to compete with the new audio services such as Spotify. Guided by the uses and gratifications conceptual framework, this study employed a national survey to investigate millennials’ perceptions of the substitutability and complementarity of broadcast radio, its apps, and music streaming services. The results showed that while radio listeners perceived broadcast radio and its apps as similar products, they regarded music streaming services as distinct from the two. In addition, this study examined motivators behind the diverse perceptions and identified information, escapism, entertainment, and socialization as important. The results suggest that radio stations should take advantage of the mobile technology and offer unique values through their apps, rather than duplicate the offline consumption experience.

The article investigates the dynamic interaction between national advertising spending and consumption in China from 1979 to 2014, including the media production in this process. The results show t...

This exploratory study surveyed 379 undergraduate students at a southeastern university to investigate the factors that contribute to the consumer ownership of tablets, iPads, and dual adoption of both a tablet and smartphone. It also examines the factors that may predict a consumer’s likelihood to own a tablet in the future, given their current status as a non-owner. The findings consistently demonstrate the importance of perceived tablet usefulness, microblogging social media usage, and computer commerce in affecting tablet, iPad, and dual mobile device ownership.

Using the tracking data of 1,645 smartphone users from Nielsen KoreanClick’s panel, this study examines the degree of concentration in smartphone application use in South Korea. The findings from this study are consistent with what we have learned from previous research of usage concentration and selective repertoire in a multichannel and multimedia environment. Overall, the levels of concentration in app usage are high, particularly in the communication and social media categories. Empirical evidence also suggests the existence of network externality in mobile app communication.

Using the frameworks of innovation diffusion and technology acceptance model, this study examines the predictors of mobile news consumption among young adults. The results show that the perceived relative advantage (especially content), utility, and ease of use of mobile news are positively related to its adoption. The young adults’ news consumption patterns and preferences, as well as media usage, all play a role in the adoption of mobile news. This study also validates the importance of examining the adoption outcome from multiple perspectives.

Given the rising popularity of online video platforms in recent years, this study addresses the plausible cannibalization effect of online video platforms on television. It does so by examining the perceived substitutability between online video platforms and television. A national survey revealed differences between online video platforms and television in terms of consumer motivations for video content consumption. Non-users of online video platforms are also more likely than users of online video platforms to perceive online video platforms as a substitute for television.

This study attempts to identify the predictors of e-book reader diffusion with regard to consumer awareness, interest, and intention to use. Specifically, it assesses the relative influence of demographics, media usage/ownership, and personal traits/perception variables in the technology-adoption process. A national consumer survey conducted in South Korea, a leading country in the proliferation of e-book use, found that e-book reader awareness, interest, and adoption intention correlated positively with age, education, income, perceived need for print media, digital media ownership, personal innovativeness, and the perceived attributes of e-book readers. Regarding the relative effects of variable blocks, the most influential factors in predicting e-book reader awareness, e-book reader interest, and intention to use were demographics, personal innovativeness, and the perceived attributes of e-book readers, respectively.

This article investigates the levels of consumer awareness and knowledge of digital television (DTV) in the USA. It also explores the consumer perceptions of DTV characteristics, benefits and importance. Various consumer characteristics and DTV perceptions were examined to assess their influence in the adoption of DTV. It was found that the consumers had many misconceptions of DTV and their DTV knowledge level was most related to personality traits and internet usage or tenure. While the desire for bigger screen size, digital video recorder ownership, income and broadband access were the best predictors of intention to adopt DTV sets, desire for better video quality and knowledge of DTV environment were the best predictors of intention to adopt DTV converters.

This study empirically examines the principle of relative constancy (PRC) across more than 70 nations over time (1991-2001). Focusing on the relationship between advertising spending and national economy as reflected by GDP, the authors found that while GDP is the most obvious explanatory variable for advertising spending, the relationship is not proportionate and there is the potential that other variables also affect a country’s advertising expenditures. The degree of applicability of the PRC might be different depending on the types of media and the characteristics of the nations as the notion of the PRC seems to be more apparent in developed nations.

This study assesses the country-specific factors that might influence the development of cable television in 10 East Asian countries. Specifically, the authors reviewed the cable markets and their economic, regulatory, technological, consumer, supporting and substitution environments for the countries of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. It was found that the penetration of cable television and the corresponding market structure, conduct and performance in these countries vary tremendously. While Taiwan has the most developed cable industry with a concentrated market, an active cable advertising sector, low subscription rates and programming packages of most channels, Indonesia has the lowest penetrated cable market, a concentrated industry, an almost non-existent advertising sector and average subscription rates and channel choices. In addition, the regulation/policy, technology, consumer, supporting and substitution factors seem to play an important role in the development of cable television in these countries.

This article examined the TV stations' application of the Web features that presumably would contribute to the effectiveness of their Web sites from both the organizational and consumer's perspectives. It also explored whether certain market factors are associated with the availability of these features. The content analysis found that news-related content played an important role on these Web sites and interactivity and personalization were not readily observed on these sites. Broadcast TV stations seem to be following a safer route of expansion into this new medium by re-assembling and re-proposing their distinctive existing products for online delivery.