MOTIVATIONS FOR USING SOCIAL MEDIA: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

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1 International Journal of Management (IJM) Volume 7, Issue 4, May June 2016, pp , Article ID: IJM_07_04_009 Available online at Journal Impact Factor (2016): (Calculated by GISI) ISSN Print: and ISSN Online: IAEME Publication MOTIVATIONS FOR USING SOCIAL MEDIA: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY Chintan H Rajani Assistant Professor, School of Management, RK University Rajkot, Gujarat India Dr. Ashvin Solanki Department of Business Management, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Gujarat India ABSTRACT Social media has emerged as a new medium of communication and is part of daily life for majority of the people. This study aimed to identify key motivating factors behind use of social media among Indian users. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaire and conclusion were drawn with the help of factor analysis. Analysis reveals feedback and personal utility, entertainment and socializing, content sharing and networking as key motives for using social media. Key words: Motivations, Social Media, Factor Analysis, Reasons, Motives Cite this Article: Chintan H Rajani and Dr. Ashvin Solanki, Motivations For Using Social Media: An Exploratory Study. International Journal of Management, 7(4), 2016, pp INTRODUCTION Social media is a platform to facilitate online conversation between people with common interest. There are two kinds of social media: expressive social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.) and collaborative social media (Lee and Kwak, 2011).Over last decade, Social media have emerged as a new medium of communication and was used by more than two billion users worldwide. Digitization and easy internet access are key drivers behind exponential growth and usage of social media. Social media have shaped contemporary culture and is part of daily life of majority of young people. In current study attempt has been made to find key motivating factors or reasons behind use of social media. Uses and gratification (U & G) approach to media studies provide an initial impetus to carry out research to know the reasons and motivations of people to use a particular media. Ruggiero (2000) emphasized that uses and gratification approach editor@iaeme.com

2 Chintan H Rajani and Dr. Ashvin Solanki will help researchers in knowing and learning importance of uses of mediated communication and various variables to be considered for media analysis. Jensen and Jankowski (1993), have adopted a qualitative research and has pointed out that users need and goals of using media get satisfied by their ability to give meaning to the content generated by them. According to Blumler (1979), U & G suggests that people use different medium to satisfy their needs and goals. Several studies have been undertaken on principles of U & G, to explain internet related communication and usage of internet. In their study Papacharissi and Rubin (2000) found out passing time, interpersonal utility, information seeking, entertainment and convenience as key motives for using internet. Yang and Kang (2006) have suggested social interaction, escapism, habit, information and entertainment as five different motives for using internet. Another study undertaken by Peter, et al. (2006), to know the gratifications for using chat rooms found social compensation, meeting new people, maintaining relationships and entertainment as key motives for using chat rooms. In their study Wang Y., et al. (2015) revealed that social media use clusters into patterns of text based entertainment, relationships, video consumption and content sharing. Jamal j. (2015) found entertainment, information seeking, personal utility and convenience as the key motivational factors for using social media. Fullwood, Sheehan and Nichollis (2009) has identified self-expression, impression management and establishing relationship as three main motives for using social media, in a study taken by them on social networking site Myspace. From their study Urista et al. (2009) found two ways of gratifications: communication gratification and social gratifications. In his study Cha (2010) found that frequency of using social media can be judged by dimensions like interpersonal utility, privacy concerns, perceived ease of use and age. Livingstone (2010) in his study revealed that social media like facebook, twitter and instragram are playing important role in presenting user s individuality and their relations with others. He also emphasized that adolescents give due importance to their identity protection while using different social media. Motives always play a central theme of research for online communications, Morris and organ (1996) in their study suggested that interpersonal and mediated needs of people get satisfied by online communications. Lee et.al (2012) argued that social media satisfy the need of an individuals by providing an opportunity for real time interpersonal communication in mediated forms. Menayes (2014) in his study found information seeking, personal utility, entertainment and convenience as key motivating factors for using social media. From previous research, we found that many researchers has tried to explore the motives for using internet and social media in different ways and in multiple contexts. Very less research is evident by Indian authors in the same area. In current research an attempt has been made to know the key motives behind using social media among Indian social media users editor@iaeme.com

3 Motivations For Using Social Media: An Exploratory Study RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Objective The main objective of this research is to identify key motivating factors for using social media platforms. This research is exploratory in nature. A survey was conducted with the help of self-administered questionnaire for this study. The total sample size was 369. To measure social media motives, scale was constructed consisting 17 different statements adapted from several previous research works related to social media. Respondents were asked to record their response correspond to each statement in a manner which best describes their use of different social media tools on a 5-point Likert scale (1=always, 5=never). Factor analysis was used for analysis using SPSS version Bartlett's test of sphericity and Kaiser-Olkin (KMO) measure were used to determine the appropriateness of data for the factor analysis. The result of Barteltt's test of sphericity is 0.00 and value of KMO is 0.904, higher value than 0.5 indicates that data are appropriate for factor analysis. Reliability test has been conducted with the help of Cronbach alpha coefficient, test result is which is excellent. The results of extraction of motivation items were subjected to principal-component analysis followed by varimax rotation. Number of factors to be considered were selected on the basis of latent root criterion i.e factors with an eigenvalue of 1.0 or greater. All factor loading greater than 0.40 were considered for further analysis. Four factors were extracted which accounted for % of total variance. These factors are given below: Factor 1: Feedback and personal utility First factor has been named as feedback and personal utility which accounts for % of variance. This variable is defined by items: Play games, share feedback about brands and products, posting or review or rating on various sites, search about product feedbacks and get freebies. Social media is very good source to know review or feedback related to product/services or brands. Moreover it also provide users an opportunity to share/review/give feedback about brands or products with others. Nowadays companies having strong presence on social media are also offering lots of deals and freebies to promote their products/services. So this may be one of the key motivating factor for the using social media. Factor 2: Entertainment and socializing Second factor has been named as entertainment and socializing which accounts for % of variance. This variable is defined by items: share my experience on different things, get opinion from friends and relatives, keep in touch with friends and family, entertain myself and socialize. Key benefit of social media is that it provides users an opportunity to keep in touch with friends, family member and others and their by increasing social capital of users. It also provides a platform to users to express their thoughts and ideas freely with others editor@iaeme.com

4 Chintan H Rajani and Dr. Ashvin Solanki Factor 3: Content Sharing Third factor has been named as content sharing which accounts for % of variance. This variable is defined by items: share photos & videos, contributing on online forums and discussions, editing wiki articles and updating blogs. One of the key success factor for growth of social media and driving force for users to use this platform is because it provides an opportunity to share, participate and collaborate. Factor 4: Networking Fourth factor has been named as networking which accounts for % of variance. This variable is defined by items: make professional and business contacts, searching new people, friends and contacts and find some information. Social media provides an avenue to find old friends as well as to connect with new people. CONCLUSION This study followed uses and gratification approach to identify the key motives for using social media. Based on factor analysis we can say that preliminary people use social media platform for personal benefit to review and share feedbacks followed by satisfying their entertainment and socializing needs. Content sharing is key feature which helped in driving masses towards social media. Networking and finding new people is an add-on benefit which people seek while using different social media platforms. LIMITATIONS OF STUDY The study was carried out with its limitations of time and resources. The size of sample selected is small and all respondents are from Gujarat. The responses received from respondents might be prejudiced. The findings of the study are based on the information supplied by the respondents, which might have their own limitations. REFERENCES [1] Blumler J. G., (1979). The role of theory in uses and gratifications studies, Communication Research, 6(1) pp [2] Cha J. (2010). Factors affecting the frequency and amount of social networking site use: Motivations, perceptions, and privacy concerns, First Monday, 15(12), 2-16 [3] Flaherty, L. M., Pearce, K. J., & Rubin, R. B. (1998). Internet and face-to-face communication: Not functional alternatives. Communication Quarterly, 46, [4] Fullwood, G., Sheehan, N., & Nigholls, W. (2009). Blog function revisited: A content analysis of MySpace. Cyber psychology & Behavior, 12(6), [5] Gupta, B. (2016). Factors affecting quality of work life among private bank employees, Pacific Business Review International, 8(9), [6] Jensen, K. B., & Jankowski, N. W. (1993). Qualitative methodologies for mass communication research. Routledge: London. [7] Lee, J., Lee, M., & Choi, H. (2012). Social network games uncovered: Motivations and their attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking, 15(12), editor@iaeme.com

5 Motivations For Using Social Media: An Exploratory Study [8] Livingstone, S. (2010). Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: Teenagers use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and selfexpression. New Media &. Society, 10(3), [9] Menayes Jamal J. (2015). Motivations for Using Social Media: An Exploratory Factor Analysis, International Journal of Psychological Studies; 7(1), [10] Morris, M., & Ogan, C. (1996). The Internet as mass medium. Journal of Communication, 46(1), [11] Mukherji, J., Mukherji, A., & Nicovich, S. (1998). Understand in dependency and use of the Internet: A Uses and Gratifications Pers. Paper presented at the American Marketing Association, Boston, August. pective. [12] Palmgreen, P., & Rayburn, J. D. (1985). A comparison of gratification models of media satisfaction. Communication monographs, 52, [13] Park, N. K., & Valenzuela, K. S. (2009). Being immersed in social networking environment: Facebook groups, uses and gratifications, and social outcomes. Cyberpsychology and behavior, 12(6), [14] Peter J., Valkenburg P.M., and Schouten A, (2006). Characteristics and motives of adolescents talking with strangers on the Internet and its consequences, CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9(5), pp [15] Rubin, A. M. (1994). Media uses and effects: A uses-and-gratifications perspective. In J. Bryant, & D. Zillman (Eds.), Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research, (pp ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. [16] Ruggiero, T. E. (2000). Uses and Gratifications theory in the 21st century. Mass Communication and Society, 3(1), [17] Subrahamanyam et al. (2008). Online and offline social networks: Use of social networking sites by emerging adults. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29, [18] [19] Urista, M. A., Dong, Q., & Day, K. (2009). Explaining why young adults use Myspace and Facebook through uses and gratifications theory. Human Communication, 12(2), [20] Yang Kenneth C.C. and Kang Y.,(2006). Exploring factors influencing Internet users adoption of Internet television in Taiwan, First Monday, 11 (3), accessed 20 November [21] Wang, Y., Niiya, M., Mark, G., Reich, S. and Warschauer, M. (2015). Coming of Age (Digitally): An Ecological View of Social Media Use among College Students, ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Media (CSCW 15) [22] Chintan H Rajani, A Study To Explore Scope of Direct To Consumer Advertisement (DTCA) of Prescription Drugs In India. International Journal of Marketing and Human Resource Management, 3(1), 2012, pp [23] Mrs. Shruti Arora and Dr.Anukrati Sharma, Social Media: A New Marketing Strategy. International Journal of Management, 4(3), 2013, pp editor@iaeme.com

6 Chintan H Rajani and Dr. Ashvin Solanki ANNEXURE Table 1 Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Items N of Items Table 2 KMO and Bartlett's Test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy..904 Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square Df 136 Sig..000 Table 3 Total Variance Explained Extraction Sums of Squared Rotation Sums of Squared Initial Eigenvalues Comp Loadings Loadings onent % of Cumula % of Cumula % of Cumula Total Total Total Variance tive % Variance tive % Variance tive % editor@iaeme.com

7 Motivations For Using Social Media: An Exploratory Study Table 4 Rotated Component Matrix Component Share my experience on different things Keep in touch with friends and family Share photos; videos and movie Make professional and business contacts Find some information Searching new people, friends or contacts Get opinion from friends, family and experts Entertain myself Socialize Play games Share feedback about brands and products Contributing on online forums and discussions Editing wiki articles Updating my own blog Posting or review or rating on various sites Search about product feedbacks Get freebies Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. a a. Rotation converged in 7 iterations editor@iaeme.com