Xem mẫu
- International Journal of Management (IJM)
Volume 7, Issue 4, May–June 2016, pp.123–129, Article ID: IJM_07_04_009
Available online at
http://www.iaeme.com/ijm/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=7&IType=4
Journal Impact Factor (2016): 8.1920 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com
ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510
© 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.123–129.
http://www.iaeme.com/ijm/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=7&IType=4
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
http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 123 editor@iaeme.com
- 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.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 124 editor@iaeme.com
- 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 20.0.
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 0.896 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 60.086 % 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 16.73
% 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
15.89 % 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.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 125 editor@iaeme.com
- Chintan H Rajani and Dr. Ashvin Solanki
Factor 3: Content Sharing
Third factor has been named as content sharing which accounts for 15.60 % 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 11.86 % 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. 9–
36.http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/009365027900600102
[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, 250-
268. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01463379809370100
[4] Fullwood, G., Sheehan, N., & Nigholls, W. (2009). Blog function revisited: A
content analysis of MySpace. Cyber psychology & Behavior, 12(6), 685-689.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2009.0138
[5] Gupta, B. (2016). Factors affecting quality of work life among private bank
employees, Pacific Business Review International, 8(9), 1-10.
[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), 643-648.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0093
http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 126 editor@iaeme.com
- 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 self-
expression. New Media &. Society, 10(3), 393-411.
[9] Menayes Jamal J. (2015). Motivations for Using Social Media: An Exploratory
Factor Analysis, International Journal of Psychological Studies; 7(1), 43-50.
http://doi:10.5539/ijps.v7n1p43
[10] Morris, M., & Ogan, C. (1996). The Internet as mass medium. Journal of
Communication, 46(1), 39-50. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijps.76n1p43
[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, 334-346.
[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), 729-733.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2009.0003
[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. 526–530.http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2006.9.526
[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. 417-436). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
[16] Ruggiero, T. E. (2000). Uses and Gratifications theory in the 21st century. Mass
Communication and Society, 3(1), 3-37.
[17] Subrahamanyam et al. (2008). Online and offline social networks: Use of social
networking sites by emerging adults. Journal of Applied Developmental
Psychology, 29, 420-433.
[18] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.003
[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), 215-229.
[20] Yang Kenneth C.C. and Kang Y.,(2006). Exploring factors influencing Internet
users’ adoption of Internet television in Taiwan, First Monday, 11 (3),
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1319/1239
accessed 20 November 2006.
[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. 19–28
[23] Mrs. Shruti Arora and Dr .Anukrati Sharma, Social Media: A New Marketing
Strategy. International Journal of Management, 4(3), 2013, pp. 19–37.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 127 editor@iaeme.com
- Chintan H Rajani and Dr. Ashvin Solanki
ANNEXURE
Table 1 Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha Based
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
on Standardized Items
.896 .895 17
Table 2 KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .904
Approx. Chi-Square 2360.938
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity 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 %
1 6.438 37.872 37.872 6.438 37.872 37.872 2.844 16.728 16.728
2 1.632 9.601 47.472 1.632 9.601 47.472 2.702 15.896 32.624
3 1.141 6.712 54.184 1.141 6.712 54.184 2.652 15.601 48.225
4 1.003 5.902 60.086 1.003 5.902 60.086 2.016 11.861 60.086
5 0.865 5.091 65.177
6 0.762 4.485 69.662
7 0.68 4.002 73.664
8 0.593 3.489 77.153
9 0.563 3.314 80.467
10 0.551 3.242 83.709
11 0.525 3.087 86.795
12 0.443 2.608 89.403
13 0.427 2.512 91.915
14 0.422 2.481 94.396
15 0.364 2.14 96.536
16 0.318 1.872 98.409
17 0.271 1.591 100
http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 128 editor@iaeme.com
- Motivations For Using Social Media: An Exploratory Study
Table 4 Rotated Component Matrix
Component
1 2 3 4
Share my experience on different things .127 .508 .452 .103
Keep in touch with friends and family .032 .745 .150 .006
Share photos; videos and movie .091 .498 .554 .021
Make professional and business contacts .031 .013 .316 .730
Find some information .295 .181 -.085 .704
Searching new people, friends or contacts .087 .337 .338 .570
Get opinion from friends, family and
.237 .485 .284 .425
experts
Entertain myself .270 .732 -.058 .177
Socialize .174 .727 .002 .183
Play games .576 .240 .287 -.085
Share feedback about brands and products .604 .229 .465 .099
Contributing on online forums and
.327 .092 .545 .408
discussions
Editing wiki articles .372 .103 .686 .175
Updating my own blog .287 -.031 .700 .203
Posting or review or rating on various sites .714 .086 .358 .230
Search about product feedbacks .787 .112 -.006 .275
Get freebies .639 .213 .360 .154
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. a
a. Rotation converged in 7 iterations.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 129 editor@iaeme.com
nguon tai.lieu . vn