This project uses a qualitative research approach to understanding Mormon women's uses and gratifications of magazines. The first study provides a retrospective look at the uses and gratifications of readers of the Relief Society Magazine (1915–1970) in order to understand where media targeted to Mormon women has been. Through interviews, focus groups and questionnaires, the study finds the main reasons Mormon women read the Relief Society Magazine was to provide (a) a handbook for daily life, (b) a community, (c) intellectual stimulation, (d) an aspirational ideal, and (e) an escape from daily life. When the magazine ceased publication, readers felt a sense of loss and recognized a need to move on. The second study researches Mormon women's current uses and gratifications of media, with a focus on magazine use. Through focus groups and questionnaires, the main uses and gratifications of current media among Mormon women include (a) interaction, (b) cognition, (c) and diversion. Mormon women's media use is also influenced by warnings from others about the dangers of particular media or too much media use. This project then presents the concept and design for a new magazine targeted to Mormon women and seeks to fulfill the needs and gratifications found in the research discussed here.

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Social media marketing has gained tremendous attention in recent years and has become a powerful tool for companies, entrepreneurs and marketers to approach their target customers and cultivate longtime customer relationship with increased engagement. Despite the increasing investment on social media marketing and the increasingly important roles users play today, few of previous studies, however, were focused on the user behavior or the key factors that influence user engagement with brands on social media. We chose the technology acceptance model (TAM) and uses and gratifications theory (UGT) as our theoretical foundation to investigate user behaviors on social media and the factors that influence user engagement with brands. We tested our model in two different social media platforms; Facebook and Instagram. The conclusions were based on inputs from a survey with 126 respondents with diverse background and age groups. We tested the hypotheses utilizing statistic correlation analyses. Among the five researched variables, H1 (perceived usefulness) and H5 (motivation for information) are proved to be statically significant. Despite a number of limitations, our research sheds a light on the study of user behavior on social media platforms. Understanding user behavior is useful for entrepreneurs and marketers in shaping more efficient ways to target the right audience on the right platform(s) to achieve their marketing objectives by effectively exploiting the potential of social media.

An Exploratory Study on the Interrelationship of Internet Addiction, Internet Usage Motivation, Internet Usage Behavior and User Characteristics for Taiwan High School Students. Chieh-Ju Tung Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationship among motivation and gratification level, activities, personality and Internet addiction for Taiwan¡¦s high school students based on the Uses and Gratifications Theory. The characteristics of those identified as addicted are investigated along with the factors of demographic data, motivation and gratification, web attitude and personality. Moreover, structural equation modeling was used to verify the Theory. The study was conducted using purposive sampling at two major municipals in Taiwan. Questionnaires including Pathological Internet Use Scale for Taiwan high school student, Diagnoistic Questionnaires, Internet usage Motivation and Gratification Scale, Interpersonal Relationship Scale, Self-Esteem Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Internet Usage Behavior Questionnaire, Perceptions of the Internet Influences and Demographic Data. Of the 1708 qualified samples, 236 were classified as Internet addicted. Major findings of the study are: 1. Entertainment is the major factor for high school students to use Internet, information searching stands as second. Surfing with motivation of social and entertainment has positive correlation with Internet addiction. Those classified as addicted have higher motivation on social and entertainment and have higher satisfaction thereafter. 2. Males who own computer, with grades in lower two-thirds of the class, with more than 4 years Internet usage experience, always using cyber-café or surfing during weekday have higher tendency to become addicted. 3. System and location of school, the grade attended or whether access Internet at home have no relationship with addiction. 4. The average weekly hours on Internet is positive correlated with Internet addiction. 5. Students with personality of dependence, shyness, depression or lower self-esteem have higher tendency to become addicted. 6. The probability of males to become addicted is 2.6 times that of females. Vocational high school students have higher tendency to become addicted than non-vocational high school students. 7. The average weekly hours on Internet for those addicted is 21.2 hours, it¡¦s 1.75 times that of normal ones. 8. Those identified as addicted always surf in cyber-café and favor on-line games, chat room and sex-related activities. 9. Those identified as addicted have lower self-esteem and higher depression. 10. Internet addiction has significant canonical correlation with motivation on social/entertainment and hours on Internet. 11. Internet addiction has significant canonical correlation with shyness, depression emotion, poor interpersonal relationship, negative self-concept and lower self-esteem. 12. The theoretical model constructed in this study could explain the relationship among main variables by Amos. 13. ¡§Internet usage motivation¡¨ has greatest direct effect on addiction. It has greatest total effect when combines with the factor of ¡§Average weekly hours on Internet ¡¨. 14. The predictability for Internet addiction is 62% when six variables were used (Motivation on social, Motivation on entertainment, Average weekly hours on Internet, Interpersonal relationship, Depression and Self-esteem). Finally, suggestions on counseling addicted students are made for government and high school authorities, counselors and parents. Issues for futher study are also discussed.

The diploma thesis Social media in a perspective of chosen generations covers the topic of differences in the use of social networks between generation X and generation Y. The aim of the thesis is to find out if there exist differences in the use of social networks between generation X and generation Y. Furthermore, the subject of the research is to explore the motivation of generation X and generation Y for using specific social networks and the needs they satisfy through social networks. The first part of the thesis consists of introduction of theoretical concepts and terms related to the theme of the thesis. Specifically, the uses and gratifications theory is defined, followed by the concept of active audience and the terms digital immigrants and digital natives. The following chapter presents characteristics of generation X and generation Y and the specifics of social networks. The methodological part of the thesis describes methods used in the research. For the research I chose a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Within the practical part of the thesis, a qualitative research was carried out through in-depth interviews. The second part of the research was carried out in the form of a quantitative questionnaire survey. In conclusion, the outcomes of both studies are summed up...

Dating online applications have fundamentally changed the form of online dating. They are available on a mobile phone and are based on spatial proximity of users and ease of use. This diploma thesis focuses on users of these applications. This thesis is based on the assumptions of the uses and gratifications theory, which assumes that the media audience is active and uses the media to satisfy its needs. The aim of this thesis is to find out how individuals use the dating applications and what their reasons for using are. To collect data, I chose a combination of quantitative and qualitative approach. First, an on-line questionnaire survey was conducted, followed by semi- structured interviews with applications users. Research has shown that the reason for using and the attitude of users varies with each individual and can change during use. Keywords dating applications, Tinder, online dating, uses and gratifications theory, active audience, mixed methods research

Plant-based food has recently been a frequently addressed topic for scientific research, mainly because of its benefits for the environmental sustainability, human health and animal welfare. Nonetheless, there is limited research on how people maintain a plant-based diet, as well as research gaps on the topic in relation to media and communication studies. The purpose of this research is to provide new empirical data on how social media can inspire and/or influence a person to maintain a plant-based lifestyle. Using a qualitative method of in-depth interviews, the aim is to understand how content on social media motivates people to make sustainable movements in their real life. In other words, the research will provide insights on how a lifestyle can be upheld with the help of social media. As a theoretical basis for the study, the following theories have been applied: The uses and gratification theory, cultivation analysis theory and social cognitive theory. The findings suggest that social media is a useful tool for a person that wants to maintain a plant-based diet. Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are preferred online platforms for seeking and sharing information about the lifestyle and the most interesting contents for upholding a plant-based diet are food pictures, personal blogs and vlogs, documentaries about the environment and animal welfare, as well as product news and different discussions in virtual groups. The result also shows that people are most likely to change a behaviour after seeing content on social media that makes them emotional, in a positive or negative way.

When games were first developed for in-home use, they were primarily targeted almost exclusively at children and males. However, today’s marketplace manifests a more diverse population plays Internet-enabled games that can be played virtually anywhere. The average gamer is now 30 years old. Many gamers, obviously, are much older. Yet more strikingly, and more germane to this study’s purpose, 47% of the U.S. gamer population is female, as compared to 40% in 2010. Despite these trends the gaming industry remains a male-dominated culture. The marketer’s job is to facilitate game engagement and to motivate gamers to play. The notion of “engagement” is not new in business. The term was developed in the last decade. Many studies were devoted to understand, explain, and define the term. It suggests that within interactive, dynamic business environments, consumer engagement (CE) represents a strategic position that companies can use to enhance their sales growth, competitive advantage, and profitability. Moreover, there are three levels of engagement in any experiential consumption (i.e., playing video game): presence, flow, and psychological absorption. The findings of this study affirm that consumer engagement, including presence, flow and psychological absorption are explanatory factors that impact gamer’s purchase intentions. Our results show that consumers experience different mental engagement in an interactive environment (i.e., playing video games) compared to passive environments (i.e., visiting a website). These findings change our understanding of consumers’ engagement and flow state. We also found that male and female gamers experience different engagement level. However, we did not find a significant result that masculinity and femininity traits impact gamers’ engagement or intention. We argue that macroeconomic factors results in sales fluctuation may have resulted in reject in this hypothesis. Thus, marketers shed a light into the consumer’s interactive environment and flow states in that environments. Consumers not only determine the value in using a product as Vargo and Lusch suggested, but they also create that value. Also, consumer experience is an ongoing process that does not have a specific point to start, making the value creation a temporally accumulative process that includes past, present, and future experience. Therefore, the value created by consumers is not created while physically interacting with a device to play, but it may include imagined and indirect interaction with the product. Therefore, consumers (i.e., gamers) need to maintain a balance between presence and psychological absorption (i.e., flow) to get the best experience in play video gaming. Empirical evidence suggest that consumers’ flow state engagement is the most important variable in determining their ensuing purchase intention for video games, regardless of game genre.

The tourism industry in the United States is constantly changing and being influenced by social media, specifically Instagram. Culinary brands use Instagram to advertise their restaurants and dishes in a creative, visual way. As a result, Instagram is now being used as a tool by tourists and both potential and current customers to share their dining experiences and find these locations based on the visual appeal. This study provides a content analysis of Instagram account information and photo composition within eight popular culinary tourism destinations by examining the strategies used by the accounts. 50 randomly selected photos were used from eight popular culinary tourism locations. Framing, Uses and Gratifications, and Diffusion of Innovation theories were the theoretical framework for the study. The results of this study indicated key characteristics of some of the most popular culinary tourism destinations on Instagram.

In times of the pandemic, Facebook has become a virtual space that through e.g.“coronavirus support groups” (Harris, 2020), partially substitutes social interactions and allows its users to better cope with the isolation and social distancing. A public Facebook group “Lappis” established in 2006 is a space facilitating communication for the local community of the biggest student housing in Stockholm “Stora Lappkärrsberget”. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, Covid-related postings started to emerge in the group’s forum. The study examines Covid-related content in order to define the function of the group through describing the forms of communication around the pandemic, i.e. the themes, the scope and the ways the content is conveyed. In doing so, the model combining the uses and gratifications theory and the theory of affordances is applied, allowing to investigate the motivations and interactivity of the members through Facebook group affordances. In order to encompass the puzzle from multiple angles, an adaptive approach of mixed methods is used by combining: qualitative content analysis and survey. Key finding of the research is that the Covid-related content is a minor part of the content shared in the group, yet that it provokes extensive discussions among the members with both “aggressive” and “unaggressive” responses. Furthermore, it is argued that the group has potential to be a coronavirus support group (Harris, 2020) and a substitute for interpersonal communication (Papacharissi & Mendelson, 2011). Finally, the study identifies possibilities for future research in the further examination of local Facebook groups in the context of pandemic, in order to map the possible changes in Facebook affordances that would lead to higher reliability of those groups as spaces for sharing Covid-related content.