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On the way to understanding binge watching behavior: the over-estimated role of involvement

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A Correction to this article was published on 15 November 2017

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Abstract

Watching television shows using online television streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Youku, has mushroomed in the recent years. Along with these services, binge watching, defined as an act of consuming more than one episode of a television show in quick succession, has become a widespread behavior. Yet, it has received very little attention from academics. This study conceptualizes binge watching and examines its effect on satisfaction. We present binge watching as a two-dimensional system usage concept, including behavioral and cognitive involvement components. Using these components, we then study their impact on user satisfaction. We test our explorative approach with a sample of 227 respondents using Partial Least Squares modeling. The results support heterogeneous view of online television streaming service use. That is, involvement with binge watching is over-estimated and does not define user satisfaction. Our study contributes to online consumer behavior research as well as the information systems literature by investigating binge watching as a distinct form of technology use.

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Change history

  • 15 November 2017

    The original version of this paper unfortunately incorrectly captured the affiliation of Dr. Matti Mäntymäki and is now corrected on this article.

  • 15 November 2017

    The original version of this paper unfortunately incorrectly captured the affiliation of Dr. Matti M��ntym��ki and is now corrected on this article.

  • 15 November 2017

    The original version of this paper unfortunately incorrectly captured the affiliation of Dr. Matti M��ntym��ki and is now corrected on this article.

Notes

  1. Likert scale response options (behavioral involvement): ‘always’, ‘often’, ‘sometimes’, ‘seldom’, ‘never’.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Center of Cultural Studies, Central China Normal University, 152 Luoyu road, Wuhan, Hubei, China

    Jani Merikivi & Lilong Zhang

  2. Department of Information and Service Economy, Aalto University, School of Business, Runeberginkatu 14-16, 00100 Helsinki, Finland

    Jani Merikivi, Antti Salovaara & Matti Mäntymäki

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  1. Jani Merikivi
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  2. Antti Salovaara
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  3. Matti Mäntymäki
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  4. Lilong Zhang
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Correspondence to Jani Merikivi.

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Merikivi, J., Salovaara, A., Mäntymäki, M. et al. On the way to understanding binge watching behavior: the over-estimated role of involvement. Electron Markets 28, 111–122 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-017-0271-4

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