EVALUATING ONLINE AUDIENCES:
IDENTIFYING AND EVALUATING PREDICTORS OF AUDIENCE INTERACTIVE
FEATURE USE ON INTERNET VIDEO WEBSITES

By
YAN YANG

A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
2011

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© 2011 Yan Yang
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To my family
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to first thank my dissertation committee for their guidance and help on this project.
My dissertation chair, Dr. David Ostroff, advised me for five years and brought vision to this project. I appreciate the help and advice I received from Dr. Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, who is the most outstanding scholar I know and admire. Many thanks to Dr. James Algina, who taught statistics to a student who is not so fond of math. I owe the most to my dissertation co-chair, Dr. Amy Jo Coffey, who is a mentor and a friend. She has influenced me so much on how to be a scholar, a professor, and a better person. I could not have completed this dissertation without her. Most importantly, I thank my dissertation committee for letting me learn things in my way, and make decisions that are best for me. They were supportive of me taking a job in 2010 and completing my dissertation while working full-time. Without their understanding and encouragement, this dissertation could not have been done.
My doctoral program at the University of Florida is about the education, but more importantly, an education about myself. I have had the privilege of meeting many wonderful people along the way. I want to thank Dr. Johanna Cleary and Dr. Julie Dodd, who instilled a passion for teaching in me. I want to thank Sooyeon and Jun, for many long nights working together in the office; Tom, Wes, Paula and Meredith, for those conversations about research and life; senior doctoral students Jiyoung, Sangwon and Hyungseok, for their valuable advice and guidance; and my friends at Weimer Hall, Chunsik, Fangfang, Moonhee, Jody… for making this journey such a pleasant adventure. I also want to thank my brilliant students at UF, who remind me every day why I entered this profession in the first place.
I want to thank my many friends at the University of Florida who enriched my life in such an amazing way. I want to thank Sunny Ho, a dear friend who had such a positive impact on my life; Xiaohong, for always being there to cheer me up; Yingyan, Rui, Cui, Jun, for their

4friendship. I owe a lot to my friends at the F4 Fellowship Group at the Gainesville Chinese Christian Church for their constant support. I am forever thankful to my best friend Xiangzi, who has always believed in me and supported me through this process with generosity and loyalty.
I am grateful to my former adviser at the University of Nevada, Reno, Dr. Jennifer Greer, who convinced me to pursue a doctoral degree. I am now proud to say that she is not only a mentor, but also an alumnus. I also want to thank my colleagues at High Point University, who have been nothing but encouraging and supportive during my dissertation process.
I owe the most to my family, who is my shelter and my rock. My parents, Xinyuan Yang and Huifen Li, inspire me in every possible way. I thank them for encouraging me to pursue my life goals, for listening to my complaints but still telling me to carry on, and for letting me make the decisions that are best for me. I want to thank my big family in China and the love and joy they have given me. They are the ultimate reason why I am able to complete this dissertation, and every blessing in my life.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................................10 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................12 ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................13 CHAPTER

• 1
• INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................15

State of the Online Video Industry.........................................................................................16 Challenges of an Emerging Media Platform ..........................................................................18
Regulatory Challenges.....................................................................................................18 Business Model Challenges.............................................................................................19
Changes in Communication and Media Consumption...........................................................20 Broadband Audiences and Their Value..................................................................................22 Purpose of the Study...............................................................................................................24

• 2
• LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................................27

Interactivity and Interactive Features .....................................................................................27
Interactivity......................................................................................................................27 Interactive Features .........................................................................................................31
The Usage Divide and Interactive Audiences ........................................................................32
The Usage Divide............................................................................................................32 Participatory Audiences...................................................................................................33 Classification of Interactive Audiences...........................................................................34
Predictors of Participatory Audiences ....................................................................................35
Age and Socioeconomic Status .......................................................................................35 Gender .............................................................................................................................36 Race/Ethnicity .................................................................................................................37 Psychological Factors......................................................................................................38 Personality Traits.............................................................................................................38 Competency Factors ........................................................................................................39
Motivations for Adoption of Internet Video...........................................................................40
Perceived Utilities ...........................................................................................................40 Perceived Needs ..............................................................................................................41 Perceived Popularity........................................................................................................41
Diffusion of Innovation Theory..............................................................................................42 Audience Valuation Theory....................................................................................................46
Demographics..................................................................................................................47
Age ...........................................................................................................................48

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Gender ......................................................................................................................49 Household income (HHI).........................................................................................49 Ethnicity ...................................................................................................................49
Audience Autonomy........................................................................................................50 Media Engagement..........................................................................................................51 Internet Word of Mouth Value........................................................................................54
Preferences on Interactive Features and Internet Video Sites ................................................56
Preferences on Interactive Features.................................................................................56 Preferences on Business Model.......................................................................................56 Preferences on Advertising Format.................................................................................57 Preferences on Internet Video Sites ................................................................................57
Research Questions and Hypotheses ......................................................................................58
Demographics..................................................................................................................60 Media Consumption ........................................................................................................62 Technology and Web Experiences ..................................................................................63 Technology Characteristics .............................................................................................64

• 3
• METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................70

Online Survey.........................................................................................................................70
Consumer Panel Survey ..................................................................................................71 Online Survey vs. Other Methods ...................................................................................72
Development of Questionnaire and Pre-test...........................................................................73
Development of Questionnaire........................................................................................73
Defining Internet sites with video functions ............................................................73 Defining interactive features ....................................................................................74 Defining interactive audiences.................................................................................76
Pre-test and Adjustment ..................................................................................................77
Sampling.................................................................................................................................78
Sample Composition .......................................................................................................78 Response Rate .................................................................................................................80
Measurement...........................................................................................................................82
Proposed Model...............................................................................................................82 Dependent Variable.........................................................................................................83 Independent Variables.....................................................................................................83
Demographics...........................................................................................................83 Media consumption..................................................................................................83 Web literacy .............................................................................................................84 Internet experience ...................................................................................................84 Technology ownership .............................................................................................85 Technology characteristics.......................................................................................87 Perceived popularity.................................................................................................87 Media engagement ...................................................................................................87 Internet word of mouth value...................................................................................88 Online video consumption .......................................................................................88 Preferences on interactive features, advertising model and payment method .........88
Statistical Analysis..................................................................................................................89

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Multiple Regression.........................................................................................................89 Principal Component Analysis........................................................................................95 T-tests, ANOVA, and Simple Linear Regression Tests..................................................95

• 4
• RESULTS...............................................................................................................................97

Sample and Descriptive Statistics...........................................................................................97
Demographics..................................................................................................................97 Web and Technology Experiences ..................................................................................99 Media Consumption ......................................................................................................100 Technology Characteristics ...........................................................................................101 Media Engagement........................................................................................................102 Internet Word of Mouth Value......................................................................................104 Interactivity....................................................................................................................104
Regression Analysis of Prediction Model ............................................................................106
Demographics................................................................................................................106 Media Consumption ......................................................................................................107 Technology and Web Experiences ................................................................................110 Technology Characteristics ...........................................................................................112 Test of Complete Regression Model .............................................................................114
Principal component analysis.................................................................................114 Complete regression model....................................................................................115 Relative contribution and influence of predictors in all-inclusive model ..............117 Simplified regression model...................................................................................117 Relative contribution and influence of predictors in simplified model..................119
T-test and Regression Tests on Comparison of Interactive and Non-interactive
Audiences...................................................................................................................120
Summary of All Tested Hypotheses.....................................................................................123 Descriptive Analysis on Audience Preferences....................................................................124 Additional Findings—ANOVA and T-tests on Ethnicity ....................................................126

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• DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ..................................................................................128

Summary of Findings ...........................................................................................................128
Interpretations of Predictor Findings in Each Set of Variables.....................................129
Demographics.........................................................................................................129 Media consumption................................................................................................130 Technology and Internet experience ......................................................................130 Technology characteristics.....................................................................................131
Proposed Model for Prediction of Interactive Feature Use...........................................131
Simplified model....................................................................................................131 Relative roles and influence of predictors..............................................................133
Summary of Other Findings ..........................................................................................135
Ethnicity: Further explored ....................................................................................135 Technology characteristics.....................................................................................135 Media engagement .................................................................................................136 Internet word of mouth value.................................................................................137

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Interactive features .................................................................................................138
Interactive Audiences vs. Non-interactive Audiences...................................................138 Audience Preferences ....................................................................................................140
Theoretical Implications .......................................................................................................141
Diffusion of Innovation Theory.....................................................................................141 Variable Development and Future Use .........................................................................142 Literature on Online Participation.................................................................................143 Audience Valuation Theory ..........................................................................................144
Practical Implications ...........................................................................................................147
For Content Providers....................................................................................................147 For Advertisers ..............................................................................................................148 For Web Site Developers...............................................................................................149
Limitations and Future Research..........................................................................................151