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 1 © 2011 Yan Yang 2 To my family 3 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 4 friendship. 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. 5 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 6 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