uses and gratifications theory case study

Effects of uses and gratifications on social media use: The Facebook case with multiple mediator analysis

PSU Research Review

ISSN : 2399-1747

Article publication date: 12 February 2019

Issue publication date: 27 March 2019

Billions of people around the world are experiencing new ways of interacting with people using the social networking sites (SNS). With the heavy traffic and technological capabilities, SNS offers remarkable gratifications to its users, but there is a lack of knowledge about how gratifications play a role in usage intention and whether there are other factors that influence this relationship. Therefore, this study aims to fulfill these research gaps.

Design/methodology/approach

To explore these issues in depth, this study conceptualizes a comprehensive framework based on the theory of uses and gratification (UGT), habit and the subjective norm. Structural equation model is used to analyze the survey data.

The results of the study reveal that UGT has a significant direct effect on usage intention. Furthermore, user habit and subjective norm play an important mediating role in the relationship between UGT and usage intention.

Originality/value

The proposed framework would extensively contribute to the SNS literature and managerial insights by integrating personal and social factors in determining the user acceptance of the media.

• Subjective norm
• Usage intention

Hossain, M.A. (2019), "Effects of uses and gratifications on social media use: The Facebook case with multiple mediator analysis", PSU Research Review , Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 16-28. https://doi.org/10.1108/PRR-07-2018-0023

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Md. Alamgir Hossain.

Published in PSU Research Review An International Journal . Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

1. Introduction

Social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, WeChat, YouTube, Line, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google plus, are changing the way of communication through their innovative features and services. Most of these social networking sites (SNS) offer users the opportunity to present individuals and connect them to existing and new social network users. Facebook is well suited to social interaction and information sharing in the virtual world ( Al-Jabri et al. , 2015 ). Facebook users can access, share information, photos, or videos, and upload-download information at any time frequently from online groups and communities to fulfill shared interests. Facebook has a decidedly strong social impact, because of the instant presence in the lives of its users. However, with the rapid explosion of the release of new social apps with a wide variety of functions, Facebook has shown a decline in use because of privacy issues, especially among teenagers ( Cao et al. , 2013 ; Hsiao et al. , 2015 ). Therefore, it is sensible to recognize the factors that affect continuous usage intention of SNS and the factors that intervene in the usage behavior.

In particular, this study examines the usage intention of Facebook users through the judgment of the uses and gratification (UGT) and with some mediation effects in the context. Facebook was the first SNS to surpass 1 billion registered accounts and currently has 2.2 billion active users per month ( Statista, 2018 ). In May 2017, the total number of minutes spent on Facebook every month was 648 million, with an average time spent 18 minutes per visit and 3 million average messages sent in every 20 min ( Statistic Brain, 2017 ).

Few research efforts have invested in studying continuous usage intention of SNS by adopting different theories, such as motivation theory, expectation-confirmation theory, social capital theory and so on. Recently, most SNS studies have incorporated uses and gratification theory (UGT) to measure intention to continue using the SNS ( Al-Jabri et al. , 2015 ; Hsiao et al. , 2015 ). Earlier studies have revealed that different gratifications, such as social gratifications, content gratifications, and hedonic gratifications are the driving forces in predicting the behavioral intentions of users. Moreover, previous studies have examined that habit ( Limayem et al. , 2007 ; Woisetschlager et al. , 2011 ; Hsiao et al. , 2015 ) and subjective norm ( Cheung and Lee, 2010 ; Choi and Chung, 2013 ) play a vital role in the formation of usage intention. Indeed, few researchers have discovered separately the effects of UGT, habit and subjective norm on usage intention ( Al-Jabri et al. , 2015 ; Gan et al. , 2017 ), but no attention has been paid to habit and subjective norm that these two major variables mediate the usage intention of SNS. Therefore, it would be more relevant to examine the usage intention of SNS under the lens of UGT along with multiple mediation effects.

To fill these research gaps, this study borrows the UGT from the field of media research and integrates the theory of habit and subjective norm into the Facebook context, attempting to examine how the usage intention is measured by UGT with multiple mediating effects. This study, however, advances previous studies and appeals to the following contributions. First, by specifying the systematic classification of Facebook user’s motivation based on UGT. Second, this study sheds new light on the mediating role of user’s habit and subjective norm in the relationship between UGT and usage intention. Third, the important takeaway from the findings is that taking into account these mediating variables provides an alternative understanding of divergent results in previous research works on usage intention of Facebook, potentially important for other SNSs.

Section 2 presents the historical background and the development of hypotheses. Then, Section 3 puts forward the research design, followed by empirical results in Section 4. The paper concludes in Section 5, with extensive discussions, implications and limitations.

2. Historical background and hypotheses

2.1 antecedents of uses and gratifications theory and usage intention.

The UGT refers to the study of the gratifications or benefits that attract and hold users to different media and various contents that fulfill the user’s psychological and social needs ( Dunne et al. , 2010 ). The primary objective of UGT is to clarify the causes why people choose a specific type of medium with a view to improving the understanding of social and individual gratifications and also to explain users’ motives when interacting with a media. For example, Cheung et al. (2011) stated that the UGT explains why people use specific media as an alternative communication medium and discovers the needs that motivate the user to use a particular medium. They also noted that users are very much aware of their needs and their behavior is goal-directed.

Researchers have incorporated UGT to measure the motivations behind using the different traditional media like newspaper, telephones, radios, etc. Recently, it has been widely used to explore new media and communication technologies such as SNS ( Al-Jabri et al. , 2015 ; Hsiao et al. , 2015 ), mobile SNS ( Gan et al. , 2017 ), online games ( Li et al. , 2015 ), virtual communities ( Cheung and Lee, 2010 ). The UGT approach facilitates a homological network for research rather than providing a predefined set of constructs. SNS users often intend to meet certain personal and social needs such as information seeking, social interaction, freedom of expression, enjoyment, social presence and belongingness and social identity ( Cheung and Lee, 2010 ; Cao et al. , 2013 ; Al-Jabri et al. , 2015 ). Cheung et al. (2011) applied UGT to examine the motivations for using Facebook by students and found that social factors had the most significant impact on the intention to use. Dhir and Tsai (2017) also incorporated UGT to understand the intensity of Facebook use and suggested that UGT process plays a significant role in predicting the intensity of Facebook usage.

UGT has significant positive direct effect on usage intention.

2.2 The mediating role of habit

Habit is a learned sequence of actions that have automatic responses to certain cues, and that are functional to obtain specific objectives or end-states ( Verplanken and Aarts, 1999 ). From the definition, the first feature of habit indicates a repetition history. The more frequent the behavior of an individual, the more likely it becomes habitual. To explain the use behavior of information technology, the habit has been included in some continuous intention analyzes, and it is found that those who frequently use information technology devices, their behavior becomes automatic manner ( Limayem et al. , 2007 ). Current study considers the user’s habit in the context of social media as the extent to which users tend to automatically use the SNS ( Hsiao et al. , 2015 ).

Habit theory supports the relationship between habit and usage intention with the integration of the UGT approach ( Hsiao et al. , 2015 ). In the context of information technology, intention and habit have been considered a major antecedent of behavior; however, the relationship among habit, behavior and intention has been quite controversial ( Limayem et al. , 2007 ; Woisetschlager et al. , 2011 ; Hsiao et al. , 2015 ). Habit can have both a direct and interactive effect on behavior. While some researchers such as Hsiao et al. (2015) incorporated habit theory into their mobile SNS context and found a significant effect on usage intention. In contrast, some have argued that habit acts as moderating variable in the relationship between intentions and the continued use of WWW ( Limayem et al. , 2007 ). They have insisted that habit has relatively less conceptual overlap with intentions that provide additional explanatory power to the use of information technology.

Habit has the mediation effect on the relationship between UGT and usage intention.

2.3 The mediating role of subjective norm

Subjective norm is caused by the normative beliefs that the individual characteristics of what relevant others expect of a person with respect to continued use of information technology and their motivation is to comply with those beliefs ( Karahanna et al. , 1999 ). According to Choi and Chung (2013) , subjective norm refers to the degree to which an individual perceives the demands of significant or referent other individuals on him to use social media. Basically, the subjective norm is the perceived social pressure to act on a certain behavior and the motivation to comply with those pressures ( Hyde and White, 2009 ). In addition, the perceived social pressure is significantly correlated with the behavioral intentions of individual ( Teo, 2009 ). This study considers subjective norm as significantly identical to compliance with the use of social media.

Subjective norm has the mediation effect on the relationship between UGT and usage intention.

3. Research design

3.1 measures.

The survey questionnaire was divided into three main parts; first-order constructs for UGT, higher-order constructs for the measurement model, and the demographic elements. UGT has been measured as a second order construct through first-order constructs; enjoyment, passing time, information seeking, self-presentation, social presence and social interaction. The higher-order constructs for the measurement model comprises four constructs; UGT, user habit, subjective norm and usage intention. Basic demographic elements were included to see the descriptive and demographic distribution of respondents. This study derives the measurements of all constructs from previous studies with some modifications to fit the constructs in the market context. The measurement scales of enjoyment, passing time, information seeking, self-presentation, social presence and social interaction are borrowed from Zhou et al. (2014) ; Gan (2017) , and Ozanne et al. (2017) . The measurement of subjective norm, user habit and continuous usage intention of Facebook comes from Al-Jabri et al. (2015) ; Gan et al. (2017) and Li et al. (2015) . Table I shows the detailed view of the measurements objects used in this study. A seven-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7) with multi-item perceptual scales were used to measure the constructs.

The empirical data were collected using a structured questionnaire by online survey method. Participants were guided to the online questionnaire by clicking on the questionnaire link provided. The objectives of the study and the instructions were indicated on the first page of the questionnaire, and it was also acknowledged that all the information provided would be kept confidential. Initially, a pilot study was conducted to test the questionnaire whether the instructions and meanings of the questions were simple, clear and beneficial to the subjects. A total of 25 respondents were taken in the pilot study, and changes were made accordingly. All questionnaires were reviewed and incomplete or unlikely responses were removed. The final survey was conducted during the month of January to February 2018 in Bangladesh, and 287 samples were collected using random sampling. After cleaning the data and deleting the invalid responses, 241 valid responses were taken for the final analysis. According to the sample characteristics, 65.97 per cent of respondents are male, 39.83 per cent of them belongs to 23-26 age group. About 84 per cent of respondents spend more than half an hour a day on Facebook, and have over 300 friends on Facebook. Table II presents a detailed view of the demographic profile of respondents.

4. Empirical results

In this study, ten confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models are developed and examined to investigate the usage intention through UGT along with multiple mediation effects. CFA models are: six first-order measurement models for UGT (enjoyment, passing time, information seeking, self-presentation, social presence, and social interaction), and four higher-order CFA models for measurement model (UGT, user habit, subjective norm, and usage intention).

4.1 First-order measurement model validation for uses and gratification theory

The evaluation of reflective first-order measurement models examines its reliability and validity. To assess the individual item reliability, this study inspects each load of a single item: all items loaded perfectly over 0.60 for the construction to which they belong, thus exceeding the value of suggested thresholds ( Fornell and Larcker, 1981 ). After that, construct reliability is assessed through composite reliability (CR) and Cronbach’s alpha, the critical cutoff value for both measures is 0.70. All reflective constructs are reliable ( Table III ). The average variance extracted (AVE) is assessed to measure the convergent validity of the constructs; shows that their respective value is greater than its critical value 0.50, which represents a good convergent validity ( Fornell and Larcker, 1981 ). Additionally, discriminant validity is examined using the suggestions of Fornell and Larcker (1981) , the correlations between items in any two constructs should be less than the square roof of the AVE value in a construct. All the square root of AVE exceeds the corresponding correlation, which represents good discriminant validity. Tables III - IV presents the validity and reliability statistics of the first-order measurement model for UGT.

Table V presents the overall model fit indices for different models used in this study. The results of the model fit indices are examined by the ratio of chi-square to degrees of freedom ( χ 2 /d.f = 1.832), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA = 0.059), comparative fit index (CFI = 0.936), adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI = 0.840), incremental fit index (IFI = 0.937), Tucker-Lewis index (TLI = 0.927), and normalized fit index (NFI = 0.871) indicate a good model fit ( Hu and Bentler, 1999 ; Hair et al. , 2010 ).

4.2 Higher-order measurement model validation

Tables VI - VII demonstrate the summary of the results of higher-order CFA models designed to measure the antecedents of UGT and its correspondence to user habit, subjective norm, and usage intention. All the diagnostic tests indicate that the model is well suited in terms of validity and reliability. The major goodness fit indices are also within their recommended value ( Table V ). In addition, this study examines the variance inflation factor (VIF); values range from 1.476-1.910 ( Table VII ), which are below the threshold of 10 ( O’Brien, 2007 ), even less than the conservative threshold of 2, representing no effect of multicollinearity on the variance of the regression coefficient. Tolerance values are ranges from 0.524-0.678, representing additional strength of the model.

4.3 Structural model validation-mediation effect

Baron and Kenny (1986) noted that full mediation exists if there is an insignificant relationship between dependent and independent variables, and significant relationship exists in the indirect path through mediator. Partial mediation takes place; when a significant relationship exists between a dependent and an independent variable, and also has a significant relation in the indirect path through mediator. Bootstrapping produces an empirical representation of the sample distribution of the indirect effect by considering the original data set as a representation of the population, and the bootstrap function performs the construction of the dataset and data analysis several times ( Hayes, 2009 ). AMOS-24 was used to bootstrapping with 241 samples and the process was repeated 5000 times. The bootstrap results of the 95 per cent confidence interval are shown in Table VIII . The structural model [ Figure 1(a) and (b) ] demonstrates that all direct paths are significant. The majority of the goodness of fit test indices for the total effect model and the multiple mediation effect models show a good model fit ( Table V ).

Figure 1(a) and Table VIII show that UGT has a significant total effect (C = 0.788, p < 0.001) on usage intention. When the mediators are added in the model [ Figure 1(b) ], UGT reduces its impact on usage intention, but maintains its significant direct effect (c′ = 0.420, p < 0.05) on usage intention. Therefore, in line with our expectations, UGT has a significant positive effect on usage intention of Facebook ( H1 ). Furthermore, the results of study reveal that the two indirect effects of UGT on usage intention are statistically significant. Table IV indicates that both the user habit (a 1 b 1 ) and the subjective norm (a 2 b 2 ) partially mediate the relationship between UGT and usage intention of Facebook, which supports H2 and H3 , respectively.

5. Discussions and conclusions

The increased popularity of SNS services in the virtual world encourages users to have greater degree of gratifications, in return SNS developers want to have a higher level of usage by their users. The intention of use should not merely equate to obliging SNS user to stay with the existing service provider rather because of a greater level of gratifications, and the influence of user habit and subjective norm in the context. The purpose of this study was to validate of the UGT and its influence on usage intention through the mediating effect of the habit and subjective norm. The approach presented here is to commit to validate the UGT as a multidimensional constructs, and set as a main antecedents of usage intention, while user habit and subjective norm play mediating role between UGT and usage intention. The results of the study reveal that UGT has a significant total effect on UGT, and user habit and subjective norm partially mediate this relationship.

Therefore, it can be stated that Facebook users fundamentally seek various gratifications to fulfill their needs and wants. The results of the total effect model [ Figure 1(a) ] presents that the greater the UGT, the greater the usage intention, which is consistent with previous studies ( Cheung et al. , 2011 ; Dhir and Tsai, 2017 ; Gan et al. , 2017 , among others). Total effect model explain 61 per cent of the variance in usage intention, however, the direct of effect of UGT drops in the mediation model [ Figure 1(b) ], the model accounts for 69 per cent of the variance in usage intention. These reveal that UGT is tremendously important in designing the user’s intention in the SNS context. In particular, social interaction, passing time, enjoyment, self-presentation, information seeking and social presence dimensions are sequentially prioritized to form the UGT in this study.

In addition, this study shows that the user habit is an important factor that influences the usage intention, and largely mediates the relationship between UGT and usage intention. The significant relationship between habit and usage intention is consistent with Hsiao et al. (2015) and Gan et al. (2017) . Figure 1(b) shows that UGT has a significant positive effect on user habit (a 1 = 0.76, p < 0.001), and the habit also has a positive impact on the usage intention (b 1 = 0.27, p < 0.05). These reveal that gratifications lead to habit that likely to repeat the usage intention, same activity or long-run relationship. If users experience habitual behavior when using SNS, they will likely use this service more frequency and with greater satisfaction, resulting in continued use. In this regard, pre-use, cognitive or social issues could have significant influences to shape habitual behavior.

Similarly, in accordance with our expectations and earlier studies ( Teo, 2009 ; Choi and Chung, 2013 ), the subjective norm is considered an important determinant of usage intention. The results show that the UGT has a significant positive influence on the subjective norm (a 2 = 0.65, p < 0.001), and that subjective norm has a significant positive effect on usage intention (b 2 = 0.26, p < 0.001). Subjective norm is particularly important in determining the user behavior towards the usage intention, which implies that a particular social pressure plays a critical role in Facebook use. The social media user accepting and using SNS is inherently related to the other people. In other words, social media users are strongly influenced by one or more important references, specifically from the primary reference group such as friends and family.

In summary, UGT has significant direct effect on usage intention of Facebook, and user habit and subjective norm are significant mediators in the relationship between UGT and usage intention. User habit and subjective norm in regard to the mediators, represent the good predictors of usage intention in this study, accounting for 61 and 43 per cent of the variance explained, respectively.

Regarding the managerial implications, the results of the study demonstrate that SNS developers, managers or practitioners should focus on the major dimensions of UGT, to maximize user loyalty, minimize irritations or attaining long-run usage intention. To build habitual behavior, service providers should investigate user requirements to spend time on SNS media such as interesting or funny posts, prior use patterns or various social issues. In addition, SNS media mangers need to highlight the reference group, especially the members closest to the user, to broaden their user base.

While this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the UGT, habit, subjective norm and usage intention in the context of Facebook, one must be aware of certain limitations in the interpretation of the results. First, to keep the parsimonious model, the proposed study focuses on the four important variables by self-assessment, which could lead to evidence of bias. Second, this study examines the user habit as one dimension. Although the model shows a higher explanatory power, it could still be better to measure the user habit through past behavior. Third, the study considers only one country (Bangladesh) and one SNS (Facebook). It is therefore advisable to be cautious in generalizing the results to other settings. Current study triggers additional theoretical and empirical investigations to achieve better results through an appropriate longitudinal approach.

Structural model: multiple mediation models

Measurement items

a 5000 bootstrap samples;

*** p < 0.001;

** p < 0.05

Source: Amos output

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Acknowledgements

The author declared that no financial support has been received and no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this paper.

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What “Uses and Gratifications” Theory Can Tell Us About Using Professional Networking Sites (E.G. LinkedIn, Viadeo, Xing, SkilledAfricans, Plaxo…)

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Social media continues to gain enormous popularity. Therefore, it is not surprising that this attracts the interest of researchers to study this cyber-social phenomenon particularly motivation issues as one of the most important axis in the social media literature. However, an analysis of literature concerning the motivations for using social media reveals a lack of studying professional networking sites compared to friendship-oriented social media (i.e. online social networks) and most particularly Facebook, despite the obvious interest that they present. Particularly as in the B2B context, interest in them exceeds that of online social networks (OSN) including even Facebook. Currently, a few number of researches who have become interested in studying the category of professional networking sites, but they did so from only the individual’s point of view. However, it is also necessary to consider the motivations for using them from a company’s point of view. To our knowledge, no research has been undertaken to study the motivations for using professional networking sites for both individuals and companies. For this purpose, we conduct a research by applying the ‘Uses & Gratifications’ Theory to explain the user behaviour in the field of professional networking sites. To collect data, 8 face-to-face interviews with companies and 5 focus groups with individuals were conducted.

The results permit to identify two types of motivations: contextual motivations and generic motivations in which a comparison with those previously found in the field of OSNs can be done.

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In the sense that these researches include several social media at the same time in their samples.

e-Customer Relation Management.

We remind that Papacharissi & Mendelson results (2011) demonstrate that the use of the Facebook is mainly ritualistic.

e.g. for individuals: gender, professional status…/ for companies: company size, nature of the hierarchical position….

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The author gratefully thanks his doctoral supervisors respectively Inés De La Ville and André Leroux.

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Grissa, K. (2017). What “Uses and Gratifications” Theory Can Tell Us About Using Professional Networking Sites (E.G. LinkedIn, Viadeo, Xing, SkilledAfricans, Plaxo…). In: Jallouli, R., Zaïane, O., Bach Tobji, M., Srarfi Tabbane, R., Nijholt, A. (eds) Digital Economy. Emerging Technologies and Business Innovation. ICDEc 2017. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 290. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62737-3_2

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Uses and Gratifications Theory in Media Psychology

How and why we make our choices for media consumption

Cynthia Vinney, PhD is an expert in media psychology and a published scholar whose work has been published in peer-reviewed psychology journals.

Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images

• Assumptions of UGT
• Explaining Media Use With UGT
• Criticisms of the Theory

Uses and gratifications theory (UGT) proposes that people choose to consume certain kinds of media because they expect to obtain specific gratifications as a result of those selections.

In contrast to other theories about media, UGT focuses on the media consumer rather than the media itself or the messages the media conveys.

While other theories see people as passive recipients of media messages, UGT sees people as active consumers of media who are aware of the reasons they choose to consume media.

History of Uses and Gratifications Theory

The origins of UGT can be traced back to the 1940s when communication scholars initially sought to study why specific media and content appealed to different people. The theory was further expanded in the 1970s when researchers started examining not just the gratifications that consumers sought but the gratifications they actually obtained.

Today UGT remains one of the most prevalent theories used in media effects research. In fact, communication scholar Ruggiero argued that the rise of new media makes uses and gratifications theory more important than ever as this perspective is especially useful for explaining why people adopt new mediums.

Assumptions of Uses and Gratifications Theory

A cornerstone of UGT is that audiences are active in choosing the media they consume. Moreover, audiences are aware of the reasons they want to consume media and consciously use those reasons to make media selections that will fulfill their needs and desires.

Five Assumptions

Based on these notions, uses and gratifications theory specifies a set of five assumptions about media consumption.

The assumptions are:

• Media use is motivated and goal-oriented. People always have a reason for consuming media, even if it's simply habit or entertainment.
• People select media based on their expectation that it will satisfy specific wants and needs .
• Media use is driven by individual social and psychological factors.
• Media compete with other forms of communication, especially in-person communication, for selection and use in the fulfillment of needs and desires. Today, since so much of the media we consume is mobile, that competition is more immediate than ever as even when engaging in in-person communication, media accessed through mobile devices, such as text messages, social networks , and apps are also competing for our attention.
• Because people are active media users, media messages don't exert especially strong effects on people.

People are in Control of Their Media Consumption

These assumptions make it clear that UGT places the media consumer at the center of media use. That means that not only do consumers have the power to actively choose and take in specific media, they are also capable of interpreting media messages and utilizing those messages in their lives as they choose. As a result, people control how much and in what ways media impacts them.

Explaining Media Use With Uses and Gratification Theory

Much of UGT research focuses on the gratifications that media does or should fulfill. This has resulted in a variety of typologies that classify gratifications into a concise set of categories. For example, in 1973, Katz, Gurevitch, and Haas created a well-known scheme of five social and psychological needs gratified by media use, including:

• Cognitive needs , or the need to acquire information and knowledge or improve understanding
• Affective needs, or the need to have aesthetic or emotional experiences
• Integrative needs , or the need to strengthen confidence , status, or credibility. These needs have both cognitive and affective components
• Social integrative needs , or the need to strengthen relationships with friends and family
• Tension-release needs , or the need to relax and escape by lessening one's awareness of the self

These needs, as well as those specified in many other uses and gratifications typologies, are based on the gratifications consumers obtained from old media, such as books, newspapers, radio, television , and movies.

Interestingly, some more recent UGT research has suggested that new media offers similar gratifications. However, work by Sundar and Limperos observes that while old media and new media may fulfill some similar social and psychological needs, affordances of new media also create unique needs that studies of the uses and gratifications of new media may overlook.

The scholars suggest several new gratifications that fall into four categories specific to features of new media.

These four categories include:

• Modality-based gratifications : New media content can be served up in a variety of modalities from audio to video to text. The use of these different modalities can satisfy the need for realism, novelty, or in the case of something like virtual reality , the need to feel like you've been somewhere.
• Agency-based gratifications : New media gives people the ability to create and share information and content, giving each individual a certain amount of power. This can satisfy needs such as agency-enhancement, community building, and the ability to tailor content to one's specific desires.
• Interactivity-based gratifications : The interactivity of new media means content is no longer static. Instead, users can interact with and impact content in real time. This satisfies needs such as responsiveness and more choice and control.
•  Navigability-based gratifications : Users move through new media, and the navigation offered by different interfaces can greatly impact users' experiences. Positive new media navigation experiences satisfy needs such as browsing, guidance through navigation (or scaffolding), and the fun that comes with moving through spaces and, if one's playing a game, levels.

Criticisms of Uses and Gratifications Theory

While UGT continues to be widely used in media research, it has been criticized for several reasons.

First, UGT's' belief that audiences are active and can articulate their reasons for consuming specific media has led to studies that rely on self-report data. However, self-report data isn't always reliable and may not always be accurate or insightful.

Second, the idea that people freely choose the media they consume is limited by the media available to them. This may be an even more salient criticism today when there are more media choices than ever, but not everyone has access to every choice.

That lack of access may mean certain people are unable to choose the media that would best satisfy their needs.

Third, by focusing on the audience, UGT overlooks the constraints and boundaries of media messages and how that may impact people. Finally, there has been debate about whether UGT is too broad to be considered a theory.

Some scholars feel because of its lack of distinction between needs and motivations and the poor definitions provided for these and other concepts, the theory is better regarded as an approach than a full-fledged theory.

Ruggiero TE. Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21st Century .  Mass Communication and Society . 2000;3(1):3-37. doi:10.1207/s15327825mcs0301_02

Potter WJ.  Media Effects . SAGE Publications; 2012.

Rubin AM. Audience activity and media use .  Commun Monogr . 1993;60(1):98-105. doi:10.1080/03637759309376300

Katz E, Gurevitch M, Haas H. On the Use of the Mass Media for Important Things .  Am Sociol Rev . 1973;38(2):164-181. doi:10.2307/2094393

Sundar SS, Limperos AM. Uses and Grats 2.0: New Gratifications for New Media .  J Broadcast Electron Media . 2013;57(4):504-525. doi:10.1080/08838151.2013.845827

By Cynthia Vinney, PhD Cynthia Vinney, PhD is an expert in media psychology and a published scholar whose work has been published in peer-reviewed psychology journals.

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USES AND GRATIFICATIONS OF WHATSAPP: A CASE STUDY OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES STUDENTS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST

2015, SES AND GRATIFICATIONS OF WHATSAPP: A CASE STUDY OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES STUDENTS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST

This study examined the uses and gratifications of WhatsApp as a social networking platform among Communication Studies students in the University of Cape Coast. The population of the study was 399 with a sample of 150 respondents derived from the convenience sampling procedure. The measuring instrument was questionnaire which contained 9 items – closeended and open-ended questions. The data for the study were analysed through the use of tables and were expressed in simple percentages. The study found out that Communication Studies students in the University of Cape Coast are active users of WhatsApp and they use WhatsApp for various purposes and gratifications. It also established that the students are not always fulfilled in their expectations of WhatsApp usage, although they made use of it daily. The study recommended that Mobile Network Providers should provide better network services to their customers to reduce frustrations that limit students‘ usage of WhatsApp.

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This research is about the role of WhatsApp in enhancing students' academic performers with the aim of establishing the acceptability and usage of WhatsApp as an important tool of learning using 300 and 400 level students of mass communication, ABU Zaria as an area of study. Specifically, the study explores the level of their WhatsApp use, correlation between WhatsApp use and academic performance as well as knowing if they share material via the application. The researcher made use of Connectivism and Uses and gratification theories as a justification for the research work. To address the issue of the research, survey method was employed by administering 200 copies of questionnaire to the participants who were selected via simple random sampling technique. Findings from the research reveal that students of Mass communication undergraduates use WhatsApp on a medium level. It also shows that they utilize the application to share material among themselves and finally it reveals that there is correlation between academic performance and the use of WhatsApp. However, the correlation was neither positive nor negative. The researchers recommend that students should try as much as possible to utilize the application to assist their academic and not to be an agent of distraction.

International Journal of Advanced Trends in Computer Science and Engineering

WARSE The World Academy of Research in Science and Engineering , Rahu Zeeshan

Today's world technology plays a crucial role and rapid development of internet help the growing of messages processing using digital devices. These movements leading us towards the connecting and maintaining the relationships. This paper aims to investigate WhatsApp usage among students. The theoretical framework for current study is the "Uses and Gratifications theory", is called "Needs and Gratifications Theory". The current study covers qualitative feature of the research. This segment pact with examination of the usage of WhatsApp in everyday survives for students. The detailed meetings of 8 energetic WhatsApp users, three boys and five girls of the university were directed. As the students are the male student their explanation is to some extent is same they revealed that, they use WhatsApp application for the calls purpose and for sending notes and online study purpose. They use Facebook messenger for the purpose of joining different sort of study circle pages and for informal purpose.

Akintola Mubarak

Social media has become a tool for socialization among undergraduates. There are various social media platforms that are used by undergraduates. One of the widely used social media platform is Whatsapp, a mobile messaging platform which makes communication easier and faster thereby enhancing effective flow of information and idea sharing. This study examined Whatsapp as a favorite social media platform for educational purpose among undergraduates in Kwara State. The research type employed was a descriptive survey. The population were all undergraduates in universities in Kwara State while all 300 level undergraduates were the target population. 387 undergraduates were proportionately sampled and responded to a researcher-designed questionnaire with a content validity and 0.87 reliability index. Percentage, mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while bar-chart was used to present the results. Findings revealed that Whatsapp is the favorite social media platform among undergraduates in Kwara State. The study recommended among others that undergraduates should see Whatsapp as an avenue to connect with fellow students to facilitate learning beyond classroom walls.

International Journal of Current Humanities & Social Science Researches (IJCHSSR) ISSN: 2456-7205, Peer Reviewed Journal

Radha Bathran

Any website that facilitates social interaction is considered social media. The use of social media is quickly expanding over the world. Adults and teens are using social media sites including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter. In many respects, social media has altered the world. WhatsApp is a messaging programme that is handier than email, phone calls, and text messages. It allows you to exchange text messages, photos, videos, and make phone calls, among other things. It is secure and simple to use. It is only necessary to have internet connectivity to connect to a Wi-Fi network. This study should be considered a user study. This study will also look at how Tirunelveli college students use WhatsApp groups.

Dr. Shahid Minhas

This paper has analyzed what Pakistani students do when they use the messaging tool i.e. Whatsapp. To carry out this study a questionnaire was used as research instrument to gather data from the population of students of university of Peshawar. A total of 100 questionnaires were distributed among the students. The response rate was 84% which is considered very effective. The result shows that Whatsapp is a vital tool of communication used mainly for one to one or group communication. The various other functions performed by the respondent were sharingacademic information, chat, picture and video sharing, texting to family members living abroad and current affairs.

The purpose of this study is to identify the effect of whatsapp messenger usage among students in Mangalore University. To achieve this, 200 questionnaires were distributed to students of various departments. Out of which, 188 filled questionnaires were received back. The survey method was employed. The findings of the study show that majority of users familiar with Whatsapp messenger and use Whatsapp for academic purposes on this basis, perception could be created between all the individuals irrespective of their age, academic background, sexual category, profession etc. If this may possibly be done, not only the higher education institution students but all the individuals could follow the advantage of using Whatsapp Messenger.

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The main purpose of this study is to examine the use of WhatsApp by the social science research scholars of the Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka State. A structured questionnaire was designed and distributed to 145 regular research scholars, out of which 139 duly filled in questionnaires were received back with a response rate of 95.86 %. The results of the survey reveal that majority, i.e. 91.36 % respondents are aware of Facebook, followed by Google+ and Youtube; the research scholars are not only using WhatsApp for general use but also for academic / research purpose; though the access is denied for Social Networking Sites (SNSs) in the Karnatak University. But still the respondents are using these SNSs for their academic purpose.

International Journal of Commerce and Management Studies

IJCAMS Publication

The purpose of this study is to identify the student's perception towards whatsapp. To achieve these 150 questionnaires were distributed to students of various departments. Out of which, 100 filled questionnaire were received back. The survey method was employed. The findings of study show that majority of users waste their time in whatsapp rather than taking its advantages for academic purpose.

Doris N Morah

[ T y p e t h e c o m p a n y a d d r e s s ] [ T y p e t h e c o m p a n y a d d r e s s ] RexCOMMPAN©2015 Abstract The advent of social media which is commonly accessed through mobile devices has brought about unprecedented opportunities in the society. These opportunities have also been attended by fundamental concern around safety of young users. The concern appears genuine enough particularly in Nigeria, a country with a preponderant youth population. The reason is because the engagement of young Nigerians with diverse perspectives and from diverse social and cultural backgrounds on social media has expanded the dialogic space with its attendant tension, behavioural changes and, more importantly, civic vitality which is a critical component of modern democracy. But the usage pattern of Whatsapp by the Nigerian youth and their presence on social media must be put on the scholarship radar in order to determine how much influence it exerts on their educational development. Hinged on Technological Acceptance Model and the Uses and Gratification theory, this study is an investigation of how young people in two universities in Anambra state – one of Nigeria's 36 political subdivisions use Whatapp social network on campus. A total of 300 students from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and Madonna University, Okija were surveyed and results indicated that many students do not recognize the potentials of Whatsapp in educational development; a finding which highlights the necessity for the inclusion of Social/ New Media literacy in the University curriculum to educate Nigerian students on the educational benefits of the social media.

IJAERS Journal

— With the advent of whatsapp, information has been spread worldwide easily. Higher learning institutions such as IIUM have been using whatsapp as a mean of communication between the students and their instructors. The use of whatsapp at IIUM has been inevitable. Despite the positive impact of whatsapp as social media to the users, it has also negative impacts on student learning such as: time consuming for student's study time, exacerbating student's grammar and spelling, distracting student's concentration during lecture etc. this study explored the impact of using of whatsapp among postgraduate students' learning at the Kulliyyah of Education (KOED), at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Interview which consisted of fourteen (14) questions were employed with two informants. The study found that using whatsapp as learning tool is beneficial to both students and instructors though it was suggested that electronic etiquette should be applied when using whatsapp in learning.

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What Is Uses and Gratifications Theory? Definition and Examples

 Busakorn Pongparnit / Getty Images

• Archaeology

• Ph.D., Psychology, Fielding Graduate University
• M.A., Psychology, Fielding Graduate University
• B.A., Film Studies, Cornell University

Uses and gratifications theory asserts that people use media to gratify specific wants and needs. Unlike many media theories that view media users as passive, uses and gratifications sees users as active agents who have control over their media consumption.

Key Takeaways: Uses and Gratifications

• Uses and gratifications characterizes people as active and motivated in selecting the media they choose to consume.
• The theory relies on two principles: media users are active in their selection of the media they consume, and they are aware of their reasons for selecting different media options.
• The greater control and choice brought about by new media has opened up new avenues of uses and gratifications research and has led to the discovery of new gratifications, especially in regards to social media.

Uses and gratifications was first introduced in the 1940s as scholars began to study why people choose to consume various forms of media. For the next few decades, uses and gratifications research mostly focused on the gratifications media users sought. Then, in the 1970s, researchers turned their attention to the outcomes of media use and the social and psychological needs that media gratified. Today, the theory is often credited to Jay Blumler and Elihu Katz’s work in 1974. As media technologies continue to proliferate, research on uses and gratifications theory is more important than ever for understanding people’s motivations for choosing media and the gratifications they get out of it.

Assumptions

Uses and gratifications theory relies on two principles about media users. First, it characterizes media users as active in their selection of the media they consume. From this perspective, people don’t use media passively. They are engaged and motivated in their media selections. Second, people are aware of their reasons for selecting different media options. They rely on their knowledge of their motivations to make media choices that will help them meet their specific wants and needs.

On the basis of those principles, uses and gratifications goes on to outline five assumptions :

• Media use is goal-directed. People are motivated to consume media.
• Media is selected based on the expectation that it will satisfy specific needs and desires.
• Media influence on behavior is filtered through social and psychological factors. Thus, personality and social context impact the media choices one makes and one’s interpretation of media messages.
• Media are in competition with other forms of communication for an individual’s attention. For example, an individual may choose to have an in-person conversation about an issue instead of watching a documentary about the issue.
• People are usually in control of media and therefore are not particularly influenced by it.

Taken together, uses and gratifications theory stresses the power of the individual over the power of the media. Individual differences mediate the relationship between media and their effects. This results in media effects being driven as much by the media user as by the media content itself. So, even if people take in the same media message, each individual will not be impacted by the message in the same way.

Uses and Gratifications Research

Uses and gratifications research has uncovered several motivations people often have for consuming media. These include force of habit, companionship, relaxation, passing the time, escape, and information. In addition, a newer body of research explores people’s use of media to meet higher order needs like finding meaning and considering values. Studies from a uses and gratifications perspective have involved all kinds of media, from radio to social media.

TV Selection and Personality

Uses and gratifications' emphasis on individual differences has led researchers to examine the way personality impacts people’s motivations for using media. For example, a study by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University looked at personality traits like neuroticism and extroversion to see if people with different traits would identify different motivations for watching television. The researcher found that the motivations of participants with neurotic personalities included passing the time, companionship, relaxation, and stimulation. This was the reverse for participants with extraverted personalities. Moreover, while the neurotic personality types favored the companionship motive most, extraverted personality types strongly rejected this motive as a reason to watch TV. The researcher judged these results to be consistent with these two personality types. Those who are more socially isolated, emotional, or shy, demonstrated an especially strong affinity for television. Meanwhile, those that were more sociable and outgoing saw TV as a poor substitute for real-life social interactions.

Uses and Gratifications and New Media

Scholars have noted that new media includes several attributes that weren’t part of older forms of media. Users have greater control over what they interact with, when they interact with it, and more content choices. This opens up the number of gratifications that new media use could satisfy. An early study published in the journal CyberPsychology & Behavior on uses and gratifications of the internet found seven gratifications for its use: information seeking, aesthetic experience, monetary compensation, diversion, personal status, relationship maintenance, and virtual community. Virtual community could be considered a new gratification as it has no parallel in other forms of media. Another study, published in the journal Decisions Sciences , found three gratifications for internet usage. Two of these gratifications, content and process gratifications, had been found before in studies of the uses and gratifications of television. However, a new social gratification specific to internet use was also found. These two studies indicate that people look to the internet to fulfill social and communal needs.

Research has also been conducted to uncover the gratifications sought and obtained through social media use. For instance, another study published in CyberPsychology & Behavior uncovered four needs for Facebook group participation. Those needs included socializing by staying in touch and meeting people, entertainment through the use of Facebook for amusement or leisure, seeking self-status by maintaining one’s image, and seeking information in order to learn about events and products. In similar study, researchers found that Twitter users gratified their need for connection through the social network. Increased usage, both in terms of the amount of time one had been active on Twitter and in terms of the number of hours per week one spends using Twitter, increased the gratification of this need.

While uses and gratifications remains a popular theory in media research, it faces a number of criticisms . For example, the theory downplays the importance of media. As a result, it may overlook the way media influences people, especially unconsciously. In addition, while audiences may not always be passive, they may not always be active either, something the theory does not account for. Finally, some critics claim that uses and gratifications is too broad to be considered a theory, and therefore, should only be considered an approach to media research.

• Businesstopia. “Uses and Gratifications Theory.” 2018. https://www.businesstopia.net/mass-communication/uses-gratifications-theory
• Chen, Gina Masullo. “Tweet This: A Uses and Gratifications Perspective on How Active Twitter Use Gratifies A Need to Connect With Others.” Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 27, no. 2, 2011, pp. 755-762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.10.023
• Communication Studies. “Uses and Gratifications Theory.” 2019. http://www.communicationstudies.com/communication-theories/uses-and-gratifications-theory
• Oliver, Mary Beth and Anne Bartsch. "Appreciation as Audience Response: Exploring Entertainment Gratifications Beyond Hedonism." Human Communication Research, vol. 36, no. 1, 2010, pp. 53-81.  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2009.01368.x
• Oliver, Mary Beth, Jinhee Kim, and Meghan S. Sanders. “Personality.” Psychology pf Entertainment , edited by Jennings Bryant and Peter Vorderer, Routledge, 2006, pp. 329-341.
• Potter, W. James. Media Effects . Sage, 2012.
• Rubin, Alan A. “Audience Activity and Media Use.” Communication Monographs, vol. 60, no. 1, 1993, pp. 98-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637759309376300
• Ruggiero, Thomas E. “Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21 st Century.” Mass Communication and Society, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, pp. 3-37. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327825MCS0301_02
• Song, Indeok, Robert Larose, Matthew S. Eastin, and Carolyn A. Lin. “Internet Gratifications and Internet Addiction: On the Uses and Abuses of New Media.” Cyberpsychology and Behavior, vol. 7, no. 4, 2004. http://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2004.7.384
• Stafford, Thomas F. Maria Royne Stafford, and Lawrence L. Schkade. “Determining Uses and Gratifications for the Internet.” Decision Sciences, vol. 35, no. 2, 2004, pp. 259-288. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.00117315.2004.02524.x
• Weaver, James B. III. “Individual Differences in Television Viewing Motives.” Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 35, no. 6, 2003, pp. 1427-1437. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00360-4
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Uses and gratifications of educational apps: A study during COVID-19 pandemic

Although educational apps have emerged as an easily available and accessible alternative to classroom learning, particularly at the time of pandemics like COVID-19, no research has attempted to identify learners intentions behind the usage of different educational apps. The current study developed a valid and reliable research instrument to measure the motivations behind using educational apps. Using the mixed method approach commonly used in uses and gratification (U&G) research, i.e., open-ended essays & national survey (N  =  552), this study identified seven gratifications behind learners intention to use educational apps: academic assistance, convenience, entertainment, social influence, novelty, engagement and activity. The result suggests that academic assistance, convenience and social influence were the significant predictors of the intention to use educational apps. The current research also identified the moderating effect of gender in selecting educational apps. One of the most significant contributions of the present study is that it extended the uses and gratification theory applications beyond the traditional media to explain the intention to use educational apps.

1. Introduction

The advancements in communication technology have resulted in various applications for accessible and affordable education. As a result, students and educators have access to new technologies, gadgets, and applications to augment their pedagogical experiences [38] . Applications based on digital technologies have transformed the teaching and learning experience by opening up myriad opportunities [ 40 , 109 ]. The rapid internet connectivity, developments in phone technology and the emergence of compact and compatible smartphones and tablets have put "education" into "apps" [51] . Educational apps reduce the cognitive load on the learners by easily and effectively communicating concepts and contents with a faster flow of information beyond time and space [ 22 , 40 , 123 ].

Past studies have identified that well-designed educational apps can facilitate an interactive learning experience [ 25 , 35 , 75 ]. Researchers found that various factors motivate learners intentions to use educational apps. Scholars have observed that motives such as entertainment [ 4 , 20 , 39 , 76 ], convenience [35] , academic assistance [ 21 , 35 , 75 ], interactivity [23] and engagement [35] influence students' selection of educational apps.

The review of prior literature shows many gaps in the existing literature. First, although educational apps have emerged as an important learning alternative in most countries, very scant literature is available on the motives behind their usage. The available literature on educational apps focused more on app design [ 39 , 85 , 93 ] and content features [ 32 , 115 ] besides identifying various user motivations. For example, Falloon [39] , in his study on iPad based educational apps, identified interactive design, convenience, and entertainment gratifications that motivate students to use learning apps. However, the primary objective of his study was to explore how the app design and content influence students learning pathways. Similarly, past studies like Bomhold et al., [13] , Falloon [40] , Dubé et al.; [35] , Dias & Brito [33] etc., gave more emphasis on educational apps' contents, their design and various features, besides locating various user motivations.

Second, the limited prior literature ( [16] & [ 17 , 75 ]) investigating the user motivations of educational apps portrays an ambiguous picture of the learners' motives for using educational apps by providing conflicting results. Third, the existing literature analysed the usage of educational apps from teachers' [16] & [ 17 , 52 ]) or parents' [ 80 , 121 ] perspectives. The end-users of the educational apps are students, and literature probing into students motives for using educational apps are not available yet. Consequently, an investigation of educational apps' various uses and gratifications (U&G's) and the intentions behind their usage is highly warranted. We argue that various U&G's behind educational apps are significantly associated with learners intention to use them.

Lastly, educational apps became increasingly popular across the globe recently after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (Kondylakis et al., 2020; [95] ). The lockdowns and social distancing norms have disrupted the education sector, and physical attendances of schools and colleges were suspended for a long time, making the students and educators search for a feasible alternative [ 106 , 112 ]. Through advances in technology, accessibility and affordability, educational apps emerged as a viable alternative for classroom teaching. In addition, the COVID-19 crisis further caused a surge in the usage of educational apps across the globe [103] . During COVID-19, India witnessed an unprecedented spike in the usage of educational apps [ 30 , 74 ]. However, no study has ever attempted to identify what motivates students to use educational apps in India.

The current study addresses the gap mentioned above by examining the different uses and gratifications behind the usage of educational apps exclusively from the students perspective and thus provide a new dimension to the existing literature. Also, understanding the motives for using educational apps and gratifications sought or obtained from them help educators to design the content in accordance with the learners taste and alter the pedagogy to facilitate an interactive learning experience. Unlike the prior studies, we conducted our study in India, a developing and culturally diverse country, thus increasing its external validity. Scholars [ 70 , 101 ] argue that conducting research on a culturally diverse country can increase the study's external validity. Another unique contribution of this study is that we have used the Uses and gratification theory as our theoretical framework to understand the various motivations behind the usage of educational apps. Thus we have extended the U&G theory beyond the conventional media to locate the gratifications obtained from educational apps.

The primary focus of this study is to identify learners motives for using educational apps in India. We utilised a mixed-method approach, including qualitative and quantitative methods, to locate the user motivations. After identifying the user motivations, we developed a comprehensive research model and tested it to see which motive better predict the intention to use educational apps. Finally, we also attempted to see the moderating effect of gender in the usage of educational apps. Further, the current research also has some important theoretical and practical implications.

2. Literature review

An educational application or simply an 'educational app' is a software programme integrated with learning materials that can be downloaded and installed on mobile phones or tablets [27] . Educational apps allow students and learners to access content anywhere, anytime [ 13 , 32 , 115 ]. Smartphones and tablets with touch screen facilities have increased the popularity of educational apps among students, teachers and parents [ 53 , 85 , 93 ]. Although many studies have been conducted on educational apps, very few researchers have attempted to identify the motivations for using educational apps [86] . 'Motivations are general dispositions that influence people's actions taken to fulfil a need or a want ( [84] , p.179)'. Identifying the motivations behind using a particular media can predict the recurring usage of the media [91] . Most of the prior studies that analysed the motivations for using educational apps were conducted on developed or western countries such as Canada[ 75 , 35 ], Malta [21] , United States [51] , New Zealand [39] , Netherlands [ 16 , 17 ], and Portugal [33] .

Falloon [39] conducted a study on iPad-based educational apps to identify factors influencing students' learning pathways in New Zealand. However, their study focussed primarily on the design and content features of the apps developed for school children; they also identified that interactive design, convenience and entertainment were some of the parameters that motivated teachers to recommend apps for children. Some of the recent studies also support these findings. For example, researchers [ 4 , 20 , 76 ] recommended the usage of virtual reality and augmented reality in the design of educational apps to make them more interactive and entertaining. Papadakis et al., [85] and Dias& Brito [33] ' also located entertainment as an important motivation behind the adoption of learning apps.

Many researchers [ 21 , 22 , 35 , 75 ] stressed that academic assistance is one of the key gratifications that motivate students to adopt educational apps. For example, Camilleri & Camilleri [23] conducted a qualitative study with the help of semi-structured face to face interviews with students between 6-8 years of age in Malta. Their study results showed that although academic assistance is the primary motivation behind educational apps, students also reported that interactive and engaging educational apps had improved their academic competency. Camilleri & Camilleri [23] also recommends the gamification of educational apps as many students expressed that entertaining content also motivates them while choosing educational apps.

Dubé et al., [35] argue that well designed educational apps can facilitate an experience of multi-level engagement that can improve the competence in the subject being taught. Their study also underscored that student engagement occurs because of the novelty of the new technology, the interactivity of the apps, entertainment or gamification and convenience such as hands own aspect of the touch screens. Hirsh-Pasek et al., [51] also suggest that the popularity and acceptance of education apps largely depend on course content and their meaningful, interactive and engaging presentation.

Social influence is regarded as one of the major factors influencing the adoption of new technologies [ 8 , 46 , 50 , 118 ]. Researchers ([ 21 , 24 ]&b) have found a positive association between the usage of educational apps and social influence. Children's selection and usage of educational apps are largely decided by their parents [ 80 , 121 ]. Broekman et al., [16] conducted a study to identify factors that motivate parents while selecting their children's apps using U&G theory. The study result showed that parents expect five gratifications when they select learning apps for their children, i.e. need for entertainment, information seeking, social interaction, emotional satisfaction and passing time. Another study conducted by Broekman et al., [17] on parents of young children aged 3-7 to identify the app features that fulfil parents' need for selecting apps for their children and identified four U&Gs: clear design; tailorable, controllable, educational content; challenges and rewards; and technological innovation behind educational app selection. Their study also revealed that a child's age and gender play a key role in app selection. Similarly, Montazami [75] identified five motives behind parents' intention to download apps for their children, i.e. scaffolding, academic utility, the development team's expertise, feedback, and learning theory.

Dias & Brito [33] recently conducted a study to locate the factors that influence the selection of education apps from perceptions of students, parents and app developers. The results showed that students, parents and app developers have different perspectives on selecting apps. Students preferred education apps that afford entertainment. On the other hand, parents were inclined to apps that provide good academic assistance. Their study concluded that since children and parents have contrasting perspectives on app selection, developers struggle to please both.

The review of prior literature shows many gaps in the existing literature. First, although educational apps have emerged as an important learning alternative in most countries, very scant literature is available on the motives behind their usage. Even though educational apps are widely used in developing countries like India, it has not received much scholarly attention. However, a few recent studies [ 30 , 77 ] related to online learning at the time of the COVID- 19 indicated a sudden boom in educational apps downloads. COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the usage of educational apps, and they are slowly and steadily expanding their digital footprints even in remote areas of developing countries like India [ 74 , 77 ].

Second, the above mentioned existing literature on educational apps provides an ambiguous picture of the learners' motives for using educational apps. Although past researchers have observed entertainment, convenience, academic assistance, interactivity and engagement influence students' selection of educational apps, the main objectives behind these studies were not to locate the motivations behind students uses of educational apps. Rather these studies were focused more on app design and its content features. Two of the specific studies by Broekman et al., [16] and Broekman et al., [17] to identify the motives behind using educational apps were from the parents perspective instead of learners. Also, the results of these two studies were conflicting as they identified different sets of motivations unrelated to each other. Thus, the analysis of prior research findings demands an exclusive study on students' motivations for using educational apps from students' perspectives, particularly from developing countries that are largely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. To address the existing research gap, we ask the following research question:

• RQ1 : What are the learner's primary motives for using the educational apps?

In technology adoption research, 'intention to use' is considered an important determinant that reflects the recurring usage of a particular technology [ 113 , 114 ]. Various intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence people's intentions to use new technology. Motives for using a particular technology or the gratification obtained is considered as one of the significant predictors of users' intention to use new technology and applications [88] . Prior studies ([ 21 , 24 , 62 , 97 ]&b) suggest that motivations behind the usage of educational apps influence learners intentions to use them. For example, Camilleri & Camilleri [ [21] &b] have found a positive association between the usage intention of educational apps and social influence.

Similarly, Shroff & Keyes [97] observed that educational apps' interactivity and engagement positively influences learners intention to use them. In the light of these findings, it is plausible to assume that students motives for using educational apps can predict their intention to use them. Hence we pose our second research question:

• RQ2: Which usage motive better predict the intention to use educational apps?

2.1. Gender difference in educational apps usage

Prior research ascertained that males intentions to use the internet and related technology-driven by leisure, entertainment and functional needs, whereas females use the internet and associated applications more for social interaction and communication [ 94 , 116 ]. Moreover, past studies indicate that a gender difference exists in the uses and gratification of smartphone usage. For example, studies [ 3 , 78 ] have ascertained that male and female students' time spent on smartphones is significantly different. Andone et al., [3] observed that females spent more time on mobile phones than males, with an average difference of about 8%. Similarly, Nayak [78] , in his study on students smartphone usage and addiction in India, found that females spent more time on smartphones than male students. As educational apps are a new entrant and most of them are designed to operate on smartphones with an active internet connection, we assume that the intentions to use educational apps are sensitive to gender. Hence to explore the influence of gender in the usage of educational apps, we asked the following research question:

• RQ3: Do the intentions to use educational apps differ depending on the gender of its users?

To address the research questions, we have used the Uses and gratification theory as our theoretical framework.

2.2. Uses and gratification theory

Uses and gratification (U&G) theory is the widely utilised theoretical framework to explain the different motives and reasons behind the usage of any given medium [ 43 , 57 ]. U&G theory assumes that the media can satisfy people's innate needs [91] . Gratifications are conceptualised as the satisfaction people receive when their innate requirements are fulfilled by the media usage that matches their expectations. In other words, gratifications are the perceived fulfilment of one's needs through media usage [83] . The most important tenets of this theory are that users are active, selective, and motivated to use a particular media [ 57 , 87 ]. Hence U&G theory provides a user-centred angle of the various socio-psychological gratifications obtained from a given medium [64] . Although this theory originated pre-digitalisation era, scholars widely used it to examine the gratifications obtained from new communication technologies like the internet [84] and social media [117] .

To address the various challenges and conceptual refinement of U&G theory posed by scholars in the light of emerging technologies, Sundar & Limperos [108] suggested that U&G scholars consider the technology themselves while assessing audiences' media usage gratifications. Sundar & Limperos [108] reviewed prior U&G studies on various media technologies since the 1940s. They pointed out the need to tap the potential gratifications emerging from new interactive media, which gave rise to the MAIN model and U&G.2.0. The MAIN model helps to devise the potential gratifications emerging from new media in the light of four classes of affordances, i.e., modality, agency, interactivity, and navigability. Based on their MAIN model Sundar and Limperos [108] suggested that usage of new media (e.g., smartphones, smartphones' apps) paved the way for new sets of needs, called "medium-specific needs". Therefore, while examining the uses and gratifications from new media technologies besides considering "general needs", researchers should also emphasise emerging "medium-specific needs". Thus, the U&G theory is an axiomatic and robust theory that can examine the gratifications from traditional and new media.

Furthermore, scholars have used U&G theory to study the gratifications behind using new technologies such as mobile phone usage [64] , internet use [ 31 , 84 ], social media [117] and various smartphone applications: E.g. Facebook [ 5 , 100 ], Instagram [ 2 , 96 ], Tinder [105] , TikTok [73] etc. U&G theory was also used to study educational apps in two different contexts. i.e. parents motives for choosing apps for their children ( [17] & 2019) and learners motives for selecting apps for themselves [75] . Therefore, we utilised the U&G theory as our theoretical framework for exploring the intention to use educational apps.

3. Methodology

3.1. scale development.

Because of the availability of scanty literature on the topic under study, we have used a mixed-method [71] approach to develop the scale. The mixed-method uses a qualitative approach and a cross-sectional survey [ 88 , 111 ]. Initially, an open-ended essay writing (Dhir et al., 2017; [111] ) with 58 educational app users was conducted. Open-ended essays are the easiest and most parsimonious method to gather in-depth qualitative data [111] and are widely used by the child and adolescent researchers working on human-computer interaction [ 14 , 56 ]. In qualitative essays, predefined questions or themes were given to the respondents to instigate them and build up and share their ideas and experience.

The samples were selected randomly from the pool colleges in Southern India obtained from their affiliated universities' websites. Twenty colleges were selected initially, and selected colleges were contacted by email and telephone and informed of the study objectives, research procedure and expected benefits from the research. Four colleges were agreed to participate in the study. All the colleges that agreed to participate were private colleges, and the medium of instruction was English. The author, along with the help of teachers, distributed the open-ended survey questionnaire to students who agreed to participate. Students completed the essays between January 2020 to February 2020. Participation in the survey was voluntary, and students were free to withdraw from the survey anytime. The survey was confidential, and no personal information was collected.

The qualitative essays focussed on various issues related to the usage of educational apps. However, in the current study, the focus is only on the uses and gratifications of educational apps. The grounded theory approach [ 9 , 49 , 61 ] with affinity diagramming was utilised to analyse the data collected through the open-ended essays to locate and classify the themes based on their commonalities.

In affinity diagramming, researchers go through essays thoroughly to analyse and record each participant's response. The data analysis was concluded with the development of different themes representing various gratifications obtained from educational apps. The themes obtained were classified and categorised through the uses and gratification theory lens. The qualitative data analysis identified seven themes, i.e. academic assistance, social influence, convenience, entertainment, engagement, novelty and activity. Based on the suggestions of prior literature [ 92 , 111 ], the pool of items that emerged from the qualitative analysis is placed for a review before a group of experts, including professionals in app development and academicians. This expert review was to know whether changes are required in the questionnaire's wording and ensure that the survey instrument is error-free. The questionnaire is also pilot tested among a few students before final data collection. The final questionnaire after the pilot testing depicting seven gratifications was used for final data collection. A five-point Likert scale anchoring between 1(strongly disagree) to 2 (strongly agree) was used to measure the items.

3.2. Survey participants and procedure

The population identified for the study were high school and college students up to post-graduation in the age group ranging from 15-25 years from India. Data collection was done between March 2020 to February 2021. Data collection utilised an internet-based national survey using a snowball sampling method. The targeted respondents were accessed through multiple methods, e.g., hosting the survey links on various social media platforms (like- WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram), asking students who already completed the survey to share among their friends' networks, and requested teachers to post the survey link on online teaching platforms and ask their students to fill the questionnaire.

The resulting sample (N = 552) consisted of 53.3 % female and 46.7 % male students with an average of 18 years. The minimum age of the respondents was 15, and the maximum age was 24. Most of the participants were higher secondary students, followed by graduate students. The average time spent on educational apps in a single sitting is about 47 minutes. The majority of the students (62.6%) prefer to use mobile phones for accessing educational apps (See Table 1 )

Sample characteristics.

N = 552.

3.3. Research model

The researchers used U&G as the theoretical lens and proposed a model consisting of seven different U&Gs as the predictor variables. Prior scholarship [87] suggests that identifying U&Gs is important because these gratifications can influence actual technology use. The intention to use (adapted from [88] ) is the only criterion variable (see Fig. 1 ). Past literature utilised U&G theory to delineate the influence of various U&Gs on usage intentions [ 42 , 67 , 68 ]. Hence, we assume that the U&G theory can provide an axiomatic and closely fitting theoretical framework for identifying the relationship between the U&Gs of educational apps and their usage intentions.

The proposed research model.

Past researchers [ 88 , 108 ] have classified the gratifications of media usage into four main categories: content, process, social and technology. Guided by this, the seven U&Gs emerged from our qualitative data analysis is classified into four dimensions: process (i.e.convenience), social (i.e. social influence), content (i.e. academic assistance, entertainment) and technology (novelty, activity and engagement). The different research hypotheses were developed in the light of this classification and presented below.

3.4. Hypotheses

Academic assistance in this study refers to the academic help extended by the educational apps to learners in the form of audio or video lectures and e-course materials. Educational apps available in the market are designed to help students learn their courses easily [51] . Besides providing extensive information related to the course of study, these apps also help students complete their regular classroom assignments, prepare them for examinations by conducting mock tests, and give extra information about their course beyond their proposed syllabus. The prior literature studied academic assistance provided by the educational apps from different contexts ([ 21 , 22 ]&b; [ 35 , 75 ]). Furthermore, scholars [ 53 , 66 ] have also found a positive relationship between academic assistance and the intention to use educational apps. Therefore we hypothesise that:

• H1. Academic assistance gratification is positively associated with the intention to use educational apps.

Entertainment in the present study refers to designing educational content interestingly to catch the learners' attention. Most educational apps make their content interesting by using entertaining language or with the help of eye-catching pictorial representations or with the help of good quality graphics and animation. Furthermore, such apps are integrated with features that make students play and learn [122] . This kind of gamification approach of education increases learners motivation and engagement by incorporating the game design environment with the educational environment [34] . In addition, some apps use virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) techniques to make their content more interactive and entertaining [ 4 , 20 , 76 , 82 ]. Prior research [ 33 , 39 , 85 ] shows that entertainment is an important aspect of adopting learning apps. Therefore, we propose:

• H2. Entertainment gratification is positively associated with the intention to use educational apps.

Convenience in this study refers to the perceived ease of use of educational apps. Educational apps allow users to install it on their mobile phones or tablets and enable them to access it anywhere anytime [ 13 , 44 , 115 ]. Furthermore, some of the educational apps are stand-alone. It comes preloaded in a tablet which often does not require an internet connection making them more convenient and easily accessible [ 10 ]. Besides these, most educational apps allow users to navigate and filter content and make them read, listen or watch the specific content they require [58] . Also, users can bookmark content and resume or play from the point where they have stopped previous lectures or sessions. In the case of video lectures, students can play, rewind and watch the lecture as much as they want. Also, the convenience of educational apps enables students to learn from their homes even in difficult times of pandemics like Covid-19 [ 6 , 77 , 106 ]. Hence the current study proposes:

• H3. Convenience gratification is positively associated with the intention to use educational apps.

Previous research [88] has identified that peers, family, friends, teachers and various media can influence product purchase and Ist usage intentions. In the context of the study undertaken here, social influence can be identified as the advisements on educational apps from many sources such as friends, peers and mass media. Prior studies have identified social influence as one of the major determinants in adopting new technologies such as mobile applications [ 8 , 46 , 50 , 118 ]. Furthermore, scholars [ 23 , 24 ] have found a positive relationship between the usage of educational apps and social influence. Therefore in the current research, we hypothesise that:

• H4. Social Influence gratification is positively associated with the intention to use educational apps.

Novelty in this study refers to the technological affordances of the educational apps, like their newness and unusual user experience [108] . Novelty is a medium-specific gratification [65] that emerged due to the advancement of user interactions with newer gadgets. Sundar & Limperos [108] classified novelty under modality based gratification and suggest that newer media has given rise to new features like mobile apps. As far as educational apps are concerned, they offer interactive content to engage and comprehend learners easily. In their MAIN model, Sundar & Limperos [108] argue that new media's technological affordances can instigate cognitive heuristics in users. Past studies [ 19 , 55 , 59 ] have found that novelty gratification positively influences the intention to use mobile apps. Hence in this study, we propose that:

• H5. Novelty gratification is positively associated with the intention to use educational apps.

Activity refers to the technological affordance that facilitates real-time interaction with the content and features of the app. Sundar & Limperos [108] argue that interactivity affordances triggers a heuristic and allow users to interact with and through the medium (pp.515). The interactivity affordance makes the digital applications meaningful [ 102 , 107 ]. All the educational apps have an interactive interface that allows the learners to interact with them and keeps them engaged [11] . Also, few studies on mobile apps [ 79 , 119 ] suggest that interactivity positively predict the intention to use mobile apps. Therefore, we assume that interactivity is likely to positively affect the educational apps' usage intention. Hence we state our next hypothesis :

• H6. Activity gratification is positively associated with the intention to use educational apps.

In the current study, engagement refers to the users' degree of involvement with the learning process. Educational apps have many features that help learners stay on the medium and reduce the impediments that distract them. According to Hirsh-Pasek et al., [51] , the quality of the educational apps depends upon their ability to support students engagement with the learning process. Dubé et al., [35] suggested that a well-designed education app creates an environment for the students to experience multi-level engagement, leading to increased interest in learning. Prior studies [ 60 , 62 , 97 ] suggest that educational apps' engagement positively influences their intention to use. Hence we argue that:

• H7. Engagement gratification is positively associated with the intention to use educational apps.

Prior studies suggest that a gender difference exists in the uses and gratification of various media. Andone et al., [3] and Nayak [78] have ascertained that male students' time spent on smartphones and female students is significantly different. They found that female students spent more time on mobile phones than male students. In another study, Zhou & Xu [120] observed that females are lesser competent in adopting new education technologies. Albelali & Alaulamie [1] conducted a study on mobile learning apps among Saudi Arabian students and found that male students had more inclination towards using M-learning apps than females. In the light of prior research, we argue that gender moderates the usage of educational apps. Thus we hypothesise:

• H8 . There is a significant difference in the intention to use educational apps across male and female students.

3.5. Data analysis

The data gathered through essays were analysed with the help of the grounded theory approach [ 15 , 26 , 45 ] using NVivo 12. The survey data were analysed with SPSS 23.0 and AMOS. The research model was tested using the structural equation modelling (SEM) procedure [47] . As part of the procedure, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to establish the proposed research model's goodness of fit and confirm its reliability and validity. After the model was statistically confirmed, then research hypotheses were tested.

4.1. Measurement model

We performed CFA using the robust Maximum Likelihood algorithm [89] . The proposed measurement model was examined using popular goodness of fit indices. The CFA confirmed that the measurement model possess a good model fit with χ 2 / df  = 3.23 , Comparative fit index ( CFI ) = 0.95, Tucker-Lewis Index ( TLI ) = 0.93, and Root mean square error approximation ( RMSEA ) = 0.06 [18] . The final solution of constructs and indicators are depicted in Table 2 .

Factor loadings of measurement and structural model.

4.2. Reliability and validity

The CFA checked the reliability and validity of the measures. Convergent validity is checked by looking into the average variance extracted (AVE) for each study of the measures [47] . (Refer Table 3 ). From the table, it can be seen that all the study measures have good convergent validity and discriminant validity [ 41 , 47 ]. Besides these, the construct reliability scores (CRS) of the study measures were higher than the defined limit, i.e. 0.75 [ 28 , 29 , 81 ], confirming its construct reliability (see Table 3 ).

Mean, S.D, discriminant and convergent validity. EG = Engagement, SI = Social Influence, CN = Convenience, AC = Activity, EN = Entertainment, NV = Novelty, AA = Academic Assistance, IU = Intention to Use, S. D = Standard Deviation, AVE = Average Variance Extracted, MSV = Maximum Shared Variance.

4.3. Structural model testing

The proposed structural model returned a good fit with model fit with χ 2 / df  = 3.23 , Comparative fit index ( CFI ) = 0.95, Tucker-Lewis Index ( TLI ) = 0.93, and Root mean square error approximation ( RMSEA ) = 0.06 [18] . Also, the model explained high percentages of variances [48] , i.e., 49 % of the variance in usage intentions (see Fig. 2 ). The hypotheses H1, H3, and H4 were supported (see Table 4 ) because academic assistance (p < 0.01), convenience (p < 0.05), and social influence (p < 0.001) U&Gs were found to be significant positive predictors of education app usage intentions.

Results of the structural model.

Results of hypothesis (# H) testing.

n.s  = not significant.

The current study's findings are supported by past research [ 22 , 23 , 35 , 75 ] that identified academic assistance as a significant predictor of students usage of educational apps. Scholars [ 23 , 24 ] have found a positive association between the usage of educational apps and social influence. Our study corresponds to this finding by identifying social influence motive as a significant positive predictor of usage intention. Lastly, supporting prior studies [ 6 , 58 , 77 , 106 ], in the current study, convenience gratification obtained from educational apps positively predicted intention to use them.

4.4. Moderation analysis

The final hypothesis in the present research was to check the moderating effect of gender (H8). It has been assumed that the intention to use educational apps differed among male and female students significantly. In the current study, a two-group model is used to find whether gender moderates the intention to use educational apps. The result (see Table 5 ) shows that the intention to use educational apps is significantly varied among the male and female users showing a moderating effect. It is observed that academic assistance and social influence gratifications influence male students' intention to use educational apps, whereas convenience and social influence gratifications influence the female students' intention to use educations apps. This finding corroborates the findings of Zhou & Xu [120] and Albelali & Alaulamie [1] .

Gender as a moderator.

⁎⁎⁎ p < 0.001, **p < .0.01, *p < 0.05

5. Discussion

Recent studies [ 6 , 7 , 106 , 112 ] have shown that COVID -19 pandemic has disrupted the traditional classroom education system, and students were forced to adapt themselves to the online class and learn through apps. Many developing countries like India have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools and colleges were closed for a long time to protect the students from viral infections, and alternative mechanisms such as online learning and learning through apps were put in place to cope with [77] . Educational apps play a vital role among the different measures and methods to cater to quality education during COVID-19. Due to their portability, interactivity and entertaining content, educational apps successfully struck a chord among students, parents and teachers in India (India Today, 2020 [ 54 ]). In the backdrop of this extreme situation, the first research question of the current study was intended to investigate the uses and gratifications behind the use of educational apps. The present study is the first empirical research that looks into the different U&Gs for using educational apps.

Furthermore, the study examines which gratification motive better predict the intention to use educational apps. This study used a mixed-method approach that involved open-ended essays with 58 educational apps users and an internet-based cross-sectional survey with 553 education app users in India during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current research utilised the Uses and Gratification theory as its theoretical framework to locate learners intentions and motivations for using educational apps. This research offers potential theoretical and practical implications for academicians, researchers, educational app developers and app users.

The first research question was stated to identify learners' motivations behind using educational apps. The current study identified seven motivations for using educational apps: academic assistance, convenience, entertainment, social influence, novelty, activity, and engagement. The finding is consistent with the past scholarships [ 16 , 17 , 23 , 33 , 36 , 51 ], which reported that academic utility, convenience, user interactivity, and entertaining content were the motivations behind the adoption of educational apps. Besides this, our study also confirms that parents and students have slightly different motives for choosing educational apps. For example, Broekman et al., [16] identified five gratifications for parents selecting education apps for their children: need for entertainment, information seeking, social interaction, emotional satisfaction and pass time. But, except for entertainment, no other gratifications emerged in our study. Hence our findings support the argument of Dias & Brito [32] that students and parents have contrasting perspectives on app selection.

The first hypothesis of this study examined the relationship between academic assistance and the intention to use educational apps. The current research findings suggest a positive association between academic assistance and the intention to use educational apps. The result indicates that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many students depend on educational apps for learning. This finding corroborates recent literature [ 22 , 23 , 33 , 35 , 66 , 75 ] that suggested the primary intention behind the education applications is academic assistance by bridging the gap between classroom learning and home learning [98] . In the light of this finding, we recommend students, parents, and educators increase the usage of educational apps in academics.

The second hypothesis investigated the association between entertainment gratification and intention to use educational apps. However, the findings of this study were inconsistent with past literature ([ 16 , 18 ]) by identifying no significant relationship between entertainment and the intention to use educational apps. The possible reason for disconnect can be due to the participants under study. Broekman et al., [ [16] , 18] studied parents of primary school children, and our study focussed on high school and college students. Due to their high maturity level, they may be looking for more subject-specific content than entertaining content. Furthermore, Dias & Brito [32] found that young children and parents vary in their criteria for selecting educational apps. Children preferred apps that afford fun and entertainment, whereas parents preferred the academic utility of the apps.

The third hypothesis tested the relationship between convenience and intention to use educational apps. The study result supports this hypothesis which is in line with the findings of the past studies (e.g., [ 16 , 51 ]). The perceived ease of use and accessibility of educational apps make it a convenient learning tool. Also, educational apps offer 'tailorable' and 'controllable' education content [17] that can comprehend easily. Thus, when educational institutions closed at COVID-19, these educational apps slowly and steadily created their niche in the academic arena due to their perceived ease of use and technological advances.

The fourth hypothesis examined the relationship between social influence and the usage of educational apps. The result indicated a positive association between social influence and the intention to use educational apps, which supports the findings of prior literature [ 16 , 33 , 75 , 80 ]. Social pressure often triggers adopting new technology and innovations [99] . Apart from teachers, parents and peers, mass media also significantly influence the intention to use educational apps. Some education app companies are doing extensive media campaigning in India with film stars and celebrities to endorse their learning apps ( [37] , June 11).

Hypothesis H5, H6 and H7 examined the relationship between technological gratifications, i.e. novelty, activity and engagement and the intention to use educational apps. The result indicated an insignificant relationship. In U&G 2.0, Sundar & Limperos [108] suggest that technological affordances such as smartphones and tablets have created new gratifications that have paved the way for novel, interactive and engaging media experiences. However, this study result indicates that novelty, interactivity and engagement are not positive predictors of adopting educational apps. This could probably be because users find it difficult to adapt to this new learning method [30] . In addition, the COVID-19 outbreak forced many students who are not regular educational apps users to migrate to app-based education [63] . Also, the small screen size of the tablets and mobile phones could be another potential reason for the insignificance of technological gratifications. Larger screens have offered more attention and more content absorption than small screens like smartphones and tablets [ 69 , 72 ].

Finally, the current study revealed that gender moderates the relationship between U&Gs and the intention to use educational apps. The results showed that male students intention to use educational apps was more influenced by academic assistance and social influence gratifications. One of the main reasons behind these findings is the gender difference in the usage patterns of mobile phones and tablets. In Indian society, male students get more privileges and access to smartphones much earlier than girls [78] .

6. Contributions, limitations and concluding remarks

6.1. theoretical contributions.

The current research findings have many theoretical contributions. First, the study extended the Uses and gratification theory beyond the conventional media to capture the motivations for using educational apps. The U&G is the most popular and widely used theory to study media usage behaviour and antecedents. However, we have given a new perspective to this theory by utilising it to test the educational app usage intention. We have also statistically tested and validated a model using new measures of education app usage. The developed gratification measures can help the academic community conduct further in-depth research on educational apps.

Second, the study identified three technological gratifications for using educational apps: novelty, activity, and engagement. Thus, this study has validated Sundar & Limperos [108] argument that new technologies have given rise to newer affordances and, in turn, has created new gratifications. However, the study result showed that the new gratifications were not significant predictors of the intention to use educational apps.

Third, we have used the mixed-method approach and proved a sophisticated research method to tap the U&Gs of new and emerging media [110] . Further, this research reaffirms the potential of the mixed-method approach and grounded theory [ 26 , 45 ] in analysing new technologies. The mixed-method approach is the easiest and most parsimonious research method to study new media behaviours of vastly diverse populations.

Fourth, this study identified the moderating effect of gender in the usage intention of educational apps. Thus the current study corroborates past U&Gs research [ 1 , 120 ] that females are lesser competent in adopting new education technologies. Albelali & Alaulamie [1] on internet-related technologies have identified the moderating role of gender. Also, this research upheld the popular argument [78] that in Indian society, boys get more privilege than girls in terms of technological affordances and accessibility.

Lastly, the study is conducted in a developing country, i.e. India, where limited research was conducted using U&G theoretical framework. Ruggeiro (2000) argued that outside the United States, particularly in non-western countries, the U&G theory has limited acceptability. Nevertheless, our study negates this argument by extending U&G theory to study a new media, empirically testing and validating a model using new measures in a developing country outside the United States. Also, India is undergoing a massive transformation in digitalisation initiatives [110] , and the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 has created an increased demand for online education and educational apps. Hence the educational apps industry is expected to grow fast in the coming years. We hope that the current research results will contribute to the growing body of education app-related research and set the stage for further development in the U&G theory.

6.2. Practical implications

The current study has many practical implications as well. Firstly this study identified one of the key motivations behind using educational apps as academic assistance. Hence, we recommend that teachers and parents encourage students to use educational apps as the world is struggling under the clutches of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the education system is disrupted. Educational apps are an ideal alternative learning system that can compensate for the traditional classroom learning system at the time of the pandemic, particularly in developing countries like India.

Secondly, we found that convenience is one of the U&G that predicted the students' intention to use educational apps. Hence, we recommend that the education app designers and content creators develop convenient and easier solutions for students to comprehend easily. Also, since app-based education is a more feasible alternative to mitigate the impasse created by COVID-19, complex disciplines like science and engineering can be taught using more interactive education apps. Students can read/watch/listen to the lectures and course materials anywhere anytime. If feedback and doubt clearing mechanisms are embedded in the educational apps, that can make distance learning more convenient.

Lastly, social influence gratification has emerged as the most significant predictor of the intention to use educational apps. That means the social pressure can create an ideal environment for the adoption of educational apps among students. Hence, the parents, teachers, and peers can influence the students to adopt and migrate to app-based learning. In India, to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic govt of India came with various free educational apps and portals to help the students learn from home. However, many students are unaware, and many have inhibition towards this new learning technology. Hence, based on our study, we suggest that teachers, parents, and peers can influence laggards [90] to use educational apps effectively.

6.3. Limitations and future research

Despite the number of contributions of this research, limitations also exist. First, although the current study has identified a comprehensive number of educational apps usage intentions, it may not be exhaustive. We recommend that future researchers expand the current study to tap more nuanced gratifications of educational apps. Second, data collection utilised a snowball sampling method hence. Although this can be justified against the backdrop of COVID-19, the sample has the inherent limitations of non-random sampling. Thus, based on our findings, we do not claim that generalisations can be made about the whole population. Third, this study is mainly based on education app users in India. Hence, caution must be taken while extending the findings to different cultures in different countries. We expect future researchers to conduct a similar study with a random sampling method in other cultures. Fourth, the current research only conducted a comparative analysis and investigated the relationship of a few antecedents of the intention to use. Hence future researchers can utilise a longitudinal approach to analyse the other constructs that influence the intention to use educational apps. Lastly, the present study examined the moderation effect of only one variable, i.e. gender. Many other demographical, technological, and social factors can moderate the intention to use educational apps. Hence, we recommend that future scholars consider a study from those angles.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The author declares that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.

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How Social Gratification Drives Students to OTT Platforms

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Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms have revolutionized the way we consume media. For students, these platforms offer not just entertainment but also a sense of social gratification that significantly influences their viewing habits. A recent study delves into why students are increasingly drawn to OTT platforms, highlighting the pivotal role of social gratification in this trend.

Social gratification refers to the satisfaction individuals derive from social interactions and the feeling of belonging to a community. For students, OTT platforms provide a unique space where they can engage with content that resonates with their interests and social circles. This engagement goes beyond mere entertainment; it includes discussing shows and movies with friends, participating in online communities, and staying updated with popular trends.

A study, conducted through an online survey of 330 students in India, reveals that social gratification is a major driver behind the increasing usage of OTT platforms. Students, particularly those aged 18-25, find that these platforms offer a convenient way to fulfill their social needs. The research indicates that male students and those pursuing MBA degrees are among the most active users of OTT services.

According to the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT) used in the study, perceived ease of use and social satisfaction are critical factors influencing students' intentions to use OTT platforms. The ability to easily access and navigate these platforms, combined with the gratification derived from social interactions, makes OTT services highly appealing to the student demographic.

Another aspect highlighted in the research is the role of customization in attracting students to OTT platforms. High-priced segment hotels and various industries implement value-based strategies to engage clients, and similar tactics are employed by OTT platforms to retain student users. Customizable viewing experiences, personalized recommendations, and interactive features enhance the overall satisfaction and engagement of students.

For marketers looking to tap into the student market, fostering a culture of engagement through continuous dialogue and participation is crucial. By understanding the social gratification needs of students, OTT platforms can tailor their content and services to better meet these demands. Engaging with students through social media campaigns, interactive features, and personalized content can significantly boost subscription rates and user loyalty.

This also underscores the importance of social gratification in driving students to OTT platforms. As these platforms continue to evolve, understanding and leveraging the social needs of students will be key to sustaining their growth and popularity. For students, OTT platforms are more than just a source of entertainment—they are a vital part of their social lives, providing a space for interaction, engagement, and satisfaction.

Prioritizing social gratification could help OTT platforms thrive in the competitive landscape of digital media, making them indispensable in the daily lives of students.

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