A social cognitive theory of Internet uses and gratifications: toward a new model of media attendance.

by LaRose, Robert^Eastin, Matthew S.

Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media • Sept, 2004 •

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The relationship of habit and deficient serf-regulation was further clarified. Habit perhaps indicates a failure of the first of the three subfunctions of serf-regulation proposed by SCT, self-observation. As such, this aspect of unregulated media behavior is closely related to notions of automaticity (Bargh & Gollwitzer, 1994). Deficient self-regulation derives from the failure of the judgmental and self-reactive subprocesses of self-regulation. It reflects a conscious failure of self-control wherein individuals struggle with themselves to judge their own behavior against appropriate standards and to apply incentives to moderate their consumption. The findings supported the proposed theoretical relationship between the two constructs wherein deficient self-regulation adds to habit strength.

Internet self-efficacy causally preceded Internet usage and was in turn determined by prior Internet experience as it was in previous college student samples (Eastin & LaRose, 2000). The hypothesized relationship between self-efficacy and habit strength was not observed, falling just short of statistical significance. It appears that self-efficacy acts on habit strength through expected outcomes. The inattentiveness to one's own behavior that signals habit formation thus could be more determined by a gradual cessation of active thinking about outcomes/gratifications rather than inattentiveness accompanying task mastery.

The lack of a causal connection between experience and habit strength, despite a significant zero-order correlation (r = .30, p < .001), belies the rival "tautology hypothesis" about the role of habit in human behavior; namely, that habit is "just" prior behavior and that relationships between two measures of behavior are not theoretically meaningful. An alternative causal model in which a direct link from experience (prior behavior) to usage (current behavior) was hypothesize also failed to produce a significant relationship, and did not diminish the causal link between habit and usage, again despite a highly significant zero-order correlation (r = .35, p < .001) between experience and usage. These findings suggest that habit strength indeed has an impact on behavior that can be described in social cognitive terms.

The Internet emerges from the present study as something of a distinctive medium, but perhaps not in ways previously described. It is not primarily a social medium (e.g., Papacharissi & Rubin, 2000), but also a medium through which enjoyable activity, self-reactive, monetary, novel (i.e., informational), and, above all, status incentives can be obtained. That the Internet is a medium of social interaction is indisputable, but a question now arises as to the purpose of the social interaction. Prior research surrounding the Internet Paradox (Kraut, Patterson, Lundmark, Kiesler, Mukophadhyay, & Scherlis, 1998) focused on social interaction as a means of securing social support and thereby improving psychological well-being. Now it appears that social status, not social support, might be the prime mover in Internet usage. Perhaps by finding like-minded individuals on the Internet and expressing ourselves in those venues we enhance our social status. Or, recalling Turkle's (1995) Life on the Screen ethnography, perhaps the Internet is a means of constantly exploring and trying out new, improved versions of our selves. From this we should begin to empirically explore online personal development (as self or with virtual others) as well as social maintenance (a support mechanism).

Limitations

The generalizability of the present research is limited by the geographic scope of the sample. The sample contained disproportionately small representations of young people and males. As a one-shot survey study, the direction of causation cannot be established. Indeed, within SCT reciprocal causation is recognized. For example, self-efficacy is a precondition for successful performance of a behavior, but successful performance also increases self-efficacy.

Implications for Further Research

Internet usage was broadly defined. Future research might distinguish Internet applications (e.g., e-mail vs online chat), functions (e.g., entertainment vs news Web sites), or settings (e.g., work vs leisure). However, in keeping with the operational procedures recommended in SCT, it will be important to match the explanatory constructs (e.g., expected e-mail outcomes, e-mail self-efficacy, e-mail habits, etc.) to achieve satisfactory results.

Habit strength, deficient self-regulation, and self-efficacy might extend to other forms of media attendance. Many media consumption behaviors (e.g., tuning in the evening news) would seem to be habit-prone. While few mass media require skills as complex as the Internet, there are perhaps parallel media self-efficacy constraints. Anyone who has ever given up recording a favorite show because programming the recorder was "too much hassle" may be said to suffer from a self-efficacy deficit. Television addiction has been described (by Kubey & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002) in the same terms of behavioral addiction that underlie deficient self-regulation. Here, we found the construct useful in explaining media attendance in a normal population of media consumers; perhaps that would extend to other media as well.

The present research suggests new departures from uses and gratifications traditions. Redefining gratifications as expected outcomes may have merit on both conceptual and operational levels. Secondly, gratification dimensions from previous research may have neglected some potentially important variables, particularly the status that media attendance may confer. Third, habit strength appears to be a distinct construct from gratifications, as early conceptualizations (e.g., Palmgreen et al., 1985, p. 17) observed, but later research neglected.

More fundamentally, the present findings suggest that active selection of media that best meet personal needs is not the sole mechanism explaining media attendance. Active selection dominates when new media alternatives appear or when personal routines are disrupted. Self-efficacy beliefs about one's ability to utilize alternative media channels may also contribute to media selection. Thereafter, repeated consumption is increasingly habitual and automatic as we turn our attention elsewhere. Once habits are established, users no longer think through whether one alternative or another is a better way of obtaining a particular outcome. Users still monitor their overall level of Internet usage and apply self-reactive incentives to adjust the amount to appropriate levels, as defined by personal or social norms. But some users may lose the power to self-regulate, perhaps through a process of operant conditioning (cf. LaRose et al., 2003) to self-reactive outcomes, and in extreme cases they might develop a media dependency. SCT provides a framework for integrating uses and gratifications mechanisms with these competing influences on individual media attendance. Table 1 Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Scale Results

Scale/Item Mean S.D. beta Expected Outcomes:

Activity Outcomes [chi square] = 7.9,

df = 2, [alpha] = .79 4.55 1.40

Cheer myself up 4.10 1.70 1.00

Play a game I like 4.30 2.09 .98

Feel entertained 5.12 1.48 .77

Hear music I like 4.67 1.82 .75

Monetary Outcomes [chi square] = .1,

df = 1, [alpha] = .73 4.53 1.28

Find bargains on products and services 4.88 1.64 1.00

Save time shopping 4.51 1.96 .73

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