T10 Male 22 Taiwanese Full time student Undergrad student
T11 Female 25 Chinese Full time student and part-time job Master’s student N1 Female 24 Hispanic (Puerto
Rican, Guatemalan)
Production coordinator Bachelor’s Degree
N2 Female 26 Caucasian (Greek, French and German-Jewish)
Billing coordinator and Executive Assistant to Group COO
Bachelor’s Degree
N3 Female 25 Hispanic (Puerto Rican) & Arab (Jordanian)
Adevencement Services Coordinator Bachelor’s Degree
N4 Male 26 Hispanic (Salvadorian/
Ecuadorian)
Full time student and graphic design for an exhibition Internship
Master’s student
N5 Female 25 Asian (Chinese/
Burmese)
Junior Account Executive at a Jewelry Company Bachelor’s degree N6 Male 26 Caucasian (Eastern
European-Bulgarian)
Laboratory technician / Trivia host (4hrs a week- evenings)
Bachelor’s degree
N7 Female 25 Caucasian (Eastern European-Russian)
ESL teacher Bachelor’s degree
N8 Male 26 Caucasian (Irish) Retail Bachelor’s degree
N9 Female 30 Caucasian Head of Product Bachelor’s degree
N10 Male 23 Caucasian Sales clerk Bachelor’s degree
*T=Taipei/ N=New York
3.3. Data analysis
Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview data (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Using this analysis technique allowed the researcher to find, analyze, and describe the patterns within the data; furthermore, it was suitable for interpretation (Vaismoradi et al., 2013). Thematic analysis often focuses on codes and themes (Marks & Yardley, 2004). Hence, Braun and Clarke (2006) suggested six phases in analyzing the data, 1) familiarizing with the data, 2) generating initial codes, 3) searching for themes, 4) reviewing themes, 5) defining and naming themes, and 6) producing the report, to find the themes and codes.
This study itself already had seven codes and 22 sub-codes based on the literature review and research questions. However, three new sub-codes— spatial presence, parasocial breakup, and social interaction— emerged in the interview data from the Grounded Theory approach and were incorporated under their respective codes. Ultimately resulting in seven codes and 25 sub-codes. Hedonic motivations and instrumental motivations were adapted from the U&G Theory
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and were used to answer RQ1. Hedonic motivations consist of entertainment (Sung et al., 2015b) and escapism (Rubenking et al., 2018). Instrumental motivations consist of social goals (Rubenking et al., 2018), and passing time and reducing boredom (Merikivi et al., 2017).
Immersive flow was adopted from Flow Theory and was used to answer RQ2. Immersive flow consists of intense concentration, loss of self-consciousness, time distortion, intrinsic enjoyment (Nakamura and Csikszentmihályi, 2009) and the emerging sub-code, spatial presence (Weibel &
Wissmath, 2011). Binge-watching behavior was used to answer RQ3, consisting of time spent, device use, content and service types, and viewing context. Lastly, affective, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes were adapted from MSDT, which was used to answer RQ4. Affective outcomes consist of relaxation (Panda & Pandey, 2017), mood change (Boudali et al., 2017), loneliness (Sung et al., 2015a), feeling anxiety and/or guilt (Boudali et al., 2017; Steiner & Xu, 2018) and the emerging sub-code, parasocial breakup (DeGroot & Leith, 2015). Cognitive outcomes consist of information (Sung et al., 2015b) and well-being (Merikivi et al., 2017).
Lastly, behavioral outcomes consist of productivity loss (de Feijter et al., 2016), habit (Sung et al., 2015b), health problems (Sung et al., 2015a) and the emerging sub-code, social interaction (McQuail, 2010).
Table 3 Coding Scheme
Codes Sub-Codes Definition Reference
Hedonic motivation
Escapism A behavior employed to distract oneself from
real life problems Rubenking et al., 2018;
Young et al., 2017 Entertainment The demand of joy by using the media and to
fulfill the need of socialization
Sung et al., 2015b;
Gros et al., 2017 Instrumental
motivation
Social goals To achieve the goals for socialization, such as co-viewing, social interaction, and discussing
Amuse and serve to make time pass agreeably and reduce the feeling of boredom
Merikivi et al., 2017;
Intense and focused concentration on the
present moment Nakamura and
Csikszentmihályi, 2009 Loss of
self-consciousness
Loss of reflective self-consciousness as a social actor
Time distortion Distortion of temporal experience Intrinsic
enjoyment
Experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding
Spatial Presence A state of consciousness that gives the Weibel & Wissmath,
‧
impression of being physically present in a mediated world
Device use Mobile, tablet, laptop, TV or dual screening
Content types Different types of dramas (e.g., romance, horror, sit-coms, etc.) OTT TV
platforms and services
The third-party video services that deliver film and TV content without wall-gardened online system
Viewing context Situation in which binge-watching behavior takes place (i.e., location, individual or group viewing)
Affective outcome
Mood change Change in disposition as a result of an external influence
Boudali et al., 2017;
Sierzchula et al., 2016 Relaxation A state with the absence of tension and anxiety
and is often seen as the polar opposite of stress, anxiety or tension nervousness associated with activation of the autonomic nervous system as well as realizing themselves transgressing a moral, social, or ethical principle
Loneliness Perceived experience of social deprivation Sung et al., 2015a;
Donovan et al., 2016 Parasocial
breakup
A situation where a character with whom a viewer has developed a parasocial relationship goes off the air because a show is on a break or ends causing feelings of emptiness, grief and loss
DeGroot & Leith, 2015
Cognitive outcome
Information Any difference people perceive, in the environment or within themselves that bring changes in their take on the world
Sung et al., 2015b;
Mai, 2016 Well-being Positive mental health, life satisfaction, or
happiness that is personally fulfilling
Merikivi et al., 2017;
Freeman et al., 2014 Behavioral
outcome
Productivity loss Decreased productivity as a negative effect due to excessive use
de Feijter et al., 2016;
Bian & Leung, 2014 Habit A phenomenon whereby behavior is prompted
automatically by situational cues, as a result of learned cue-behavior associations, form through repetition of behavior in a specific context
Sung et al., 2015b;
Gardner, 2015
Health problems Physical fatigue, obesity and other health issues resulting from binge-watching
Sung et al., 2015a Social
Interaction
Interaction that develops around media use helps people to incorporate it into everyday life as a friendly rather than an alienating presence
McQuail, 2010
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Chapter 4 Results
Binge-watching in this study is defined as the video viewing behavior with excessive or intensive consumption of audiovisual content within a short period of time. This study focuses on investigating drama binge-watching as its immersive content usually triggers consecutive viewing. This section will discuss the findings from the semi-structured interviews to answer the research questions of this study. The chapter begins with a general description of the participants’ demographics and some information regarding their binge-watching behavior to understand the beginning part of the binge-watching process. This will be followed by the analysis of the motivations, psychological status, binge-watching behavior and outcomes of Millennial OTT drama binge-watchers by comparing similarities and differences of Taiwanese and American participants.
4.1. General description of the interviewee’s profiles and binge-watching behavior
The section discusses the general description of the participants’ demographics and some essential information regarding their binge-watching behavior, which provides insight to understanding the individual drama binge-watching process.
4.1.1. Interviewee’s profiles
For this study, 21 participants, 11 Taiwanese and 10 American, were interviewed. Overall, the participant’s ages ranged from 22 to 30, the average age being 24.7. The gender balance among all the participants was 48% males and 52% females. Forty-eight percent of the participants are full time students and 52% are full time employees. In regards to education, 62% have or are pursuing a Bachelor’s degree and 38% have or are pursuing a Master’s degree.
There were 11 Taiwanese participants interviewed, of which 55% were male and 45% were female. As ethnic identities sometimes are treated as a political issue in Taiwan, participants in Taipei self-identified themselves as follows: 64% selected ethnic Chinese; three participants (27%) consider themselves Taiwanese, and there was also a Half Hakka, Half Hoklo-Taiwanese