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Chapter 5
Discussion and Conclusion
The previous chapter discussed motivations, psychological status, binge-watching behavior and outcomes of the binge-watching process for Taiwanese and American Millennial OTT users. For them, the most salient motivations to binge-watch were entertainment and passing time and reducing boredom. During the viewing segment intense concentration and time distortion were the most prominent psychological status while engaging in drama content consumption, which is reinforced by the fact that most participants prefer to conduct their binge-watching behavior alone at home mostly during the evening and late night. Lastly, the most marked outcomes were the affective outcomes relaxation, feeling anxiety and/or guilt and mood changes. Information as a cognitive outcome and social interaction as a behavioral outcome were the other prominent effects of the binge-watching behavior in the participants.
This chapter is comprised of two different sections. The first section discusses the findings, including the motivations, psychological status, binge-watching behavior and outcomes of young OTT drama binge-watchers, and presents the general conclusion of this study. The last section delineates the contributions and limitations of the study and suggests possible directions for future investigation.
5.1. Discussion and conclusion
Previous studies regarding binge-watching have mostly focused on motivations and outcomes of binge-watching, with some focus on advertisement effects on viewers and OTT platform services. However, aside from researching motivation and outcome factors, this study explored a new segment of this behavior which has been previously unexplored, the psychological status young OTT TV users find themselves in when conducting a drama binge-watch. This present investigation sheds light on the Millennial OTT drama binge-watchers’ linear binge-watching behavior by examining individuals’ different motivations (e.g., hedonic and instrumental) to use media; examining OTT TV users’ psychological status (e.g., immersive flow) while engaging in
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drama binge-watching; inspecting OTT TV users’ behavioral patterns (e.g., time spent, devices used, content and service types, and context) when binge-watching a drama; and investigating the outcomes (e.g., affective, cognitive, and behavioral) for OTT TV users after they binge-watch dramas. Furthermore, this study explores the cross-cultural differences and similarities of OTT TV users in USA and Taiwan.
Drawing from the pre-viewing motivations data analysis, it was clear that in regard to hedonic motivations, binge-watching for entertainment purposes was the strongest motivator for Millennial OTT users to binge-watch dramas. The interview data showed that regardless of the content, if binge-watchers were interested in the drama they would feel excited to watch it and feel elated because of viewing. In regard to instrumental motivations, passing time and reducing boredom was a strong factor influencing the participants to binge-watch. Drama binge-watching becomes a tactic that they utilize to make time go by faster or divert themselves when they have nothing else to do. Ultimately, the motivations from the data analysis are congruent with previous studies, which identified escapism (Rubenking et al., 2018), entertainment (Sung et al., 2015b), social goals (Rubenking et al., 2018), and passing time and reducing boredom (Merikivi et al., 2017; Sung et al., 2015b), as motivators influencing binge-watchers.
When in the midst of conducting a drama binge, viewers go through a process of immersive flow, they experience intense concentration, time distortion, loss of self-consciousness, intrinsic enjoyment and the emerging sub-code from the interview data, spatial presence. In this segment of the binge-watching behavior, sometimes participants seemed a little uncertain when answering their status when immersing in the drama content, perhaps due to the fact that during the immersive flow the psychological status is engaged in what is happening in that moment in the drama. In this section, content plays a big role on the level of engagement and immersion that the viewers experienced. If the content makes the viewers think, like House of Cards, they are more likely to engage, furthermore the genre, storyline, dialogue and characters have to agree with their particular preferences or they will not engage. Furthermore, if the content is more light-hearted, like Friends, the viewer might be more prone to get distracted as it is not necessary to pay too much attention to grasp the storyline. This situation explains intense concentration, which seems to be the prevalent status participants find themselves in in when they are highly
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focused on the drama. If the content is not engaging their concentration will decrease and this is when multitasking might occur. Furthermore, time distortion seems to also be linked to content.
The more engaging the content, the more the viewer will be immersed in the storyline and potentially lose track of time. Usually highbrow content, content that makes the viewer think, is the most engaging content because the viewer has to be alert and focused on what occurs in the drama to follow the storyline, for instance dramas like Westworld or Altered Carbon. Moreover, creative content like Game of Thrones, which has multiple storylines in different locations of a fictional continent and is placed in a fantastical medieval setting with dragons and magic, is another example of dramas that are highly engaging to viewers, leading to a continuing immersive psychological status. Lastly, in this segment of the study there was an emerging sub-code for Immersive Flow, spatial presence. While not many participants experienced spatial presence, all of which were Taiwanese, this sub-code has never been found in regards to flow in binge-watching behavior. However, it had been previously linked to flow within the video game realm that gives the players a state of consciousness that gives the impression of being physically present in a mediated world (Weibel & Wissmath, 2011).
In the after viewing outcomes, from the data analysis it is clear that specific affective outcomes have great impact on the drama binge-watchers, which are relaxation, feeling anxiety and/or guilt, and mood change. In past studies, Steiner and Xu (2018) found that participants felt guilt after conducting a long binge of dramas. In previous studies, relaxation was mostly found as a motivation for binge-watching, for instance in Steiner and Xu’s (2018) and Sung et al. (2015b) studies. However, from the data analysis, relaxation was an affective outcome of drama binge-watching. Similarly, in past studies, Rubenking et al. (2018) found managements of mood as a motivation; however, in this study mood change presented itself as an effect of binge-watching, not a motivation. Lastly, parasocial breakup was an emerging affective outcome sub-code from the data analysis and it has never been mentioned in past literature in regard to binge-watching.
Parasocial breakup has been associated with grief and loss in regard to the end of TV shows, and loss of characters, actors and celebrities within the show (DeGroot & Leith, 2015; Cohen, 2003).
For cognitive outcomes, information seems to be the most important one. However, in past literatures information emerged as a motivation (Sung et al., 2015a). From the analysis, this study’s participants always gained new information or knowledge after conducting a drama
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binge, either from the content of the drama or searching information online. Behaviorally, the greatest outcome is social interaction, which is an emerging sub-code from the data analysis and had been found in past literature (Sung et al., 2015a). The participants felt that binge-watching dramas allowed them the accessibility to discuss not only with friends, but also with strangers and individuals they just met regarding topics of dramas—be it storyline, characters, actors, quality, etc.—through face to face or online interactions.
In regards to cross-cultural comparisons, binge-watching behavior can be quite similar between the Taiwanese and American participants. However, there were some slight differences in motivations, psychological status and outcomes that were affected by personal choices, lifestyle and content. For motivations, American participants were more prone to binge-watch because they wanted to escape reality, which could be resulted from the fact that most American participants were full-time employees with more work-related stressors, while most of the Taiwanese participants were students with or without part-time jobs. In comparison, their Taiwanese counterparts were more prone to binge-watch because of social goals, which could also be influenced because most Taiwanese participants were younger than the Americans and were also students, meaning they are constantly socializing in the school environment. In the immersive flow segment, their experiences were mostly the same; however, the Taiwanese participants were the only ones that experienced spatial presence. For both groups of participants content played a key role in their psychological status experience—the effects of content will be further explained in the following paragraph. For the outcomes segment, the variations were greatly in the affective outcomes. Taiwanese participants experienced a much higher sense of anxiety and/or guilt than their American counterparts, which according to some Taiwanese participants could be due to the importance Taiwanese culture places on education. When binge-watching the Taiwanese participants tended to delay their schoolwork to continue binging a drama causing this affective outcome and also causing the productivity loss behavioral outcome.
Americans experienced a higher level of loneliness due to lack of human contact than the Taiwanese participants, which could be due to their lifestyle as the majority are full-time employees living in New York City—a hectic and busy city. In the data Taiwanese participants mentioned that in Taiwan younger viewers tend to follow drama trends, especially Korean dramas with attractive actors or actresses. Comparatively, American participants mentioned that
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binge-watch and it was a more acceptable behavior that everyone discusses openly. However, it is important to point out that participants felt that binge-watching was more of personal choices than the cultural influences on their binge-watching process.Table 5. Taiwan and USA differences and similarities
Codes Sub-Codes Differences Similarities
Taiwan USA
Hedonic motivation
Entertainment No differences Used drama binge-watching as an
activity that would make them have a good time and have optimistic feelings about life.
Escapism No differences They wanted to evade their school
work and assignments, office workload, emotions, difficult situations, and their current reality through the act of binge-watching dramas. For them, binge-watching became a gateway to another reality where their real-life problems did not matter and did not affect them, at least while engaging in drama consumption
No differences Quite similar for both groups of
participants; however, it was
interesting that a few of the Taiwanese and American participants thought binge-watching when there is nothing else to do to reduce boredom).
Social goals The only difference
and interesting finding friends or to keep up with friends to discuss or bond later, and to
recommend dramas to others, to name a few reasons.
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concentration They mostly do it to experience high level of intense and focused concentration due to content they were highly interested in; however, if the content became boring, they might have started looking at their phone, surfing the internet and checking their social media platforms.
If the content was interesting, viewers were invested in the storyline and needed to know what happened next, losing track of time.
Usually this enjoyment seemed to be due to how fast they watched a series or how many episodes they consumed at one time. Accomplishing such a feat seemed to be an essential reward.
Only 2 American participants felt an accomplishment by finishing a drama
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outcome Relaxation No differences Binge-watching the content the
participants were interested in helped them physically and
mentally/emotionally distress and relax. Furthermore, the characters play a key role as they become vessels for the viewers to release their emotions through the character’s life and experiences through the show.
Feeling anxiety and/or guilt
No differences Not all participants felt anxiety and guilt at the same time, but they were caused due to not finishing their work, wasting their time instead of being productive or active; or experienced anxiety due to the content
Mood change No differences Occurred naturally due to the content or due to specific chosen content to change specific emotions or mood.
Loneliness No differences Occurred after a long binge with no
human contact and no one being around the participant by the end of the binge.
Parasocial breakup
No differences Participants experienced this feeling
due to the end of their relationship with the characters; having no more seasons to watch or another drama to watch next; and having no knowledge of what happens next to the characters.
Cognitive outcome
Information They learn mostly from the content
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No differences Better able to open conversations and
interact with others by discussing with others (friends or strangers) and recommending dramas.
Health problems
No differences For both groups of participants
binge-watching dramas has short-term and long-term effects on them. What could be seen as long-term effects, like disrupted sleeping patterns causing tiredness, straining their eye or weight gain might not seem dire health issues to them at the moment. However, left unchecked, sleep deprivation or weight gain could lead to neurological issues, cardiovascular issues and other
It seems that it is personal schedule and preference that affects the binge-watching behavior of the Taiwanese and American participants. Even if they work or study, the participants fit in binge-watching when they have the time or when they are in the mood.
However, for those who work, their habits change on the weekend when they can binge-watch all day.
Content plays a very important role throughout the drama binge-watching process. The participants need to be interested in the content to potentially lead to a binge-watching session.
Personal choices, in regards to genre and story interests, and lifestyles, in regards to how much available time they have to binge-watch, will influence what drama series they will chose to
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binge-watch. Specifically, content is essential in the psychological status of the immersive flow segment. If the content is not engaging enough, once the viewer is in the immersive flow segment, they will most likely lose focus and either start multitasking—like playing games on their phone or doing chores—or they will stop watching the drama. The content has to be interesting for the viewers, no matter what motivates them to watch a drama, so the binge-watching process can occur. Genre, storyline, specific actors and actresses, characters and sometimes even aspects like length of the episode, the length of the series, the dialogue and filming quality play an important role to create attractive content for the viewers. Additionally, content has a great impact on the outcomes, especially in regard to the affective outcomes—like relaxation, mood change, and loneliness.
While most of the outcomes tended to be positive for the participants, there were some negative outcomes that impacted their life, which were the behavioral outcomes health problems and productivity loss. Health was the second most salient behavioral outcome. Participants experienced short-term effects related to lack of proper nutrition, lack of physical activity, and insufficient sleep, to name a few. If left untreated, these seemingly innocuous effects could cause major health problems on the long-term. What could be seen as long-term effects, like disrupted sleeping patterns causing tiredness, straining their eyes or weight gain might not seem dire health issues to them at the moment. However, left unchecked, sleep deprivation or weight gain could lead to neurological issues, cardiovascular issues and other diseases associated with heavy weight that could potentially develop over time. Lastly, binge-watching caused the participants productivity loss, affecting their school and office work. By binge-watching they made the conscious choice to postpone important work, chores, responsibilities and sleep, which later on caused them to feel the affective outcome feeling anxiety and/or guilt.
MSDT functioned as a lens to understand the relationship between media systems (OTT binge-watching videos) and the audience (Millennial users), looking at dependency and the outcomes.
Through the data analysis, the “dependency” caused by the reliance relationship between media (drama binge-watching) and audience is most apparent in the affective outcomes relaxation and mood change; and the behavioral outcome habit. In regards to the affective outcomes, the participants became dependent to some degree on the media to be able to destress or to change
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negative emotions about their own day. Behaviorally, for habit only one American participant was heavily dependent on the media, which impacted her life negatively. In general, participants from both Taiwan and the USA made clear statements that while before they did tend to depend more on drama binge-watching, they are now making conscious efforts not to rely on it so much as before as for it not to have a great impact on their daily life (e.g., in their school, work and social life).