3. Methodology
3.2. Pretest: Exploratory Stage
3.3.2. Measures
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39 and lived in the U.S. who had an Instagram account and used Instagram Stories.
Next, they were asked to respond to questions pertaining to their motivations for using Instagram Stories, followed by questions about their engagement with Instagram Stories, emotional outcomes, and social media dependency. Finally, participants were asked to provide demographic information, including age, biological sex, educational levels, usage time, and number of the followers/followings.
3.3.2. Measures
The survey included questions to understand the characteristics of the Instagram Stories users, the uses and gratifications items, Instagram Stories engagement, the resulting emotional outcomes, and social media dependency on Instagram Stories.
3.3.2.1. Motivations for Using Instagram Stories
Participants’ motivations for using Instagram Stories were measured by utilizing 38 items generated from the results of the pretests and the U&G literature (Kaye & Johnson, 2002; Kim, 2016; Lee et al., 2015; Papacharissi & Rubin, 2000;
Sheldon & Bryant, 2016). Using the guiding statement “(w)e would like to learn about your usage of Instagram Stories. Please check the statements below that reflect why you use Instagram Stories,” participants were instructed to indicate their
perceived level of agreement for each item that described their uses and gratifications for Instagram Stories on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 2 = disagree; 3
= somewhat disagree; 4 = neutral; 5 = somewhat agree; 6 = agree; 7 = strongly agree) (see Table 5).
Table 5
Motivation Items for using Instagram Stories No. Items
1 To keep in touch with family and friends.
2 To have conversations with others (e.g., chats, gossip, etc.).
3 To maintain a good relationship with others (for networking).
4 To meet/connect with others who have similar interests.
5 To interact with brands.
6 To browse products/services (e.g., clothes, shoes).
7 To buy products/services (e.g., clothes, shoes).
8 To pass the time when bored.
9 To share information about me (e.g., feelings, updates, etc.).
10 To share information I think is interesting (e.g., reposting).
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3.3.2.2. Instagram Stories Engagement
To measure social media engagement in terms of consumption, participation, and creation behaviors on Instagram Stories, the instrument was adapted from Muntinga et al.’s (2011) and Schivinski, Christodoulides, and Dabrowski’s (2016) research to know the frequency of participants’ Instagram Stories use, while the wording was modified to fit in the context of Instagram Stories. Considering the limited time of Instagram Stories and to avoid any recall biases, participants were asked to answer the questions based on their social media usage in the past week.
In terms of consuming Instagram Stories, two questions were used in the questionnaire, such as (1) “In the past week, how often on average do you use Instagram Stories by viewing others’ Stories?” and (2) “In the past week, how often on average do you swipe up others’ Instagram Stories?”. A total of two questions were asked to understand participants’ frequency of contributing to Instagram Stories, such
Table 5 (cont’d)
Motivation Items for using Instagram Stories No. Items
11 To promote certain topics.
12 To explore.
13 To get free information without much effort.
14 To learn about new things (e.g., watching tutorials, etc.).
15 To keep up with current issues and events of the day.
16 To receive exclusive contents in real time.
17 To get updates on my family and friends.
18 To follow influencers/celebrities.
19 To see what other people share.
20 To record things that happen in my daily life.
21 To create my own portfolio (e.g., vlogging).
22 To receive responses from others.
23 To feel like I belong to a community.
24 To self-promote.
25 To become popular.
26 To show off.
27 Because it is easy to use.
28 Because it is entertaining.
29 Because it is enjoyable.
30 Because it is fun.
31 Because it is casual.
32 Because it is functional.
33 Because it is convenient.
34 Because it is real.
35 Because it is private.
36 Because it is new.
37 Because it disappears after 24 hours.
38 Because I can receive some benefits (e.g., giveaways, coupons).
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as (1) “In the past week, how often on average do you use Instagram Stories by responding to Stories features created by others (e.g., poll stickers, emoji reactions etc.)?” and (2) “In the past week, how often on average do you reply to others’
Stories?”. Three questions were used to understand participants’ frequency of creating Instagram Stories, such as (1) “In the past week, how often on average do you post your own Instagram Stories?,” (2) “In the past week, how often on average do you share something (e.g., music, reposting other stories etc.) to your Instagram Stories?,”
and (3) “In the past week, how often on average do you post your own Stories with Instagram Stories features (e.g., digital filters, texts, draws and handwritings, links, etc.)?”. Three levels of engagement were assessed ranging from 1 (never), 2 (not once this week), 3 (once this week), 4 (2-3 times this week, 5 (4-6 times this week), 6 (once a day), to 7 (several times a day): consuming (r = 0.53, p < .01), contributing (r = 0.82, p < .01), and creating (α = .90), whereas the index of engagement (α = .90) composed of consumption, contribution, and creation was also computed.
3.3.2.3. Emotional Outcomes
Based on research literature (Richins, 1997), eight types of positive emotions (α = .91) (i.e., romantic love, love, peacefulness, contentment, optimism, joy,
excitement, and surprise), and eight types of negative emotions (α = .93) (i.e., anger, discontent, worry, sadness, fear, shame, envy, and loneliness) were measured and assessed by asking participants to respond to the guiding query of “How often do you experience any of the feelings when you used Instagram Stories?” on a 7-point scale (1 = never; 2 = very rarely; 3 = rarely; 4 = sometimes; 5 = often; 6 = very often; 7 = all the time). An index of emotional outcomes (α = .88) comprised positive and negative emotions was also computed.
3.3.2.4. Social Media Dependency
Social media dependency (α = .94) on Instagram Stories was measured by three sub-constructs adapted from Caplan (2010) and Thadani and Cheung (2011a): (1) mood regulation, emphasis on the motivation for using the Internet to reduce
distressing feelings; (2) cognitive preoccupation, reflection of obsessive thinking about the Internet; and (3) compulsive Internet use, indication of problems with impulse control, all of which indicate that users need to use Instagram Stories to
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obtain gratifications and reflect their addictive usage. The items were modified to fit in the Instagram Stories context and assessed by asking participants to rate the
corresponding levels of agreement on a 7-point Likert scale to the statements in terms of mood regulation: (1) “I use Instagram Stories to interact with others when I feel isolated,” (2) “I use Instagram Stories to make myself feel better when I am down,”
and (3) “I use Instagram Stories to make myself feel better when I feel upset.” Besides, statements related to cognitive preoccupation were also included: (1) “I think about Instagram Stories if I cannot use it for some time,” (2) “I miss using Instagram Stories if I don’t have access to it,” (3) “When not on Instagram Stories, I wonder what I miss out,” (4) “I am not at ease if I cannot go on Instagram Stories,” and (5) “It is hard to stop thinking about what is being shared and what can be shared on Instagram Stories.”
As for measuring participants’ compulsive Instagram Stories use, the guiding
statements were: (1) “I want to, or have made unsuccessful efforts to, limit or control my use of Instagram Stories,” (2) “I feel guilty about the amount of time I spend on Instagram Stories,” (3) I have tried to stop using Instagram Stories for long periods of time,” and (4) “I have attempted to spend less time on Instagram Stories but have not been able to.” The scale was anchored from 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (disagree), 3 (somewhat disagree), 4 (neutral), 5 (somewhat agree), 6 (agree), to 7 (strongly agree).
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CHAPTER 4 RESULTS
The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 25 software to perform reliability tests, descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, multiple regressions analysis, and path analysis. The sample demographic characteristics, and the descriptive statistics of motivations for using Instagram Stories, engagement with Instagram Stories, emotional outcomes of Instagram Stories use, and social media dependency were reported in Table 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.
To answer RQ1, a factor analysis was performed to come up with specific motivations that accounted for Instagram Stories use, while multiple regression analyses were used to answer RQ2 and RQ3. Lastly, a mediation analysis was utilized to look at H1, H2, and H3 all together to examine the relationships among Instagram Stories engagement, positive and negative emotions, and social media dependency.