Media Use as Habit

Abstract

Media habits provide an alternate explanation to rational‐based models of media selection. These habits are learned media routines emerging after repeated media consumption that are cued by internal and/or external stimuli. Media habit formation involves the complex storage of specific media‐related behavioral sequences as mental representations in memory. These behavioral sequences are automatically initiated given salient cues without conscious self‐instruction. Media habits can be interpreted as both good and bad behaviors with variations of strength in either direction. Bad habits, however, have received far greater attention in research on media habits, and they have been understood as deficient self‐regulation of media use, problematic media use, and even media addictions. Theory, although still nascent, has been able to explain the locomotion of media habits from development to their outcomes. Moods, psychological states, location of media use, time of day, and one's social environment, among other things, can serve as stable cues that encourage the development and maintenance of media habits. Once a media habit is imprinted, it could have positive or negative effects in media consumers' lives. Good media habits are responsible for social connectivity and relational success, whereas bad media habits are tied to relational failures and occupational or academic troubles. Future research pursuits in the area of media habits involve strengthening its conceptual understanding, reinforcing its theoretical tenets, and continuing to refine the instruments used to measure media habits.