Motivations for the complementary use of text-based media during linear TV viewing: An exploratory study

Abstract

The phenomenon of complementary use of text-based media, such as social media or instant messaging (IM), during linear TV viewing has been growing. This represents a new pattern of TV consumption, and is worth studying from a business as well as an academic perspective. In this paper, we present our findings from an exploratory study of 66 users who were interviewed to determine their motivations for the complementary use of text-based media during linear TV viewing. Five major use motivations were identified: communication about the impressions of a broadcast; information sharing and seeking; feelings of coviewing; curiosity about others’ opinions; and program recommendations. We classified use motivations according to program genre, and also conducted a comparative analysis on how use motivations differ when using KakaoTalk (a form of instant messaging) and Facebook. Our work clarifies the use motivations of text-based media during TV consumption, which has not been addressed in previous studies, and provides insights into implementing text-based media that is complementary to linear TV viewing. Most interviewees in this study, however, were KakaoTalk users; future studies should explore users of more diverse types of text-based media.