Why read online news? the structural relationships among motivations, behaviors, and consumption in South Korea

• Published in: Information, communication & society Vol. 16; no. 10; pp. 1574 - 1595
• Main Authors: You, Kyung Han, Lee, Seoyeon Allison, Lee, Jeong Kyu, Kang, Hyunjin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01-12-2013; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: actual consumption; Bootstrap mechanism; bootstrapping; Consumption; Cross sections; Cross-sectional analysis; Electronic newspapers; Electronic periodicals; Forecasts; Information Society; Information Sources; Internet; Korea; Motivation; News; News wire services; online news; Reading; South Korea; structural equation modeling (SEM); User behaviour; Users; uses and gratifications (U&G); Web sites; South Korea
• ISSN: 1369-118X; 1468-4462
• DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2012.724435

Using cross-sectional data (N = 811) implemented by the Korea Information Society Development Institute, this study investigated the effects of online users' motivations (information-seeking, entertainment, and social utility) for reading online news on their online news usage and consumption in South Korea. Consistent with our predictions, the motivations were associated with in-depth reading. Our findings also indicated that in-depth reading mediated the association between the motivations for using and the actual use of online news, whereas interactions and source-checking did not mediate the relationship. The implications of the study and recommendations for future research directions are also discussed.