Why Business People Use hte World Wide Web. An Application Of Uses And Gratifications Theory

This survey study examines psychological and functional uses of the World Wide Web among US and Mexican business communicators. It applies uses and gratifications theory, which addresses the attitudes and behaviors that have been identified with television viewing motives, to new communication technologies. A total of 71 business communicators and students were asked how and why they used the Web, their attitudes toward it, and how their use of other media had changed since they started using the Web. Results indicate that the Web performs some functions similar to traditional media, and that U.S. and Mexican business communicators use the Web for news, business, and education. Both Mexican and U.S. users apparently are motivated to access the Web to pass time or out of habit, for arousal, to escape, to relax, and for social interaction. Study results indicate that the Web is not supplanting use of other media, but that some Web users tend to rely less on printed forms of communication such as magazines and newspapers, and that they read less for pleasure. The concept of flow is proposed as potentially useful for future research.

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