Title: A longitudinal study on the effects of motivational mobile application uses on online news engagement

Authors: Ji Won Kim; Sunyoung Park; Yoonmo Sang

Addresses: College of Social Sciences, School of Communications, Dankook University, 152, Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, 16890, Korea ' Department of Master of Science in Clinical Psychology, Graduate School of Psychology, California Lutheran University, 60 West Olsen Road #4250, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360, USA ' News and Media Research Centre, Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra, 11 Kirinari St., Bruce ACT 2617, Australia

Abstract: Based on four-wave panel data, this study explored the relationships between different uses of motivational mobile applications and online news engagement. Three motivational mobile application uses - informational, recreational, and relational - were identified and rank-ordered according to respondents' everyday mobile application preferences. Results showed that only relational mobile application use had positive relationships with online news engagement. Results further indicate that over the four-year period examined (2013-2016) only the use of relational mobile application led to continuous growth of online news engagement. This study advances the literature on mobile communication not only by introducing results of a longitudinal study that challenge and support conflicting previous findings but that also provide support for the possibility of the mobile facilitation hypothesis.

Keywords: mobile facilitation hypothesis; uses and gratification; four-wave panel survey; structural equation modelling; mobile application; informational use; recreational use; relational use; online news engagement; South Korea.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMC.2020.107103

International Journal of Mobile Communications, 2020 Vol.18 No.3, pp.327 - 342

Received: 23 Oct 2017
Accepted: 18 Oct 2018
Published online: 04 May 2020 *

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