Motivations

Abstract

News consumption requires motivation. This chapter aims to understand user needs and expectancies as motivational factors behind the consumption of mobile news. The three identified motivations of mobile phone use—sociability, entertainment, and surveillance—reveal the underlying reasoning of Asian college students about the mobile phone as an all-in-one media choice that is essential to socialize, entertain, and stay informed. Moreover, surveillance as a civic motivation is positively related to expectancies of mobile news as being interactive and personally valuable. These motivations sought from mobile phone use and usability attributes of mobile news, both civic and practical, manifest the desire of Asian college students to access news on their phones for intentional and active consumption.