Why people watch user-generated videos? A systematic review and meta-analysis

The business ecosystem surrounding user-generated videos (UGVs) is rapidly expanding. However, existing literature on the motivations for UGV consumption presents inconsistencies in findings. This study aims to apply a meta-analytic approach to synthesize the determinants of UGV viewership, moderators accounting for variance in effect sizes, and theories elucidating these associations. Through a systematic search up to March 2023 in five academic databases, 46 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Within the extant literature, 145 antecedents of UGV viewership were examined. They covered two broad categories of video/platform attributes and human factors (i.e., user/viewer-related, streamer/host-related, and socio-cultural). The quantitative synthesis of 72 correlation coefficients, from 48 independent samples with a total of 22,165 UGV consumers, demonstrated that attitude, entertainment, escapism, flow, information seeking, perceived usefulness, social interaction, time spent watching, and usage satisfaction significantly affected UGV spectatorship. Compared to human factors, features of UGVs and hosting platforms are under-researched. Subgroup analyses unveiled the moderating roles of UGV type and viewer gender. To better customize to different viewer segments, more insights into the interactions among video formats, genres, platform functionalities, and viewer attributes are needed.

Automated summary

This study applies a meta-analytic approach to synthesize the determinants of user-generated video (UGV) viewership. The findings reveal that attitude, entertainment, information seeking, and social interaction significantly influence UGV consumption. However, research on the features of UGVs and hosting platforms is lacking.