binge-watching media consumption covid-19 isolation
Abstract:
Binge-watching culture has become a well-known practice associated with the increase in viewer engagement with television and streaming platforms (Flayelle, et al., 2019). This method for watching programs possibly rose in popularity following the period of isolation and increased reliance on media experienced by many individuals during the quarantining phases of the Covid-19 pandemic (Bu, et.al., 2020). Thus, this study was designed to explore the question as to which psychological factors motivate people who are high-level binge-watchers. These experiments collected data from two online surveys: one that assessed psychological factors like depression, loneliness, and engagement; and the other that examined the same factors, with the addition of the influence of Covid-19 as a variable. The findings indicate that there was little significance in the effect that the psychological motivators examined had on binge-watching behavior and media consumption. This was important in helping to show that individuals may not be psychologically motivated to binge-watch in the way the study predicted, and, therefore, the influence of high binge-watching levels may have other motivators.
