Binge-watching Uncovered: Examining the interplay of perceived usefulness, habit, and regret in continuous viewing

Abstract

Binge-watching has become one of the most popular ways for people to spend their free time. Binge-watching refers to watching more than two episodes of a television show in a single sitting. This pattern of behavior can be seen in people of a wide range of ages, but it is particularly widespread among people of millennial age and younger. In this study, we propose a model that explains binge-watching engagement by theorizing and testing the association of social influence on perceived usefulness, regret on the continuous intention of binge-watching, and habit on continuous intention and binge-watching engagement. The authors evaluated the model using data collected from 225 respondents. The results supported the proposed hypotheses and confirmed that regret does not neutralize the positive – and strong – effect of perceived usefulness and habit on binge-watching.

Keywords

• Binge-watching
• Continuous intention
• Engaging behavior
• Habit
• Regret
• Social influence