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1) to develop a U & G approach specifically for examining the use of the World
Wide Web.
2) to identify key factors representing consumer motivations for utilizing specific Web
sites.
3) to link these factors to key indicators related to the computer and the Web.
METHOD
As demonstrated in previous television studies, the general approach to
building a U&G profile is to determine key motivations for using (i.e., gratifications
sought from) a particular medium. The current research accomplished this through
a traditional factor analytical procedure, which is consistent with the work of Bantz
(1982) and Levy and Windahl (1984). First, a list of descriptors that were
representative of Web use and gratification were identified. Second, principal
components analysis was used to reduce this list of descriptors into key underlying
motivation dimensions.
In this research design, the unit of analysis was at the individual level,
concerning user motivations to access Internet resources. The sampling frame of each
of the two parts of the study consisted of current Web site users who selfselected
themselves for participation in a convenience sample. Non-response issues were
not feasible to address, given the self-selection process and our commitment to
participating site operators to not contact their Web site visitors. However, given the
richness of the actual site user data, the tradeoffs involved were considered reasonable in
exchange for access to current customers of Internet Service Providers ( Benbasat
& Zmud, 1999).
PART 1
The first part of the study sought to develop a list of descriptive adjectives
corresponding to the specific motivations of Web users. In order to accomplish this,
cooperation was obtained from HotWired, a major Internet-themed Web site.