Motivations and Perceptions Related to the Acceptance of Convergent Media Delivered through the World Wide Web

Abstract

The convergence of entertainment and communications media in broadband World Wide Web delivery channels promises to provide modern consumers with a wealth of information and data utilities in the home. Best evidenced by the impending synthesis of media content and media delivery in the form of the AOL/Time Warner merger, this developing innovation of a single-channel rich content information utility in the household suggests the need for understanding the complex and diverse motivations attendent to the adoption of new media and new technology merged into a single commercial entity. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the well-understood technology adoption precepts of the technology acceptance model (cf., Davis, 1989; Venkatesh & Davis, 1996; 2000) in concert with the media-use motivation theories arising from adaptation of the uses and Gratifications (U&G) perspective, with particular emphasis on the emerging effects of social gratifications for Internet use.