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Article

Understanding Social Media Users’ Mukbang Content Watching: Integrating TAM and ECM

by
Hyo Geun Song
William F. Harrah College of Hospitality, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89557, USA
Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 4013; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054013
Submission received: 30 January 2023 / Revised: 15 February 2023 / Accepted: 17 February 2023 / Published: 22 February 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Marketing Driven by Social Media and Consumer–Brand Relationships)
Browse Figure
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
The purpose of this research is to examine the precursors of a social media user’s purchase intention and intention to watch mukbang content. This study collected empirical data from 399 social media users who had viewed mukbang content and used smart PLS to analyze the data. This analysis found that vicarious satisfaction and attractiveness of content performers had an effect on attitudes toward mukbang. Moreover, this study found that perceived ease of use and attitude toward mukbang content had an impact on the intention to watch mukbang content. Furthermore, the intention to watch mukbang was a motivator of purchase intention regarding food items in mukbang content. This study contributes to the literature by investigating the influence of mukbang watching on purchasing intention.

1. Introduction

In recent years, social media has begun to affect people’s lives in a variety of ways [1]. Alongside mass media, people watch various types of online content and selectively access channels tailored to their tastes. For example, social media users consume many types of content and share information through social media [2]. Some companies promote their products or services through social media. Sole proprietorships also use social media as a commercial platform for their businesses [3]. Furthermore, live commerce has created a new type of market by connecting multiple potential customers and sellers [4], while governments and public institutions use social media to promote campaigns and policies.
Since the emergence of social media, the vital role of image-based or video-based content in such media has been highlighted [5]. Food-related content providers have played an important role in this trend by creating content not only in textual form but also in video formats [6]. In the food industry, by being an effective tool for delivering food-related information, social media has expanded the scope of communication via the experiences of users [7]. Social media is not only an important marketing channel for the food industry [8] but also a great way to create sustainable relationships with future consumers [4].
The expansion of social media has promoted the mass production of user-generated content (UGC) through personal broadcasting. One example of UGC is mukbang, which attracts enormous engagement as social media users enjoy watching content performers eat different foods. A mukbang is an online broadcast in which a content performer consumes various types of food while interacting with viewers. Mukbang is one UGC film genre. It is a video of a person having food while communicating with an audience [9]. Mukbang has a variety of contents such as studio-based mukbang or outdoor-based mukbang. For instance, contents performer uploads food tour mukbang videos showing a variety of street foods in a tourist destination. Viewers of mukbang experience vicarious satisfaction, confirmation, and usefulness of mukbang while consuming mukbang content. Moreover, content performers constantly communicate with viewers, and viewers sense the content performers’ attractiveness. To explain this phenomenon, the main motivation of this study is identified as a determinant of intention to watch mukbang and purchase intention of the food item in mukbang. On YouTube, the number of searches for “mukbang” reached about 365,000 in 2021 in the United States [10]. Mukbang content is important because it provides various benefits to consumers and increases the commercial value of the food being consumed. For instance, when viewers watch a content performer eat, they experience vicarious satisfaction as if they were eating the food themselves. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the purchase intention and watching intention of mukbang viewers. Its ultimate goal is to explain the behavior of mukbang users by identifying the determinants of mukbang watching on social media platforms.
This study fills a number of gaps in the literature and contributes to the literature in several ways. First, the research explores social media users’ behavioral intentions with the approach described in the following. The research noted that viewers of mukbang content use information technology (IT) devices, expect new types of content, and purchase items featured in mukbang videos. For this reason, the study reflects technological variables, expectation/satisfaction-related factors, and purchasing factors. Prior research has mainly focused on the satisfaction generated by mukbang content [11,12] rather than on purchasing or technological factors. This study considers the variables of the technology acceptance model and purchase intentions more comprehensively than previous research. Second, the present study differs from the literature by examining factors related to content performers. Because watching mukbang involves communicating with content performers [13], variables related to the latter may play a vital role in generating mukbang-watching intentions. This research outlines the predictors of attitude toward mukbang watching by introducing the attractiveness of content performers and vicarious satisfaction as variables. Third, the study examines the satisfaction created by mukbang content through the expectation–confirmation model [14]. Social media users’ confirmation, perceived usefulness, and satisfaction may systematically explain their intention to watch certain content. By taking this approach, this research can illuminate social media users’ purchasing intentions regarding food items in mukbang content. Existing studies mainly focused on behavioral intention independently. Unlike previous studies, our study aims to verify both behavioral intentions, which are mainly used in research related to information systems and purchase intentions, which are used in research related to marketing. Furthermore, existing UGC-related studies have mainly applied only one of the technology acceptance models (TAM) and expectation–confirmation models (ECM) to the research model. However, this research integrated TAM and ECM to address mukbang viewers’ behavioral intentions. The research questions are as follows:
  • What is the effect of the intention of watching mukbang content on the purchase intention of the food items in mukbang?
  • How do factors of technology adoptions and confirmation affect the intention to watch mukbang and purchase intentions?
  • What is the impact of vicarious satisfaction and attractiveness on attitudes toward mukbang content?
This study has seven sections. Section 2 reviews the literature related to the study’s model. Section 3 describes the model and hypothesis testing. Section 4 presents the measurement tools and data collection. Section 5 illustrates the findings of the statistical analysis. Section 6 discusses the findings from Section 5. Finally, Section 7 contains the study’s practical suggestions, theoretical implications, and limitations.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Social Media Content

As social media has consistently attracted viewers, the market related to it has grown considerably. Several researchers have analyzed social media. Bhattacherjee [15] extended and applied the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explain the actions of social media content viewers. According to this study, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral controls have significant effects on behavioral intentions. Ref. [16] examined social media users’ content watching and sharing behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic by integrating TPB and uses and gratifications theory. The study confirmed that attitudes impact people’s intentions to watch and share content on social media.
Some researchers have focused on mukbang watching on different types of social media platforms. Social media plays a vital role in inspiring users, sharing opinions, and influencing decision-making processes. Mukbang is a phenomenon facilitated by video-based social media, such as YouTube [17]. According to [18], vicarious satisfaction is a unique characteristic of mukbang content and a main predictor of mukbang watching. Gwon [19] also showed that vicarious satisfaction is an important reason for watching mukbang videos. According to [20], the attractiveness of the mukbang performer is a core predictor of purchase intention on social media platforms. Viewers who find the content performer attractive are likelier than other users to develop a purchase intention for the food items shown in the mukbang video [21].
This literature review demonstrates that several studies have documented the importance of vicarious satisfaction and content performer attractiveness in the mukbang phenomenon. In this research, vicarious satisfaction and performer attractiveness may affect social media users’ attitudes toward mukbang content. Furthermore, this research intends to examine the effects of attitudes toward mukbang on the purchasing of food items following viewers’ engagement with mukbang content on social media. Table 1 summarizes the literature regarding mukbang.

2.2. Technology Acceptance Model

The technology acceptance model (TAM) is based on the theory of reasoned action and was created to explain users’ adoption of IT [27]. According to [27], perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are the main determinants of technology acceptance [28]. Davis [28]’s TAM suggests that perceived usefulness directly affects behavioral intention. Since the mid-1990s, there has been active research on the TAM in various fields [29,30].
Some scholars have tried to explain the act of watching mukbang videos by introducing the main variables of TAM—perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness [31,32]. Gweon [32] explored the motivation for watching mukbang content by combining the use and satisfaction approach and TAM, thereby confirming that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use affect continuous-use intention. Lin et al. [31] examined how the characteristics of mukbang impact dietary self-efficacy. The study found that the two variables influenced self-efficacy in all generation groups. Since mukbang viewers may prefer to watch content that poses no learning difficulties, ease of use may have a significant effect on viewing intention.
As this discussion shows, there is little research on mukbang watching based on the TAM. However, it is reasonable to hypothesize that users may be more inclined to watch a mukbang video if doing so is easier or if the video is more useful than other content. Therefore, based on TAM, this research sought to confirm the relationship between perceived usefulness and ease of use and intention to watch mukbang content on social media platforms.

2.3. Expectation–Confirmation Model

The expectation–confirmation model (ECM) was developed by [14] to explore users’ continuance intention. Bhattacherjee [14] showed that users’ intention to use is dependent on the extent of perceived usefulness, confirmation of their expectations, and satisfaction with the IT service being used. Satisfaction refers to users’ evaluations of their experience with the service [33]. According to the ECM, users’ perceived usefulness and confirmation of expectation influence satisfaction [14]. Confirmation of expectations also leads to perceived usefulness and satisfaction [14,33]. Furthermore, perceived usefulness and satisfaction determine the intention to use an IT service [14,33,34].
A variety of studies have applied ECM to the context of online content. Thong et al. [35] used this conceptual model to investigate the behavior of mobile service users. The author found that users’ confirmation of expectations impacted their satisfaction with online content and the perceived usefulness of such content. Chen et al. [36] identified the major predictors of online content users’ confirmation, which were satisfaction, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and perceived enjoyment.
As the above review shows, studies of the factors that impact the intention to watch content on social media are rare. However, in the social media context, it is possible to suggest that mukbang viewers may be likely to watch the content if it satisfies their expectations. Hence, based on the ECM, this study tested the relationship between confirmation of expectation, perceived usefulness, satisfaction, and intention to watch mukbang content on social media.

3. Research Design

This study’s conceptual model is based on several theories and prior research. Although previous studies offer insight into exploring users’ continuance usage of social media, their explanation of mukbang-watching behavior, which is based on adapting TAM and modifying a variety of factors, is insufficient. The ECM, which was initially developed to explore users’ continuance intention, has been adapted to the IT field. Therefore, this research integrated TAM and ECM to address individuals’ watching behavior in relation to mukbang content.
Based on the ECM perspective, this study posits that confirmation significantly affects perceived usefulness and satisfaction. It also argues that perceived usefulness positively influences satisfaction and intention to watch mukbang videos, and that satisfaction affects intention to watch. Based on the TAM perspective, the study postulates that perceived ease of use influences the intention to watch. This suggests that attitude is influenced by attractiveness and vicarious satisfaction. Furthermore, this research also suggests that the intention to watch influences the intention to purchase the food items shown in mukbang content. Given these theoretical foundations, the following research model is presented (Figure 1).

3.1. Confirmation

Confirmation of expectation refers to an individual’s subjective evaluation of their achievement compared to their expectation [37]. Prior research has shown that confirmation impacts perceived usefulness and satisfaction [38].Chiu et al. [39] also found that confirmation leads to perceived usefulness and satisfaction in the field of technology. According to [40], confirmation of expectations positively affects the satisfaction and perceived usefulness of IT services. Therefore, one may assume that when mukbang viewers perceive that their experience with a video exceeds their expectations, they will be more satisfied with it and may perceive it as more useful. Hence, this study proposes that confirmation positively influences perceived usefulness and satisfaction.
H1a. 
Confirmation has a positive influence on perceived usefulness.
H1b. 
Confirmation has a positive influence on satisfaction.

3.2. Vicarious Satisfaction

Vicarious satisfaction is a vital reason for watching UGC [18]. According to [19], UGC users feel vicarious satisfaction and fun thanks to content performers; they also form a consensus through real-time communication and feel comfortable, as if among friends. Previous research has shown that users fulfill their needs for eating by vicariously feeling the satisfaction content performers derive from eating [41]. Kircaburun et al. [24] found that watching mukbang videos helped users feel a sense of belonging, as it provided vicarious satisfaction and communication opportunities with the content provider and the other viewers. If users feel considerable satisfaction when watching mukbang content, they may want to see more of it. Thus, this study hypothesizes that vicarious satisfaction affects attitudes toward mukbang content.
H2. 
Vicarious satisfaction has a positive influence on attitude.

3.3. Attractiveness

The relationships people develop with digital celebrities have been found to be important in media use [42]. Regarding mukbang, content performers are influential because media users can easily have relationships with them via communication tools [4]. The attractiveness of the content providers plays an important role in these relationships [20]. The more viewers perceive a performer as being attractive, the more they will trust him/her. Ultimately, this will create a favorable attitude toward the content produced by the performer. Therefore, this research suggests that the attractiveness of content providers affects users’ attitudes toward mukbang content.
H3. 
Attractiveness has a positive influence on attitude.

3.4. Perceived Ease of Use

Perceived ease of use refers to the degree to which a user believes that technology is easy to understand and use [27]. The easier the product or service is thought to be, the more confidence and value it has for the user [43]. Gweon [32] wanted to explain the technology adoption of mukbang users. This study confirmed a positive relationship between mukbang users’ perceived ease of use and continuance use intention. The easier it was to watch a mukbang video, the likelier users were to watch it. Furthermore, the greater the ease of viewing, the greater the viewers’ satisfaction. For this reason, this research predicts that perceived ease of use enhances the intention to watch mukbang content.
H4. 
Perceived ease of use has a positive influence on intention to watch mukbang.

3.5. Perceived Usefulness

Perceived usefulness is defined as the degree to which an information system is perceived as producing benefits in achieving certain activities [27]. Rauniar et al. [44] sought to explain consumers’ behaviors based on the TAM. This study confirmed that perceived usefulness has a positive impact on intention to use social media. Gweon [32] explored the behavior of mukbang users. This study showed that mukbang’s perceived usefulness affected continuance use intention regarding mukbang content. When mukbang helps viewers and provides them with useful information, they want to watch it more. In addition, the more useful mukbang is, the greater the satisfaction of viewers. Accordingly, this research proposes the following hypotheses:
H5a. 
Perceived usefulness has a positive influence on intention to watch mukbang.
H5b. 
Perceived usefulness has a positive influence on satisfaction.

3.6. Satisfaction

Satisfaction has been validated as a vital factor in information system (IS) success [45,46,47]. User satisfaction represents an overall evaluation of an IS; it consists of an emotional response to the IS experienced by the user [48]. Phonthanukitithaworn & Sellitto [49] confirmed the relationship between satisfaction and behavioral intention in social media. Furthermore, according to [11], mukbang users’ satisfaction may have an impact on behavioral intention. If viewers feel greater satisfaction while watching mukbang content, they want to watch the content more. Hence, this research predicts that satisfaction linked to mukbang content increases the intention to watch said content.
H6. 
Satisfaction has a positive influence on intention to watch mukbang.

3.7. Attitude

Attitude is defined as an individual’s evaluation of a certain action or phenomenon [50]. It has been proven to play a crucial role in improving an individual’s behavioral intention [51,52]. Online users want to watch vivid visual examples of items for services and products [53]. This is because they can know detailed information by using IS [54]. Mukbang is a great tool for presenting food items on social media [14]. Benefits while consuming a product or service lead to more favorable attitudes toward that product or service [55], which influences behavioral intention [22]. The more positive the attitude toward mukbang, the likelier social media users are to watch other mukbang videos. Therefore, this study postulates that attitude toward mukbang content affects the intention to watch mukbang videos.
H7. 
Attitude has a positive influence on intention to watch mukbang.

3.8. Intention to Watch

Several TPB-related studies have shown that behavioral intention has an impact on other behaviors [56]. According to [42], a greater intention to continue watching videos could lead to a higher interest in the activities they feature. In the mukbang context, users may decide to purchase foods featured in the video. According to [57], the intention to watch social media content influences the intention to purchase food items. Mukbang viewers may receive a “push” from a content performer on social media. Therefore, this research suggests that the intention to watch mukbang content affects purchase intention.
H8. 
Intention to watch mukbang has a positive influence on purchase intention.

4. Research Methodology

4.1. Measurement Instrument

The survey items for this study were taken from the literature to guarantee the validity of the constructs considered in the analytical framework. However, the items were modified to fit the mukbang environment. A 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 7 (strongly disagree) was utilized to evaluate all the variables except for demographic data and frequency. For the pilot test, data were collected from 39 respondents. These individuals shared their opinions about expressions in the questions, difficult-to-answer questions, and content. After reflecting on the respondents’ comments in the pilot test, the main survey was conducted.

4.2. Questionnaire Design and Data Collection

The survey was carried out by Qualtrics, a professional internet market research firm. The sample consisted of social media users who had watched mukbang videos in the past 12 months and focused on investigating their experiences. Based on a consultation with Qualtrics’ research designers, the survey was administered from 7 October to 10 October 2020 to social media users in the United States. By using reverse coding projects and attention trap questions, this study ensured that attention constraints in the online survey were overcome. After removing the insincere responses, 399 valid responses were obtained. The individuals who took the survey came from a variety of backgrounds. Among the 399 respondents, 65.1% were male, and 34.9% were female. The majority were in their 20s (42.1%), followed by those in their 30s (27.8%), those in their 40s (16.5%), and those in their 50s and over (10.0%). Regarding annual household income, 22.1% of the respondents earned $50,000 or less, 47.6% took home earnings between $50,001 and $150,000, and 30.3% of the respondents earned more than $150,000. The measurement items used in this research are shown in Appendix A Table A1.

5. Results

The study’s theoretical framework was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Compared to SEM, which is based on covariance techniques (e.g., LISREL and AMOS), PLS-SEM has the advantage of having fewer limits on the distribution of sample sizes and residuals [58]. First, the validity and reliability of the measurement model were tested; then, the structural model was evaluated.

5.1. Measurement Model

By using confirmatory factor analysis, this study tested the convergent validity, reliability, and discriminant validity of the measuring scale. Reliability was tested by evaluating composite reliability (CR) and Cronbach’s alpha. The estimates for CR and Cronbach’s alpha of all the constructs reached the recommended criteria of 0.70 [59], showing good reliability. The study also assessed convergent validity by testing the survey items’ factor loads. As the factor loading values of every item exceeded 0.70, convergent validity was achieved [59]. Table 2 shows the results of the reliability and validity tests. With factor loadings ranging from 0.822 to 0.948, this research shows strong convergent validity [60]. Furthermore, to investigate discriminant validity, the AVE values of the factors were compared to the correlation values for that column or row. The square root of the constructs’ AVE exceeded the correlations between that construct and the others [61]. Table 3 shows that all the factors satisfy this condition. The table also presents the results of the discriminant analysis and the correlation matrix.

5.2. Structural Model

To evaluate the hypothesized paths among the constructs, an SEM was tested using PLS. To test the proposed hypotheses and path coefficients, this study used a bootstrapping approach (bootstrapping subsample = 5000). Table 4 shows that 7 of the 11 paths in the research model are supported.

6. Discussion

This research attempted to find predictors affecting purchase intention in the case of mukbang watching. This topic has been investigated by combining the major constructs in TAM, the proximal components in the ECM, and the motivational variables of mukbang.
The findings show that confirmation of expectation does not affect perceived usefulness and satisfaction. This may be because many of the respondents did not perceive mukbang as very useful. They watched mukbang on social media to relieve their daily stress or to pass the time. For them, the mukbang had a hedonic value rather than a utilitarian value. Unlike other informational content on social media, mukbang has a low level of information in terms of quantity and quality. Respondents perceived the usefulness of mukbang as relatively low. Therefore, it seems that these results were derived from the analysis.
The analysis shows that the attractiveness of the content performer positively affects attitudes toward mukbang content. This result supports the conclusions of a previous study [22]. One possible explanation is that when consumers find content providers attractive, they have a positive attitude toward mukbang.
This research shows that vicarious satisfaction is a significant antecedent of attitude toward mukbang. This finding confirms the existing research [62]. The reason is that when consumers receive vicarious satisfaction from the social media content, they have a more favorable perception of it.
Perceived ease of use positively impacts the intention to watch mukbang. This conclusion has been validated in previous social media research [44]. This implies that if mukbang content is easier to use, social media users will watch more of it.
The analysis shows that perceived usefulness has a positive effect on the satisfaction generated by mukbang content. Similar evidence has been found in existing studies, where perceived usefulness enhances satisfaction in social media environments [63].
The results of the present study indicate that satisfaction with mukbang content is not positively related to the intention to watch mukbang. One possible explanation for this is that the respondents did not obtain a high level of satisfaction from watching mukbang videos. This is because mukbang content on social media is supplied in great quantities. Even if many viewers achieve a sense of temporary and superficial satisfaction while watching mukbang, they seem to have little desire to find and watch similar content in the near future.
The findings confirm that attitude is a predictor of intention to watch. Attitude toward social media content has been found to affect behavioral intentions in the social media environment [64,65]. This may be because the more favorable users’ perceptions of social media are, the likelier they are to watch content via social media.
Finally, the intention to watch mukbang predicts the intention to purchase food items featured in the mukbang videos. The significant relationship between the intention to watch content and purchase intention has been validated in related research [42,66]. Some mukbang users may feel that mukbang content improves their intention to purchase relevant food items.

7. Conclusions

7.1. Theoretical Contributions

This study makes the following four theoretical contributions. First, it integrates TAM and ECM, which are solid models in the field of IT, and adds contextual factors to explain the behavior of social media users who watch mukbang videos. Hence, this research showed how factors of technology adoption and confirmation affect the intention to watch mukbang and purchase intentions. Previous studies have mainly focused on the satisfaction derived from mukbang content to explain the behavior of social media users [11,12]. This research, however, focused on the fact that viewers go through a technical acceptance process and have a continuance intention to watch mukbang. Furthermore, this study examined the representative elements that form the attitude of mukbang viewers. Future scholars will be able to suggest a new model by combining TAM and ECM in the context of social media research, as this study has.
Second, this article makes a new contribution to the field of social media marketing by demonstrating the role of mukbang watching in this field. The study confirmed the relationship between the intention to watch mukbang content and the intention to purchase food items shown in mukbang videos. Through this, this research confirmed the effect of the intention to watch mukbang content on the purchase intention of the food item in mukbang. Given this study’s broad perspective concerning the role of social media content in relation to purchasing intention, confirmation of this relationship is significant. Considering this, future researchers need to continue exploring which types and compositions of mukbang can stimulate consumption.
Third, this article makes a meaningful contribution to future scholarship by revealing the effects of content performer attractiveness and vicarious satisfaction on attitude. Therefore, this research uncovered the impact of vicarious satisfaction and attractiveness on attitudes toward mukbang content. By confirming that the attractiveness of content performers and vicarious satisfaction are key factors in online media watching, this study contributes to the literature by including new variables in social media research. Future scholars could thus explore the determinants of content performer attractiveness and vicarious satisfaction in the context of social media.
Fourth, in this study’s model, the R2 value of intention to watch mukbang was 60.4%, and the R2 value of purchase intention was 49.4%. R2—the evaluation of the coefficient of determination—is the explanatory power of endogenous latent variables. Although there are no clear criteria in this domain, [67] suggests that 0.19 indicates weak explanatory power, 0.33 signals medium power, and 0.67 or more shows significant power. Therefore, values of 60.4% and 49.4% reveal fairly high explanatory power. Future scholars may modify this research model to explore more robust explanatory mechanisms.

7.2. Practical Implications

This study has three managerial implications. First, the analysis reveals that the intention to watch mukbang improves the intention to purchase food items featured in mukbang videos. Therefore, content developers need to provide mukbang content to potential consumers through multiple channels. Furthermore, companies need to make it possible for users to enjoy a variety of benefits through mukbang content, such as special discounted prices for mukbang viewers. By improving users’ intentions to watch mukbang on social media, companies can expect to influence consumers’ purchasing behavior and ultimately build long-term relationships with them.
Second, this research reveals that perceived ease of use affects the intention to watch mukbang content. Therefore, managers of social media companies should provide a variety of tools to make mukbang easier to watch. For example, creating a mukbang category on a social media platform that allowed easier access to mukbang content would increase consumers’ mukbang watching. Ultimately, this strategy would improve purchase intention related to food items featured in mukbang content.
Third, this study shows that perceived usefulness has no impact on the intention to watch mukbang content. Therefore, when consuming mukbang content, it matters little whether the dimension of usefulness is lowered. Rather than on usefulness, marketers should focus on how to improve the attractiveness of content performers and vicarious satisfaction.
Fourth, this study verified the significance of vicarious satisfaction and attractiveness on attitude. Therefore, practitioners need to make various attempts so that viewers can feel more vicarious satisfaction. For example, content providers can increase viewers’ vicarious satisfaction by showing ‘extremly expensive food’ or ‘food that cannot be eaten in their own country’. Furthermore, mukbang content organizers can try new content to make viewers feel more attracted to content performers. For example, while content providers eat seafood, they can wear clothes related to seafood and decorate various interiors related to seafood. These theme-based service escapes can not only increase the attractiveness of the content providers but also can increase viewers’ immersion in the content.

7.3. Limitations

This research has three limitations. First, it does not explain the characteristics of mukbang. Mukbang may vary according to the type of content. There are videos that include cooking and videos that focus only on eating. Mukbang content users generally prefer a specific type of video, which may have an impact on the intention to watch or purchase intentions. Therefore, future study is necessary to examine mukbang content by considering its different types. Therefore, future research needs to examine mukbang content by considering its different types. Second, this study surveyed only one country. To improve the generality of outcomes, future research needs to conduct surveys in several countries. Conducting a survey in several countries would enhance the generalizability of the results. Third, although this study wanted to reflect on real business practices, an analysis of profit improvement and viewing improvement was not performed. Hence, future research ought to verify the objective impacts of each variable on the intention to watch mukbang and purchase intentions. Lastly, this research conducted a cross-sectional study. On the other hand, users may show different behavior according to time. Hence, follow-up research including a longitudinal analysis needs to confirm the several effects of mukbang.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Institutional Review Board of UNLV (protocol code [1652304-2]) on 9 September 2020.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

Not applicable.

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Appendix A

Table
Table A1. List of Model Constructs and Items.
Table A1. List of Model Constructs and Items.
ConstructItemsScalesReference
ConfirmationCON1My experience with watching this video was better than I had expected.[68]
CON2The product and service provided by this video were better than I expected them to be.
CON3Overall, most of my expectations of using this video were confirmed.
AttractivenessATR1I find the mukbang YouTuber attractive.[69]
ATR2I think the mukbang YouTuber is quite enticing.
ATR3The mukbang YouTuber is charming.
Vicarious SatisfactionVCS1While watching mukbang, I feel assimilated with the characters.[62]
VCS2While watching mukbang, I can forget my daily life.
VCS3While watching mukbang, I feel like I am eating.
Perceived Ease of UsePEU1Mukbang content is clear and understandable.[70]
PEU2Watching mukbang does not require a lot of mental effort.
PEU3I find watching mukbang easy.
Perceived UsefulnessPUS1I can decide more quickly and more easily which food I want to go and eat than I could before I started watching mukbang.[70]
PUS2I can better decide which food I want to go and eat than I could before I started watching mukbang.
PUS3I am better informed about new food when I watch mukbang.
SatisfactionSAT1I am satisfied with my decision to watch the video.[26]
SAT2My choice to watch the video was a wise one.
SAT3Overall, I am satisfied with the experience of watching the video.
AttitudeATT1I feel good watching mukbang content.[26]
ATT2I like watching mukbang content on YouTube.
ATT3It is wise to watch mukbang content on YouTube.
Intention to WatchITW1The probability of me considering watching mukbang is high.[21]
ITW2If I were looking for something to watch, the likelihood I would watch mukbang is high.
ITW3My willingness to watch mukbang is high.
Purchase intentionITP1If I were to buy an F&B product, I would consider buying what I saw in the video.[71]
ITP2The likelihood of my purchasing an F&B product that I saw in the video is high.
ITP3My willingness to buy an F&B product that I saw in the video is high.

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Sustainability 15 04013 g001 550
Figure 1. Research Model.
Figure 1. Research Model.
Sustainability 15 04013 g001
Table
Table 1. Summary of literature review of mukbang.
Table 1. Summary of literature review of mukbang.
AuthorsIndependent Variable/Affecting FactorDependent VariableResults
[22]Host attractiveness, Mediated voyeurism, Novelty perception, Loneliness, Health consciousness, Collectivism, Social normative influence, AttitudeIntention to watch mukbangAsians are likely to watch mukbang because of host attractiveness and social normative influence. On the other hand, Caucasians watch mukbang because of host attractiveness, perceived novelty, and social normative influence.
[23]Socialization, Information, Hunger, EntertainmentWatching mukbangMukbang demonstrates a wide range of users’ motivations such as socialization, information, hunger, and entertainment.
[24]Social use, Sexual use, Entertainment Use, Eating use, Escapist useMukbang watchingViewers watch mukbang for social, sexual, entertainment, eating, and/or as an escapist reason.
[25]Attractiveness, Mediation voyeurism, New perception, Solitude, Health awareness, Collectivity, Social normative influence, Watching attitudeViewing intentionsAttractiveness, mediation voyeurism, new perception, solitude, health awareness, and social normative influence had impact on the watching attitude.
[26]Problematic mukbang watchingEating disorders, Internet addictionProblematic mukbang watching had impact on disordered eating and internet addiction.
Table
Table 2. Reliability and validity indices.
Table 2. Reliability and validity indices.
ConstructItemsMeanSt. Dev.Factor LoadingCronbach’s α (1)C.R (2)AVE (3)
ConfirmationCON12.0501.1090.9220.9110.9440.848
CON22.0751.1190.927
CON31.9971.0770.914
AttractivenessATR11.8571.0820.8890.8150.8900.729
ATR21.7740.8920.822
ATR31.9901.2620.849
Vicarious SatisfactionVCS12.1481.4410.9480.9260.9530.871
VCS22.0581.3500.934
VCS32.1531.5170.918
Perceived Ease of UsePEU12.5861.6530.9470.9340.9580.883
PEU22.5861.5920.948
PEU32.6891.6880.924
Perceived UsefulnessPUS13.2011.2380.9160.9310.9560.880
PUS23.2831.2420.953
PUS33.2811.2980.944
SatisfactionSAT13.1431.1320.9270.8390.9030.759
SAT23.2081.1670.938
SAT33.0551.2190.734
AttitudeATT11.7821.0310.8830.8940.9340.826
ATT21.9151.1340.923
ATT31.8451.0600.919
Intention to WatchITW12.1101.3830.9300.9260.9530.872
ITW22.1381.4030.935
ITW32.1581.4190.936
Intention to PurchaseITP12.2681.5000.9280.8940.9340.824
ITP22.0081.2640.884
ITP32.1001.4040.911
Note. (1) Cronbach’s alpha, (2) Composite Reliability, (3) Average Variance Extracted.
Table
Table 3. Discriminant validity.
Table 3. Discriminant validity.
Constructs123456789
1. Confirmation0.921
2. Attractiveness0.7370.854
3. Vicarious Satisfaction0.7230.7190.933
4. Perceived Ease of Use0.2510.3070.3010.940
5. Perceived Usefulness−0.091−0.093−0.088−0.0740.938
6. Satisfaction−0.016−0.020−0.037−0.0300.3270.871
7. Attitude0.7610.7730.7250.341−0.124−0.0620.909
8. Intention to Watch0.6960.6870.7220.371−0.115−0.0710.7680.934
9. Intention to Purchase0.6040.6080.6310.478−0.158−0.0670.7260.7030.908
Note: The values in the diagonal are the square root of the variance shared between the constructs and their measures.
Table
Table 4. SEM Results.
Table 4. SEM Results.
HCauseEffectCoefficientT-ValueHypothesis
H1aConfirmationPerceived Usefulness−0.0912.129Not Supported
H1bConfirmationSatisfaction0.0140.253Not Supported
H2AttractivenessAttitude0.5207.952Supported
H3Vicarious SatisfactionAttitude0.3515.202Supported
H4Perceived Ease of UseIntention to Watch0.1233.160Supported
H5aPerceived UsefulnessSatisfaction0.3287.468Supported
H5bPerceived UsefulnessIntention to Watch−0.0100.284Not Supported
H6SatisfactionIntention to Watch−0.0190.526Not Supported
H7AttitudeIntention to Watch0.72419.192Supported
H8Intention to WatchIntention to Purchase0.70316.320Supported
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Song, H.G. Understanding Social Media Users’ Mukbang Content Watching: Integrating TAM and ECM. Sustainability 2023, 15, 4013. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054013

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Song HG. Understanding Social Media Users’ Mukbang Content Watching: Integrating TAM and ECM. Sustainability. 2023; 15(5):4013. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054013

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Song, Hyo Geun. 2023. "Understanding Social Media Users’ Mukbang Content Watching: Integrating TAM and ECM" Sustainability 15, no. 5: 4013. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054013

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