Antecedents of viewers’ watch behavior toward YouTube videos: evidence from the most populous Muslim-majority country

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to determine the impact of attitude toward content creators, subjective norm and perceived content quality in affecting people’s intention and behavior to watch videos posted on YouTube in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach Using questionnaire, data from the total of 112 individuals living in Indonesia were gathered in this study, and these respondents are individuals who have been watching YouTube contents at least 3 h a day for the past eight months. Moreover, all of these data were processed and analyzed using PLS method to determine the impact given by one variable toward the other. Findings Based on the results of the analysis, the authors concluded that both factors, namely, content credibility and perceived content quality, play significant and positive roles in determining people’s intention to watch – and ultimately behavior to watch – contents or videos published on YouTube, with the former turned out to be the stronger predictor. Originality/value The current study attempts to modify and merge both the concept of theory of reasoned action and product quality theory to explain Indonesians’ behavior toward watching contents published on YouTube, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this type of studies is still in rarity.