The Gratifications of Ephemeral Marketing Content, the Use of Snapchat by the Millennial Generation and Their Impact on Purchase Motivation

Abstract

Ephemeral content has become a vital marketing resource for companies, but its effects have rarely been addressed in academic literature. Through the theory of uses and gratifications (U&G), we explore ephemeral content, the impact of Snapchat use, and their impact on millennials’ purchase motivation. Through an electronic survey of 454 millennial-generation participants, analysed through SMART-PLS, theoretical contributions are presented in identifying modality-based gratifications and interactivity-based gratifications as two additional sources of gratification that generate the modality of Snapchat’s ephemeral content. The study theoretically reflects how much interaction and identification with the medium generates a positive involvement in the audience’s needs, thus explaining its reasons for use.