An Empirical Investigation of Digital Content Characteristics, Value, and Flow

Abstract

Since the arrival of the Internet into almost every area of our lives, the use of digital content has led to an increasing interest in how much value this content contributes to the information and communications industry. Even though societal interest in digital content has increased along with the growth of an information-oriented society, academic studies of the characteristics, value, flow, and use intensiveness of digital content are still in a nascent stage. Using sample data collected in Korea, this research attempts to evaluate the characteristics of digital content and examine how different components of this content are related to its value, flow, and use intensiveness. We divide content into three broad categories: design characteristics (visual appeal and musicality), scenario characteristics (creativity and entertainment value), and structure (unity and conciseness). Results of our study show significant effects on the value of digital content from all three of these categories. However, the flow (users' immersion in a specific set of content) is influenced only by the musicality of design and the entertainment value. Finally, when users highly rate the value of digital content and report good flow, the use intensiveness of that content tends to increase.

• digital content
• value
• flow
• use intensiveness
• visual appeal
• musicality
• creativity
• entertainment
• conciseness
• unity