Users' personality traits as predictors of UCC usage on the internet

Abstract

There has been the growth on the internet of businesses and websites more reliant on content actually created by the users themselves, so-called UCC. We are interested in why individuals engage in this ‘free’ content creation behavior with no specific financial rewards. Consequently, our study focuses on the inter-relationships between factors that promote UCC usage. We propose an individual’s personality is a stimulus to UCC, but that perception of ease of use and usefulness and emotional pleasure mediate this. Based on a survey of over 500 UCC site users our results suggest a significant correlation between individual personality traits, emotional pleasure and ease of use and usefulness toward UCC usage. Those with high UCC involvement display more significant pleasure in their UCC usage. Our study has implications for theory and practice, not least in terms of future models of business and development in the service sector.