Consumers' motivation as the gratification sought of online newspaper consumption among University's students in Sindh Province of Pakistan

It is no doubt that the prevalence of Internet technology in developing nations such as Pakistan has increased the access to information, news production and news consumption. As such, there has been a huge shift in trend of news consumption from conventional media (radio, television and printed newspaper) to online newspaper. However, the consumption of online newspaper is contingent to certain motivating factors. Limited studies have investigated the factors affecting the consumption of news on online platforms, particularly by young adults. Further, these factors have not been exhaustively studied especially from the perspective of a
developing economy like Pakistan. By applying the Uses and Gratification Theory (U&G), this study explores the influence of Information Motivation (IM), Entertainment Motivation (EM), Social Utility Motivation (SUM), Personal Utility Motivation (PUM) and Escapism Motivation (ECM) on Online Newspaper Consumption (ONC) in Pakistan. Additionally, this study examines the moderating
role of gender between IM, EM, SUM, PUM and ECM factors on ONC in Pakistan. Using cross-sectional design, a survey was conducted on 533 university students from three public universities in Sindh province, Pakistan. Questionnaires were used to collect data which was later analysed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Partial Least Squares-Multi Group Analysis (PLS-MGA). Results revealed that four hypothesized direct relationships between IM, EM, SUM and ECM with ONC in this study were supported, whereas the
relationship between PUM and ONC was not supported. Also, gender did not moderate the relationship between IM, EM, SUM, PUM, and ECM with ONC. Furthermore, in terms of online newspaper consumption, there was no significant difference found between male and female. Generally, these findings suggest that
IM, EM, SUM, and ECM are likely to enhance ONC among university students. In addition, gender is not a significant moderator for these relationships. Consequently, this study has contributed in modeling the relationship between U&G theory and
online newspaper consumption. Hence, empirical findings of this study add to the body of knowledge on consumers‟ motivation factors and online newspaper consumption.