Z世代媒介多工動機與消費決策信心：從眾、任務相關性、與資訊可診斷性之調節連續中介效果

The Media Multitasking Motives and Choice Confidence of GenZ: The Moderated Serial Mediation Model of Conformity, Task Relevance, and Information Diagnosticity

本研究旨在探究不同媒介多工（media multitasking）動機如何影響Z世代的消費決策信心。本研究分析「傳播調查資料庫第二期第四次」針對高中職學生的資料（加權樣本數521），研究結果發現從眾會調節媒介多工動機、任務相關性、資訊可診斷性、與消費決策信心的連續中介關係。對低從眾的Z世代來說，「習慣認知」媒介多工動機者較「情緒社交」媒介多工動機者，更容易從事相關多工搜尋行為，也會因此認為所搜尋到的產品資訊具高資訊可診斷性，進而產生較高的消費決策信心。然而，這樣的連續中介效果並不適用於高從眾的Z世代或相關多工討論行為。本研究貢獻包括以下幾點：（一）本研究彌補過去對Z世代高中職學生媒介多工與消費行為理解的不足；（二）本研究顯示使用與滿足理論習慣、認知、情緒、社交四類動機對Z世代的適用性，也延伸該理論單一目標的看法，將媒介多工單一目標分為單一目標與共通目標兩類，並解釋單一與共通目標如何產生低、高任務相關媒介多工行為；（三）本研究整合使用與滿足理論、任務重複偏差觀點、不確定降低理論，以及資訊可診斷可近用觀點，發展出本研究所提出的調節連續中介模型。

Background: Generation Z (Gen Z; those born between 1997 to 2012) tends to multitask with multiple media. Studies have shown that media content influences Gen Z’s consumption behaviors that persist until adulthood. Recent studies have also focused on the media combination or the effect of media multi-tasking on the emotion, cognitive control, academic performance, or well-being of Gen Z, yet scant studies have investigated the influence of media multi-tasking on this generation’s consumption behaviors or even choice confidence. Choice confidence positively influences consumers’intention to pay and to resist competitors’messages. Objective and hypotheses: This study investigates how different media multi-tasking motives influence the choice confidence of Gen Z and how conformity moderates such effects. It develops three hypotheses based on the uses and gratification theory, task repetition bias, uncertainty reduction theory, and diagnosticity-accessibility perspective. The first hypothesis suggests that habitual-cognitive (vs. emotional-social) motives result in higher task-relevant multi-tasking search (H1-1) and discussion (H1-2) behaviors. The second hypothesis proposes that higher task-relevant multitasking search (H2-1) and discussion (H2-2) behaviors lead to higher perceived information diagnosticity and boost subsequent choice confidence. Finally, the third hypothesis advocates that conformity interacts with media multi-tasking motives on task-relevant multi-tasking search (H3-1) and discussion (H3-2) behaviors and moderates the serial mediation effects. The serial mediation effects only hold for Gen Z with lower conformity. Method: This study analyzes the 2020 Taiwanese Communication Survey (Phase Two, Year Four) and its data targeting adolescences. The survey was conducted from November 11, 2020, to January 19, 2021 and used a twostage stratified cluster sampling design. Five hundred twenty-one weighted cases (539 unweighted cases) reported multitasking with multiple media and analyzed. The measure of media multitasking motive was adapted from Zhang and Zhang (2012) and Wang and Tchernev (2012). The Taiwanese Communication Survey developed the measure of conformity, and the measures of task-relevant multi-tasking search and discussion behaviors were adapted from Ran and Yamamoto (2019). Finally, the measures of perceived information diagnosticity and choice confidence were adapted from Flavián et al. (2016).