Planning-to-binge: Time allocation for future media consumption

Area of Science:

• Media Psychology
• Consumer Behavior
• Decision Science

Background:

• Streaming services offer entire series, enabling binge-watching.
• Consumer decisions on allocating future viewing time for binging are understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the phenomenon of planning to binge-watch media.
• To understand factors influencing these planning decisions.
• To explore the implications for media consumption and industry strategies.

Main Methods:

• Multiple studies were conducted to analyze consumer planning behaviors.
• Participants' preferences for binge-watching were assessed based on content structure perceptions.
• Experimental manipulations framed content as sequential or independent.

Main Results:

• Individuals can plan binging in advance by aggregating episode consumption.
• Planning-to-binge preferences are higher for sequential/connected content versus independent content.
• Consumers are willing to invest time and money for future binge-watching opportunities, especially for sequential content.

Conclusions:

• Media consumption understanding is expanded to include future planning, beyond in-the-moment viewing.
• Media companies can leverage content structure to influence viewing styles and consumer decisions.
• The framework applies broadly, including educational contexts like binge-learning.