Beyond the lens: Identifying motivating factors for using wildlife webcams

As a sub-category of virtual tourism technologies, wildlife webcams offer tourists an experience that is distinct from other virtual technologies through non-intrusive, real-time, and non-simulated live streams. Despite the increasing popularity of webcam-based virtual wildlife tourism, research on tourists' motivations for using this technology remains scarce. This study draws on the uses and gratifications theory (UGT) to identify, conceptualize, and empirically examine the motivations that users seek to fulfill through wildlife webcams. The study, conducted in four stages, adopted a mixed-method, multistage design. First, semi-structured interviews with experienced wildlife webcam users recruited from online wildlife enthusiast communities in China through convenience and snowball sampling were used to identify potential motivations. Next, three online surveys administered to eligible users recruited through similar communities were utilized to refine the items, identify the gratification dimensions, and examine their associations with intention to use wildlife webcams. Eight motivation dimensions were identified: conservation, safety, convenience, authenticity, playfulness, price value, social interactivity, and informativeness. The confirmatory assessment provided initial support for the reliability of the dimensions and the proposed eight-dimensional measurement structure. All eight dimensions were positively associated with use intention. By clarifying the gratification structure underlying wildlife webcam use, this study extends the application of UGT to virtual tourism and provides practical recommendations for wildlife webcam platform managers.