Recent changes in the mobile environment have accelerated the shift from traditional horizontal interfaces to vertical ones, accompanied by a new media trend known as the "vertical video syndrome." While research has been conducted on the visual chara...
Recent changes in the mobile environment have accelerated the shift from traditional horizontal interfaces to vertical ones, accompanied by a new media trend known as the "vertical video syndrome." While research has been conducted on the visual characteristics and composition of vertical videos as vertical video-friendly interfaces, such as those on platforms like YouTube, become increasingly widespread, studies exploring the impact of these changes on consumer behavior remain in their infancy.
This vertical video syndrome has brought notable changes, particularly in the context of sports content consumption. The rise of online, mobile-based sports content consumption has significantly altered the viewing habits of sports fans worldwide, with fans increasingly consuming sports content through media rather than attending games in person. Furthermore, social viewing experiences facilitated by large video platforms such as YouTube have reinforced these consumption patterns. Accordingly, it is essential to explore the mobile YouTube viewing behaviors of sports fans in greater detail and deepen our understanding of the new media paradigm brought by the vertical video syndrome.
This study examines the differences in YouTube user satisfaction based on mobile YouTube sports content viewing formats (horizontal vs. vertical), information-seeking motivation (high vs. low), and perceived sports knowledge (high vs. low) while watching sports highlights. The study surveyed 100 domestic soccer fans and employed SPSS 26.0 for data analysis, including descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, and two-way repeated measures ANOVA.
The results of this study are as follows. First, the interaction between viewing format (horizontal vs. vertical) and information-seeking motivation revealed that participants with high information-seeking motivation showed higher YouTube user satisfaction when viewing vertical content compared to horizontal content. Conversely, participants with low information-seeking motivation exhibited higher satisfaction when viewing horizontal content compared to vertical content. Second, there was no interaction effect between viewing format and subjective sports knowledge on satisfaction.
These findings contribute to understanding how different motivations and knowledge levels influence satisfaction with specific viewing formats, reflecting the evolving landscape of sports content consumption in the era of new media. Furthermore, the study provides academic significance by extending the research on vertical video syndrome into the realm of social viewing. From a practical perspective, the findings offer insights for improving UX design in current sports content platforms and establishing advertising and marketing strategies targeting the MZ generation.