WHEN INTERACTIVITY FALLS SHORT: EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF EXPECTATIONS DISCONFIRMATION ON GRATIFICATION FULFILLMENT AND USER SATISFACTION

Abstract

Interactivity has increasingly dominated digital media platforms, particularly in environments such as video-game streaming, where audiences can engage with content and other users in real time. However, little research has examined how users’ expectations of functional interactivity shape their evaluations of media experiences. Drawing on expectancy disconfirmation and the uses and gratifications theory, this study investigates how functional interactivity influences user satisfaction. Utilizing a (2x2) online experiment (N = 113), participants were exposed to a simulated video-game streaming environment with varying levels of interactive features after expectations manipulation. Results indicate that functional interactivity influences user satisfaction through two parallel mechanisms: expectation disconfirmation and gratification fulfillment.