Conceptualization and Survey Instrument Development for Over-the-Top Platforms’ Usability

Abstract

OTT (over-the-top) streaming is a subscription-based video service model that delivers video-on-demand content, films, and series directly to end-users over the Internet, bypassing the need for traditional satellite receiver systems. The most popular OTT service providers include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Disney+. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the viewership rates and subscriber numbers for OTT platforms rapidly increased. Like various other products and systems, usability problems can substantially impact user satisfaction, loyalty, and the intention to continue using OTT services. Therefore, this study aimed to conceptualize the usability of OTT platforms and develop an OTT Usability Measurement Scale for the usability evaluation of OTT platforms based on the Apple tvOS Guidelines and the literature. OTT platform usability was conceptualized with nine constructs, including Accessibility and Customization, Account Management, Data Entry and Search, Branding, Privacy, Navigation, Help, Content, and Design, and the concepts were measured with a scale including 48 items. The validity of the developed scale was tested through two separate survey studies conducted with Netflix web application users. The first survey involved 650 participants. At this stage, an exploratory factor analysis was used to evaluate the scale’s measurement properties, and the developed factor structure was confirmed. In the second stage, a survey with 600 participants was conducted, and a confirmatory factor analysis was applied to validate the scale properties. Furthermore, a nomological validation of the developed scale was performed, examining the relationship between the acquired OTT factors and elements such as continued intention to use, satisfaction, and brand loyalty. As a result of the nomological validation, it was observed that the privacy and design factors significantly affected each of the three dependent variables.