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Uses and Gratifications of Photo-sharing Using Instagram

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 NOLEGEIN Journal of Global Marketing

Vol. 2: Issue 1
www.mbajournals.in

Uses and Gratifications of Photo-sharing Using Instagram

Subhrajit Chakraborty1, Piyusa Das2
1
Independent Researcher, School of Management, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology,
Odisha, India
2
Assistant Professor, School of Management, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology,
Odisha, India

ABSTRACT
Even though photo-sharing apps like Instagram have witnessed phenomenal growth as a tool
for social interaction in India, minimal research has been conducted to understand user
gratification from photo-sharing in India, although researches have been undertaken on
similar topics for other countries (Whiting and Williams, 2013; Malik et al., 2016). In order
to address this gap, the researchers aim to explore and discuss the users’ gratifications in
sharing photos on Instagram by applying Uses and Gratification (U&G) theory. In-depth
survey was conducted amongst 56 individuals who share photos with social media and are in
the age range of 18 to 35. The study found nine different gratifications namely, expressive
information sharing, fashion, convenience, entertainment, pass time, affection, recognition
needs, documentation, showing off. The limitation of the study was a small sample size.
Research implications from the study are that uses and gratification theory has relevance to
photo-sharing and helps explain the varied reasons behind why people regularly share
photos online. The practical implication is to help organizations understand why young
consumers share photos online and brands can utilize it to develop methods to build more
effective social media campaigns.

Keywords: Instagram, Photo-sharing, social media in India, Uses and gratifications theory,
Uses of Photo-sharing, Exploratory study, Qualitative study, In-depth interviews.

*Corresponding Author
E-mail: subhrajit05@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION Over 35% of the marketers are already

Photo-sharing has emerged as a major
social media trend over the past few years
in India as well as the world. According to
Gotter, 2018, by 2018, almost 40 billion
photos had been shared and about 95
million were downloaded in Instragram
alone that year with nearly one billion
users. In the light of this growing interest,
photo-sharing platforms have drawn the
attention of marketing scholars and
practitioners. Marketers would be
interested in the motivation of people
sharing photos using the apps as this is
becoming an important medium in
influencing public opinion about products
and services.
present in photo-sharing apps like
Instagram, Facebook and Flickr and are
spending about 300 million annually on
photo-sharing platforms (Byström & Soda,
2017). Successfully demonstrating their
products or service features using photo-
sharing is predicted to earn great returns of
up to 4 billion (World Development
Report, 2016). However, there is a limited
understanding of why and how people
share photos and what drives their
motivation to use photo-sharing apps. Uses
and gratifications theory, which has been
extensively used by researchers in
understanding various communication
mediums in past, can be used in

NJGM (2019) 6–12 © Consortium e-Learning Network Private Limited 2019. All Rights Reserved 6
Uses and Gratifications of Photo sharing Using Instagram
developing scales and measurement
instruments for understanding the usage of
photo-sharing apps.
LITERATURE STUDY
In India the digital journey has been for a
mere 20 years more or less. This only
qualifies the millennial born generation as
digital natives which happens to constitute
a sizable chunk, approximately 50% of the
country’s population is below the age of
25 and over 65% below the age of 35
(Byström and Soda, 2017).
Social-computing systems enable collective
action along with online social interaction,
and these results in the rich exchange of
multimedia information (Parameswaran and
Whinston, 2007). In this paper the focus is
mainly on the photo-sharing aspect of
multimedia information.
The act of taking photos and sharing them
online may have different uses and
benefits. People do enjoy the act of taking
pictures, and this in itself can have uses
and benefits even when they are not shared
online (Nov et al., 2010). By focusing on
the sharing aspect and the gratification
drawn from such activities, this paper aims
to demonstrate how young people under
the age of 35 engage with photo-sharing
communities. Examples of such
communities may include Flickr,
Facebook, and Instagram that enable
millions of individuals to share and use
information.
Various types of photos are shared through
social media, and some examples are:
personal, commercial, informative, cause-
related, photos related to places, events,
objects, motivational and other quotes,
lifestyle-related pictures and commercial
photos related to products which can be
shared by companies as well as users
(Byström and Soda, 2017). Photo-sharing
tools also offer to apply different filters to
NJGM (2019) 6–12 © Consortium e-Learning Network Private Limited 2019. All Rights Reserved
Chakraborty and Das
these photos to make them more
purposeful. Since midyear 2018 Instagram
has had close to 500 million daily active
users. Considering half the number of
monthly users on Instagram are starting to
log on daily, this number keeps going up.
While a large number of users are sharing
photos, understanding the motivation
behind this growing trend is limited as of
today.
Uses and gratification theory is relevant
because it has a foundation in the
communications literature and is closely
related to social media behavior. Photo-
sharing is an important communication
mechanism that drives social media and
allows users to communicate with millions
of people over the world. (Duggan and
Brenner, 2012; Joinson, 2008; Madden et
al., 2013; Pai and Arnott, 2013). The basic
premise of U&G theory is that the users
have freedom of choice in selecting the
media based on their needs and
gratifications. The gratifications that drive
social media consumption could vary
based on the communication media and its
capabilities as well as the users’
motivations (Larose and Eastin, 2004).
Furthermore, the user habit and subjective
norm are important in understanding the
relationship between UGT and usage
intention. (Hossain, 2019).
While widely used as a foundation for
various communication researches, U&G
theory can also help explain the uses and
gratification from photo-sharing in social
media. (Malik et al., 2016). As part of this
research, we focused on 5 uses and
gratifications frameworks among the many
available in the literature and used that as a
basis for understanding the uses and
gratification from photo-sharing in the
context of Indian youths under the age of
35. These frameworks were obtained from:
Cheng et al., 2014, Quan-Haase and
Young, 2010, Smock et al., 2011, Sheldon
7
 NOLEGEIN Journal of Global Marketing

Vol. 2: Issue 1
www.mbajournals.in

and Bryant, 2016 and Papacharissi and Table 1. Detailed view of each themes.
Mendelson, 2010. Theme Definition Literature
Studies
Expressive This category of social • Smock et
The review of these frameworks helped us information media usage is defined al., 2011
draw some common characteristics which sharing as expressing one's • Papacharissi
are listed below: feeling, sharing and
information pertaining
• Expressive information sharing: This to oneself or about one's
Mendelson,
2010
theme includes factors like “To interests and to inform
provide information”, “To present others about one's life
through social media.
information about a special interest of Fashion This type of social • Smock et
mine”, “To provide personal media usage is defined al., 2011
information about myself” (Smock et as a practice or • Cheng et al.,
al., 2011), “to freely express myself”, methodology that makes 2014
one look stylish or cool
and “to tell others what I do” in the eyes of their
(Papacharissi and Mendelson, 2010). peers.
• Fashion: This theme includes factors Convenience This usage is defined as • Papacharissi
one that conveniently and
like “looking cool," “looking stylish” maintains or extends the Mendelson,
(Cheng et al., 2014) “Because sphere of contact 2010
everybody else is doing it” (Smock et Entertainment This kind of social • Papacharissi
al., 2011) media use is defined as and
something that is Mendelson,
• Convenience: This theme includes enjoyable or amusing 2010
factors like communicating with Pass time This sort of social • Papacharissi
friends and families following a daily media use is defined as and
an activity or interest Mendelson,
routine (Papacharissi and Mendelson, followed for pleasure or 2010
2010) relaxation as there is no
• Entertainment: This theme includes better alternative.
Affection This class of social • Quan-Haase
factors like “it is enjoyable” media use is and Young,
(Papacharissi and Mendelson, 2010) characterized by the 2010
• Pass time: Because they have nothing need to feel that others • Cheng et al.,
better to do (Papacharissi and care about them, share 2014
common interests and
Mendelson, 2010) as a means to express
• Affection: "To get the feeling that gratitude.
people care about me," "To share Recognition This kind of social • Cheng et al.,
needs media use is defined as 2014
common topics with friends" Cheng et a need for formal or
al., 2014, to thank people (Quan-Haase informal
and Young, 2010) acknowledgment of
• Recognition needs- To gain respect personal identity and to
gain respect and support
and support, to establish personal Documentation This kind of social • Sheldon and
identity (Cheng et al., 2014) media use is defined as Bryant,
• Documentation: This theme includes the need to remember
special events and keep
2016
factors like “To remember special record of important life
events," “To document the world events
around me," "To remember something
important," "To commemorate an RESEARCH METHODS
event" (Sheldon and Bryant, 2016) Due to the limited amount of literature
available on Indian users of photo-sharing
Table 1 shows a more detailed view of apps, particularly Instagram, and the uses
each of these themes where each theme and gratifications obtained from them,
has been defined. authors decided to carry out exploratory

NJGM (2019) 6–12 © Consortium e-Learning Network Private Limited 2019. All Rights Reserved 8
Uses and Gratifications of Photo sharing Using Instagram
research. The participants were 56
individuals in the age range of 18 and 35.
In-depth interviews were conducted with
the participants to understand the uses and
gratifications obtained from photo-sharing.
Some of the questions were: why they
share photos, why their friends share
photos, what kind of applications they use,
how much time they spend on social
media. The responses ranged from 200 to
900 words.
RESULTS
The qualitative comments from the
respondents of the study were analyzed
using Lincoln and Guba, 1985 guidelines.
To begin with, the authors developed a list
of uses and gratifications from Cheng et al.,
2014, Quan-Haase and Young, 2010,
Smock et al., 2011, Sheldon and Bryant,
2016 and Papacharissi and Mendelson,
2010. The next step was to read and review
the responses to the in-depth interviews.
After reading and studying the answers, the
authors sorted the comments into groups.
The groupings were thoroughly discussed,
and the authors decided that there are nine
distinct themes according to which the
comments can be grouped.
Expressive Interest
52% of the applicants stated Expressive
Interest as a primary usage for using
photo-sharing apps. Participants
mentioned that photo-sharing in Instagram
is a way to “share whatever I'm feeling
through the picture with the people I'm
connected to”, that they “feel validated by
receiving likes”, and that social media
gives them a platform "to let the people
know about my activities”. The
respondents indicated that they use photo-
sharing to keep their family and friends,
updated about their lives, people who they
do not see regularly. It was observed that
the respondents share photos with a wide
range of audience ranging from friends,
family, spouses, colleagues, old
acquaintances, and new and old friends.
NJGM (2019) 6–12 © Consortium e-Learning Network Private Limited 2019. All Rights Reserved
Chakraborty and Das
Convenience
This type of primary use was mentioned
by 28% participants. According to the
respondents, photo-sharing is a way to
“keep in touch with friends and family”
and “Keep family updated” about their life
without having to individually connect
with each of them. Photo-sharing helps
them to convey a message to multiple
people at one shot. It’s also readily
available 24 by 7.
Documentation
This type of photo-sharing use was
mentioned by 22% respondents. In
addition to communicating with people,
photo-sharing apps provide a tool to store
photos in a chronological order which can
be referenced by people at a later point of
their life. These apps help them to “create
memories using photos”. Some said that
photo-sharing help in “marking events that
I deem important”. “Sharing old
memories” and “Storing best moments of
life” were some other uses mentioned by
the respondents.
Affection
15% respondents stated this sort of
primary usage. Participants mentioned
many ways they use photo-sharing to share
affection like “To feel validated by
receiving likes” and “To get myself
noticed”. Some mentioned that by sharing
photos in which they appear with their
friends, they can show that they care for
them. Some of them also mentioned this
usage as a way to thank their friends and
relatives.
Fashion
19% used photo-sharing as a means to be
trendy. Some of their comments were it
helps me to “look good” or it “makes my
profile look good”. According to some, “It
is a necessity for today’s tech savvy
generation, or you look outdated”.
Respondents also mentioned how photo-
9

sharing helped them to look “stylish” or
“cool”.
Pass Time
5% of the respondents reported sharing
photos to pass the time. They stated that
they share photos when they have free
time and they feel bored. Among those
who use photo-sharing for passing time,
most reported using social media during
travel or at school to pass the time.
Show Off
24% of the respondents reported showing
off to their friends as a usage of photo-
sharing. This information sharing construct
was novel to the audience under this study,
and has not been found in other uses and
gratifications researches. However, it has
been used in other studies of social
networks and practices (Humphreys,
2008). Respondents mentioned a number
of ways that they show off using photo-
sharing, namely, showing off photography
skills, places they visit, restaurants they
visit and showing off their lifestyle to their
friends and followers.
Entertainment
This sort of usage of photo-sharing was
mentioned by 43% of the respondents.
Among those who use pho sharing for
entertainment, usually share photos related
to sports or movies with their friends as a
common interest.
Recognition Needs
34% respondents reported gaining
recognition as a usage of photo-sharing.
According to them, sharing phots help
them to “grab attention”, support, “gain
fame”, “get popularity”, “get recognition”,
“attract people of opposite gender”.
Among those who mentioned this usage of
photo-sharing, they use the app for photo-
sharing more than 3 times a month on an
average.
NJGM (2019) 6–12 © Consortium e-Learning Network Private Limited 2019. All Rights Reserved
NOLEGEIN Journal of Global Marketing
Vol. 2: Issue 1
www.mbajournals.in
CONCLUSION
Even though we have observed a
phenomenal growth in the adoption of
photo-sharing platforms like Instagram in
the past few years in India, minimal
research has been conducted to gain
understanding of user gratification behind
photo-sharing specifically for India.
Authors believed that median age in India
being much lesser than the median age of
other countries studied by other
researchers, at the time when social media
gained popularity, uses and gratifications
for Indian users would be significantly
different from those observed in other
countries. To understand this further, this
paper examines users’ gratifications in
sharing photos for Indian youth under the
age of 35 by applying Uses and
Gratification (U&G) theory. Findings from
the in-depth exploratory survey completed
by 56 respondents provided a rich and
comprehensive understanding of
gratifications sought by people in sharing
photos online. The findings will help
marketers to communicate with their
existing and potential customers and help
them develop methods to build more
effective social media campaigns.
The study identified nine different uses
and gratifications for photo-sharing,
namely, expressive information sharing
(52%), fashion (19%), convenience (28%),
entertainment (43%), pass time (5%),
affection (15%), recognition needs (34%),
documentation (22%), and show off
(24%), behind sharing digital photos on
Instagram.
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Cite this Article: Subhrajit Chakraborty, Piyusa Das. Uses and

Gratifications of Photo sharing Using Instagram. NOLEGEIN Journal of
Global Marketing. 2019; 2(1): 6–12p.

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