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TikTok app
TikTok app usage behavior: the role usage behavior
of hedonic consumption experiences
Amir Zaib Abbasi
IRC for Finance and Digital Economy, KFUPM Business School, King Fahd
University of Petroleum and Minerals Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and
Natasha Ayaz and Sana Kanwal Received 13 March 2022
Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology – Islamabad Revised 12 September 2022
Accepted 15 November 2022
Campus Islamabad, Pakistan
Mousa Albashrawi
IRC for Finance and Digital Economy, ISOM Department, KFUPM Business
School, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Dhahran,
Saudi Arabia, and
Nadine Khair
American University of Madaba Amman, Jordan

Abstract
Purpose – TikTok social media app has become one of the most popular forms of leisure and entertainment
activities, but how hedonic consumption experiences (comprising fantasy, escapism, enjoyment, role
projection, sensory, arousal and emotional involvement) of the TikTok app determine users’ intention to
use the app and its resulting impact on the actual usage behavior remains limited in the information systems
literature, especially featuring the hedonic consumption perspective in entertainment industry.
Design/methodology/approach – This study employs uses & gratification theory to answer the “why”
via predicting the role of hedonic consumption experiences that serve as gratifications to trigger technology
acceptance behavior (especially, in form of users’ behavioral intention to use the TikTok app and its further
impact on usage behavior). This study utilizes the partial least squares-structural equation modeling
approach to perform data analyses on 258 TikTok app users.
Findings – Our results provide a strong support such that users’ playful consumption experiences (i.e.
escapism, role projection, arousal, sensory experience and enjoyment) positively influence their intention to
use the TikTok app and its resultant effect on users’ actual usage of the app. In contrast, fantasy and
emotional involvement fail to influence users’ intention to use the TikTok app.
Originality/value – To the best of our knowledge, our investigation is one of the first studies to apply the
hedonic consumption experiences as potential gratifications that derive users’ intention and its subsequent
influence on the actual usage of the TikTok app. Our study results would assist marketing and brand
managers to redefine approaches and tactics to create effective strategies that implement essential
determinants to increase behavioral intention among entertainment service providers.
Keywords TikTok app, Entertainment, Hedonic consumption, Users’ experiences, Usage behavior, U&G
theory
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
In the wake of increased usage of social media apps, the fast-growing application with over
1 billion downloads on Google Play Store is TikTok app (Chadee and Evans, 2021). This
entertainment app was first launched in China in 2017 (Qiyang and Jung, 2019). Furthermore,
the TikTok is the first application focused on content that looks more real, aesthetic and
vibrant. Within applications in terms of downloading and installing, the TikTok videos have Data Technologies and
become one of the most common forms of entertainment in today’s world. The digital world Applications
© Emerald Publishing Limited
has witnessed a noticeable increase in the popularity of the TikTok app usage and paved the 2514-9288
DOI 10.1108/DTA-03-2022-0107
DTA way for diversified entertainment for youth (Du et al., 2020). Entertainment services have
focused on grasping individuals’ attention through music, socialization, dance, sport and
theater (Stoian and Epuran, 2017), which all can be seen in the TikTok app. The TikTok app
allows its users to make short videos to boost new immersive and collaborative user
experiences (Humphry and Chesher, 2021; Zhou, 2019). These videos may also contain
certain music, dancing techniques or “trends” that act as forms of entertainment.
After the update in the TikTok algorithm, which forces only country-specified videos,
different TikTokers have emerged, especially in Pakistan, who can attract millions of
followers. For instance, Jannat Mirza, Kanwal Aftab, Usman Asim, Alishba Anjum and
Zulqarnain Sikander are the highest paid TikTokers with a large number of followers in
Pakistan. The TikTok app is described as a virtual playing app that is fun and creative,
liberating the youth as they can modify their behaviors without adhering to traditional online
cultures and past behaviors (Anderson, 2020). In practice, the brilliant video editing features
and audiovisual effects of this app may give the user a hedonic consumption experience in the
forms of unique variables such as escapism, fantasy, emotional involvement, arousal, role
projection, enjoyment and sensory experience. Along with other features, sensory experiences
have been crucial in the digital world (Abbasi et al., 2021b).
Hedonic consumption experience is defined as an active, arousing and intrinsic consumer
behavior comprising imaginal, emotional and multisensory attributes, which is performed
for one’s own pleasure, e.g. leisure activities, hobbies, games and sports (Abbasi et al.,
2019b; Holbrook et al., 1984). Hedonic consumption experience is derived from hedonic
theory of consumption experience, which defines as “hedonic consumption designates those
facets of consumer behavior that relate to the multisensory, fantasy, and emotive aspects of
one’s experience with products or services” (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982). Recently, the
consumption of TikTok app is considered as a valuable leisure activity through which
users entertain their selves, pass free time and escape from unpleasant events by watching
the content that may give them a good laugh or release their boredom (Vaterlaus and
Winter, 2021). Despite the importance of TikTok app as an important leisure activity, little
is known how hedonic consumption experiences pertaining to the TikTok app influence
users’ intention to use the app and its subsequent effect on consumers’ usage behavior of
TikTok app.
Considering the importance of hedonic consumption experiences in the existing body of
literature, we specifically reviewed prior studies employing playful consumption
experiences or hedonic consumption perspective. Our critical analysis of earlier studies
revealed that scholars have advanced the theoretical application in two streams. One stream
of research focused on few dimensions of hedonic theory. For instance, Trabelsi-Zoghlami
and Touzani (2019) conducted a qualitative enquiry and found that escapist, fantasy, self-
identification and entertainment are experiences that users perceive in virtual settings (e.g.
video games, virtual universe, social networks and experiences perceived over the internet).
Few scholars investigated imaginal (e.g. escapism, role projection, fantasy) and emotional
experiences (enjoyment, arousal and emotional involvement) in massively multiplayer
online roleplaying games (MMORPGs) (Wu and Holsapple, 2014). Jang and Byon (2020)
examined hedonic motivation to derive eSports gameplay intention. Few other scholars
predicted the role of enjoyment on players’ attitude formation toward video game playing
(Alzahrani et al., 2017; Lee and Tsai, 2010).
Other stream of research applied the hedonic consumption experiences (including
imaginal, emotional and sensory attributes) in predicting children’s subjective well-being
in smartphone usage context (Abbasi et al., 2021b). Recently, few studies have extended the
application of hedonic consumption experiences in multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA)
games to determine user’s intention and usage behavior (Abbasi et al., 2021a), and
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) game settings to predict gamers’ attitude
toward PUBG game (Hollebeek et al., 2022). However, such studies did not consider the TikTok app
antecedents, especially utilizing hedonic consumption experiences pertaining to escapism, usage behavior
role projection, fantasy, emotional involvement, enjoyment, arousal and sensory that
influence behavioral intention to use the TikTok app, which in turn can determine users’
actual usage of TikTok app. The theoretical notion of playful consumption experience/
hedonic consumption is deemed important to investigate for the TikTok app as it comes
under the most valued leisure activity (i.e. most enjoyable and fun way to spend leisure
time) of today’s era (Vaterlaus and Winter, 2021).
Given the importance of hedonic consumption experiences for the TikTok app, we aim to
empirically examine the role of hedonic consumption experiences involving fantasy, role
projection, escapism, enjoyment, arousal, sensory and emotional involvement to predict
users’ intention to use the TikTok App and its subsequent effect on users’ overall usage
behavior. To meet the study aim, we intend to contribute to the existing body of literature
by incorporating playful consumption experiences/hedonic consumption model with the
uses & gratification (U&G) theory to explain “why” and technology acceptance model
(TAM) to find out the primary factors influencing users’ intention to use the TikTok app
and its subsequent effect on overall usage behavior.

2. Underpinning theory (U&G theory)

U&G theory explains the theoretical perspective of “how and why” users choose any
specific media and gratify themselves, e.g. TikTok app, as specified in this study. Lim
(2015) applied the U&G theory’s assumption to explore the factors that affect users’
acceptance and usage behavior e-shopping sites. Several other studies applied the U&G
theory in diverse settings, e.g. social media, games, internet, binge-watching movies, Vlog
viewing and food delivery apps to identify factors that serve as gratifications, which further
influence users to use the media (Abbasi et al., 2021a; Bulduklu, 2019; Gregg, 2021; Ray
et al., 2019; Steiner and Xu, 2020). However, we mainly limit our discussion to prior studies
employing U&G theory in context of TikTok app consumption as a media (Bossen and
Kottasz, 2020; Meng and Leung, 2021; Montag et al., 2021; Scherr and Wang, 2021;
Vaterlaus and Winter, 2021; Yang and Ha, 2021). Scholars identified several motives that
act as gratifications for the TikTok app consumption, e.g. trendiness, escapism, novelty and
socially rewarding self-presentation (Scherr and Wang, 2021); escape, fashion, making
money, entertainment, information seeking and sociability seeking (Meng and Leung,
2021); passive consumptive comprising cognitive need/information, relaxation, fun, social
needs, self-expression, identity creation and recognition needs (Bossen and Kottasz, 2020);
and entertainment, socialization, information sharing and information seeking (Yang and
Ha, 2021). However, the factors of hedonic consumption experience comprising imaginal
aspects (escapism, role projection and fantasy), emotional facets (arousal, enjoyment and
emotional involvement) and sensory attributes remain limited in the context of TikTok app
to reveal the primary factors influencing users’ behavioral intention to use the TikTok app
and its further impact on TikTok app usage behavior, which is addressed in this study.
TAM is one of the most influential models of technology acceptance with two primary
factors (perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness) influencing behavioral intention to
use the technology (Lim, 2018; Nedra et al., 2019). TAM has been studied and extended in
many researches. For instance, Nedra et al. (2019) conducted a study in the context of
Instagram and added two additional variables (i.e. social identity and perceived enjoyment)
within the traditional TAM variables. Many studies employed the hedonic element in the
TAM in different settings, e.g. enjoyment in social apps (Akdim et al., 2022), imaginal and
emotional experiences in video games like MMORPGs (Wu and Holsapple, 2014), MOBA
(Abbasi et al., 2021a), hedonic benefits in location-based applications (Akel and Armağan,
DTA 2021), enjoyment in mobile wallets (To and Trinh, 2021) and social network games
(Baabdullah, 2018). Despite having the importance of hedonic factors in other settings and
TAM, the hedonic consumption model comprising hedonic consumption experiences entail an
equally significance for the TikTok app consumption due its consideration as the most valued
recreational activity for individuals. Hence, it is vital to study the TikTok usage behavior
within the nomological network of U&G theory and TAM, especially predicting users’
behavioral intention and its subsequent effect on users’ actual use of the TikTok app.

2.1 Research model and hypothesis development

We have developed a research model to depict our main seven hypotheses that show the
relationships between playful consumption experiences and behavioral intention to use the
TikTok app as well as the relationship between the behavioral intention and actual use as
represented in Figure 1. In the following section, the hypothesized relationships are justified
with rationales from previous research.

2.2 Escapism
Escapism is a mental activity that helps individuals to distance themselves from unpleasant
events (Kosa and Uysal, 2020). According to Francisco and Ruhela (2021), escapism has
helped mitigate the stress caused by COVID-19-induced quarantine measures. Due to digital
innovation, the increase in the number of smartphone users subsequently increases the

Figure 1.
Our study’s conceptual
model
demand for entertainment applications. The TikTok app has benefitted a significant TikTok app
number of users who want to relieve mental anxiety via escapism (Situmorang, 2021), usage behavior
which can help users experience behavioral intention. Similarly, researchers suggest that
escapism is a crucial motivator to influence users to use the TikTok app (Rach and Peter,
2021). Therefore, we hypothesize that:
H1: Escapism positively determines behavioral intention to use TikTok.

2.3 Role projection

Role projection refers to the mental activities that enable individuals to project themselves
into specific roles or characters (Abbasi et al., 2019b). Individuals indulge in entertainment
media (e.g. MOBA games) that make users learn different characters and project themselves
while competing with the opponents. Such a role projection experience in gaming impacts
gamers to continue playing a video game (Abbasi et al., 2021a). TikTok app is another
entertainment technology that allows users to watch short clips depending on their
preferences. Later, those short videos help users project their selves into the same theme
and act accordingly, which in turn develops users’ intention to use the TikTok app. This
also leads to develop acting skills as users make a copy (projecting their own acting skills)
of the original video and share among friends (Zulli and Zulli, 2020). Due to users’ role
projection experience in the TikTok app, users are more inclined to use it. Hence, we
hypothesize that:
H2: Role projection positively impacts behavioral intention to use TikTok.

2.4 Fantasy
Glynos (2021) defines fantasy as a conception that consists of feelings, myths, metaphors
and illuminating insights. Fantasy holds a significant importance in tourism, especially
promoting through video logs (Fakfare et al., 2020) and video games (Abbasi et al., 2021a).
In particular, the TikTok app gives consumers a unique experience to fantasize the virtual
world that is better than reality. So, it has been identified that the fantasy achieved in
consuming videos has an influence upon the behavioral intention to use this app (Li et al.,
2015). Kang et al. (2021) studied the impact of virtual reality on behavioral intention that
measures the role of social media apps from fantasy to reality. Subsequently, this
fantasizing process of imitating their favorite characters stimulates individuals’ intention
to use the TikTok app. Hence, we hypothesize that:
H3: Fantasy positively impacts behavioral intention to use TikTok.

2.5 Enjoyment
Enjoyment refers as an emotional state of joy experienced by individuals during the
consumption process of a product/service. If consumers enjoy playfulness, they will likely
engage further to achieve enjoyment, thus resulting in behavioral intention (Abbasi et al.,
2021a; Ungar et al., 2016). Recently, it has been witnessed that enjoyment in TikTok,
particularly perceived through watching videos that match their interests, influences
users to consume the TikTok app (Scherr and Wang, 2021). Hence, we hypothesize that:
H4: Enjoyment positively determines behavioral intention to use TikTok.
DTA 2.6 Arousal
Arousal refers to the state of emotional activation, excitement or alertness described by
external sensory stimulation (Abbasi et al., 2019a). The TikTok app allows its users to
watch short videos that keep changing after few seconds and cover a variety of contents
(e.g. informative videos carrying information on tourist places or healthy nutrients, magic
tricks, funny and dance videos, popular poetry and dialogue-based videos and Islamic
speeches), which help users stay awake and alert to keep watching a series of videos
(Bossen and Kottasz, 2020; Shang et al., 2021). It invokes the TikTok users to develop
a perfect emotional state, thereby enhancing the behavioral intention (Hsiao et al., 2018).
Henceforth, we hypothesize that:
H5: Arousal positively impacts behavioral intention to use TikTok.

2.7 Emotional involvement

Emotional involvement refers to the emotional state, where users get deeply involved in the
consumption of a product or service (Abbasi et al., 2021a). The continuous participation in
an activity gives rise to emotional involvement (Stanković and Nešić, 2020). The TikTok
app is so trendy that users get the short videos of their followers based on personalization,
which in turn stimulates its users to emotionally attach to the app and carry forward the
experience of watched videos (Scherr and Wang, 2021). This results in more emotional
involvement in the TikTok app that users may consider engaging in the TikTok app for
much longer hours and exhibiting behavioral intention to use the TikTok app (Wang, 2020).
Hence, we hypothesize that:
H6: Emotional involvement positively impacts behavioral intention to use TikTok.

2.8 Sensory experience

The concept of sensory experience has captured attention over time as it includes a sense of
feelings, sense of taste, touch, sight and sound (Abbasi et al., 2019a). The videos on TikTok
app extensively carry the multisensory attributes (e.g. a nice background sound, beautiful
scenery/landscape, food recipe that one wants to follow to make a meal and enjoy the taste
of it, make a copy of the watched video to express acting or self-presentation skills; Du et al.,
2020; Scherr and Wang, 2021). Once users experience the multisensory attributes of the
TikTok, they will be more inclined to keep using the TikTok app for amusement and
entertainment. Hence, we hypothesize that:
H7: Sensory experience positively explains behavioral intention to use the TikTok.

2.9 Behavioral intention and actual use

Behavioral intention is an occurrence of performing a specific behavior (Abbasi et al.,
2021a). It has been adopted in the TAM to identify behavioral intention to accept
a particular technology (Lee et al., 2013). The behavior intention of consumers in the IT
sector keeps on changing over time as the consumers are introduced to a new technology,
regularly. For this reason, the individual’s intention can shift over time to new applications
(e.g. TikTok app; Meng and Leung, 2021). The TikTok app provides playful experiences to
users that not only derive their intention to use the app but also enforce their actual usage
behavior. Hence, we posit that:
H8: Behavioral intention positively determines actual use of the TikTok.
3. Research methodology TikTok app
The study employed primary data gathered from survey questionnaires filled physically by usage behavior
the respondents of TikTok users. A cross-sectional design had been used to gather data
from the targeted population as this approach is most suitable to acquire information about
one’s beliefs, attitudes and behaviors (Gay et al., 2011). In this study, we focused on one of
the most downloaded entertainment app (i.e. Tiktok; Wang, 2020) and its users. For data
collection, we first determined the sample size using G-power tool (at power value of 0.95,
effect size f2 = 0.15, α err prob = 0.05 and no. of predictors = 7) and found 153 as a minimum
required sample size for partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).
However, we intended to collect more to generalize the study findings on a larger segment.
Before starting the data collection, we adapted the study instruments from well-established
measures in the literature. The questionnaire consists of two sections. Section 1 comprised
age, gender, education and average time spent on TikTok app. Section 2 incorporated the
playful consumption/hedonic consumption experience model adapted from Abbasi et al.
(2017, 2019a), which captures three main experiences (imaginal, emotional and sensory).
Imaginal experience was assessed through three first-order factors (escapism, role
projection and fantasy), and emotional experience was measured through three lower-order
dimensions (enjoyment, arousal and emotional involvement). The sample item of escapism,
fantasy, enjoyment, sensory, arousal, emotional involvement and role projection in the
TikTok consumption experience includes the following: escapism-1: Using the TikTok app
gets me away from reality; fantasy-1: Using the TikTok app helps me construct fantasies;
enjoyment-1: Using the TikTok app is not really fun; sensory experience-1: Using the TikTok
app influences my physical movement; arousal-1: Using the TikTok app makes me stimulated;
emotional involvement-1: When I am using the TikTok app, I feel deeply about the app; and
role projection-1: Using the TikTok app enables me to project myself into a particular role.
Recently, the hedonic consumption experience model has gained popularity and applied in
several contexts such as video games (Abbasi et al., 2019a), children’s smartphone usage
(Abbasi et al., 2021b), MOBA games (Abbasi et al., 2021a) and battle royale game (e.g. PUBG;
Hollebeek et al., 2022). However, it lacks the applicability in the TikTok context to derive
users’ intention to consume the app and its resultant effect on the overall usage behavior of
TikTok app. The scales to examine user’s intention and usage behavior were adapted from
Abbasi et al. (2021a) and Wu and Holsapple (2014).
The target population for the study included all users of the TikTok app in the twin sites
of Pakistan, i.e. Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Respondents between the age of 16 and 25 years
(Z-generation) were selected for the study as youngsters tend to be innovative in adopting
new technologies (Prensky, 2001) as well as the tech-savvy generation, i.e. Z-generation is
dominating this area (Persada et al., 2021); they spend an average of 79 min a day using
social networking sites (Pacheco et al., 2017). Purposive sampling had been utilized to
collect the data as we had a certain criteria (he/she should be a user of TikTok app, must fall
under Generation Z cohort and should be using for 10 min on a daily basis) to follow for the
data collection (Etikan et al., 2016; Guarte and Barrios, 2006).
In total, we distributed around 300 questionnaires (using online and offline mode), but
only managed to get 276 responses (combining the total of 63 per cent from offline and 37
per cent from online). During the coding process, we deleted 18 cases due to missing values
and suspicious response patterns (e.g. having a diagonal or zigzag response pattern; Abbasi
et al., 2021a). We left with 258 valid responses as tabulated in Table I that we further
utilized for data analysis.
Since the study’s data were collected using the cross-sectional technique (i.e. data
collection at one given point in time), there might be some chances of having common
method bias (CMB) issue. To examine the CMB concern, we employed the Harman’s single-
DTA Variables Category Percentage

Gender Male 57.00%

Female 43.00%
Age 16–17 years 2.30%
18–19 years 9.30%
20–21 years 11.20%
22–23 years 22.10%
24–25 years 55.00
Education SSC or O’Level 0.80%
HSSC or A’Level 3.10%
Undergraduate 38.40%
Postgraduate 57.80%
Average daily usage 10–30 min 67.10%
Table I. 31–45 min 18.60%
Detailed information 46–60 min 5.40%
of respondents Above 1 h 8.90%

factor test (Podsakoff et al., 2003) and resulted that the total variance explicated by the
single factor is 33.9 per cent, which is lower than the critical value of 50 per cent. We
conclude that our study’s modeled variables do not suffer from any CMB issues.
The PLS-SEM approach was applied for data analysis using the two main steps
comprising measurement and structural model assessment. PLS-SEM is a viable
approach for our study’s model as it is more explanatory in nature (Hair et al., 2019),
where we aim to predict users’ behavioral intention to use the TikTok app via hedonic
consumption experiences and its subsequent effect on the overall usage behavior of TikTok
app. Unlike first-generation tools like SPSS, PLS-SEM helps in testing the hypotheses in the
structural model in one go (Hair Jr et al., 2016).

4. Results
We utilized the PLS method for data analysis. The SmartPLS 3.0 tool was used; PLS is
a component-based estimation approach that attempts to maximize the variance described in
the latent dependent variables and has been widely employed in various fields. We used PLS
for three reasons. First, it is suitable for testing models of theory building (Hair et al., 2011).
Second, previous studies have shown a piece of evidence that PLS is the best statistical tool for
testing complex models (Kim and Benbasat, 2006). Lastly, it has the advantage of dealing with
a relatively small sample size (Chin et al., 2003). Using SmartPLS, we examined the
measurement model and structural model.

4.1 Measurement model

Using the PLS-SEM approach, we first examined the measurement model of the study’s
framework for reliability and validity. For reliability and validity checks, we followed the
guidelines of Hair et al. (2019), who advised to assess the indicator’s reliability through items’
outer loading that should be minimum 0.40 or greater. The constructs’ reliability should be
examined using Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability and Dijkstra–Henseler’s rho (ρA) and
meet the threshold value of 0.70. The constructs should also meet the validity checks using
the criteria of discriminant validity (heterotrait–monotrait [HTMT] values should be lower
than 0.90) and convergent validity that is measured via average variance extracted (AVE)
value, which should surpass the value of 0.50 (Hair et al., 2017; Hair Jr et al., 2020).
Scale items Items loading Cronbach’s alpha RhoρA Composite reliability Average variance extracted
TikTok app
usage behavior
Es1 0.624 0.824 0.867 0.880 0.650
Es2 0.869
Es3 0.887
Es4 0.818
Fan1 0.772 0.847 0.895 0.907 0.766
Fan2 0.937
Fan3 0.909
RP1 0.908 0.762 0.921 0.850 0.655
RP2 0.766
RP3 0.743
Enj1r 0.444 0.804 0.891 0.874 0.647
Enj2 0.869
Enj3 0.898
Enj4 0.911
Ar1 0.863 0.786 0.796 0.875 0.701
Ar2 0.792
Ar3 0.854
EI1 0.886 0.850 0.855 0.909 0.768
EI2 0.89
EI3 0.853
SE1 0.667 0.850 0.87 0.887 0.568
SE2 0.699
SE3 0.772
SE4 0.802
SE5 0.812
SE6 0.76
BI1 0.816 0.781 0.781 0.873 0.696
BI2 0.874
BI3 0.812
UB1 0.93 0.785 0.888 0.873 0.702
UB2 0.918 Table II.
UB3 0.631 Measurement model

The findings reported in Table II explicated that all constructs meet the threshold values for
indicators’ reliability (i.e. values greater than 0.40), constructs’ reliabilities (i.e. values higher
than 0.70), convergent validity (i.e. AVE values exceeding 0.50) and discriminant validity
(i.e. HTMT values lower than 0.90, see Table III for detailed information).

4.2 Structural model

Once we had satisfactory results from the measurement model, we proceeded to testing the
structural model. Using the SmartPLS software, we performed the bootstrapping with 5,000
samples. The study results as postulated in Table IV (showing path-coefficients, effect size,
p-values and t-values) revealed that consumers’ playful experiences such as role projection (H3),
emotional involvement (H6) and fantasy (H2) in TikTok app failed to have a positive significant
influence on determining consumers’ behavioral intention to use the TikTok app. In contrast,
consumers perceived escapism, arousal, enjoyment and sensory experiences are the true
antecedents to drive consumers’ intention to consume the TikTok, which in turn positively
predicted consumers’ overall usage behavior of TikTok app. Hence, the structural model
provided support for five hypotheses; H1, H4, H5, H7 and H8 (see Table IV and Figure 2).
The model performed well as it accounted for 55.4 per cent of the explained variance in
DTA behavioral intention and 19.7 per cent in actual use. Besides, the study’s model possessed the
predictive relevance (i.e. denoted with Q2) as it exceeded the value of zero.

5. Discussion
The study has applied the U&G theory to study behavioral intention and its subsequent
effect on usage behavior within the context of the TikTok app. The study results
demonstrated that escapism has a significant positive effect on individuals’ intention to
use the TikTok app. Our study findings are aligned with prior research that also found
a significant association between gamers’ escapism and behavioral intention to play a video
game (Abbasi et al., 2021a). For example, taking an example of an interesting story on eye-
catching and innovative 3D and 4D graphics, and the trending fast-track sounds, an
animated video game paves the way for creating a virtual world full of animations in
which the users tend to involve themselves in getting through problems (Wu and Holsapple,
2014). In short, consuming the TikTok app helps a person escape from past worries and
engage themselves with behavior intention (Kırcaburun and Griffiths, 2019). This finding is
in line with the U&G theory as it establishes escaping, or the dissociation from the physical
environment, as a use for the user. TikTok serves as a platform that enables gratification by
performing the function of escapism. Existing studies reported that TikTok had been
preferred over other social media applications as the user-generated content served as an
entertaining platform for escapism through enjoyment (Omar and Dequan, 2020).
Furthermore, the study indicated that arousal has a positive significant effect on
behavioral intention, in line with Wu and Holsapple (2014). This study argues that the
relationship between arousal and behavioral intention intersects with the context of the
TikTok app. Cheah et al. (2020) found a positive relationship between arousal and
behavioral intention. In fact, in the field of sports, arousal has a positive and direct effect
on behavioral intention (Jang et al., 2020), thus creating emotional states such as arousal,
enjoyment and emotional involvement. This indicates that arousal builds usage intention
(Zhao et al., 2020). Existing studies found that users often relate TikTok with feelings of fun,
enjoyment and entertainment (Vaterlaus and Winter, 2021). It is often used as a way to
replace boredom with these feelings of positive arousal, which led to continued behavioral
intention for usage of the app, providing gratification through its entertainment value.
Third, enjoyment has a significant positive effect on behavioral intention to use the
TikTok app. Whiting and Williams (2013) identified 10 reasons that motivate individuals to
use social media, in which enjoyment is one of them. Enjoyment reduces the cognitive
burden as individuals experience pleasure from using this app, and subsequently, they
commit more time to its usage (Mun and Hwang, 2003). Thus, results indicate that
enjoyment significantly predicts behavioral intention, and it is aligned with the study

Arousal BI EI Enjoy Escap Fant Rp SE UB

Arousal
Behavioral intention (BI) 0.782
Emotional involvement (EI) 0.753 0.592
Enjoyment (Enjoy) 0.616 0.744 0.603
Escapism (Escap) 0.702 0.651 0.564 0.563
Fantasy (Fant) 0.344 0.300 0.311 0.217 0.300
Table III. Role projection (Rp) 0.592 0.266 0.483 0.387 0.435 0.195
Discriminant validity Sensory experience (SE) 0.894 0.768 0.796 0.709 0.695 0.388 0.495
heterotrait–monotrait Usage behavior (UB) 0.295 0.539 0.312 0.386 0.388 0.056 0.081 0.318
 t-statistics
Path-coefficient Standard-deviation (SD) (|O/SD|) Effect size p-values R2 Q2

H1: Escape → BI 0.170 0.059 2.813 0.034 0.002**

H2: Fantasy → BI 0.029 0.047 0.591 0.001 0.277 ns
H3: Role projection → BI −0.130 0.057 2.549 0.034 0.005**
H4: Enjoyment → BI 0.301 0.073 4.153 0.115 0.000***
H5: Arousal → BI 0.250 0.080 3.202 0.056 0.001***
H6: Emotional involvement → BI −0.030 0.067 0.422 0.001 0.337 ns
H7: Sensory experience → BI 0.245 0.095 2.543 0.042 0.006** 0.554 0.364
H8: Behavioral intention → Usage behavior 0.448 0.041 10.804 0.245 0.000*** 0.197 0.132
Notes: ***p-value < 0.001, **p-value < 0.01, *p-value < 0.05, p-value ≥ 0.0; ns, not significant
TikTok app

Structural model
Table IV.
usage behavior
DTA

Figure 2.
Empirical validation of
our study’s model

(Wu and Holsapple, 2014). As discussed above, enjoyment is a significant factor involved in
arousal and escapism. This finding links with the first two wherein the nature of TikTok as
a fun and enjoyable application leads to increase usage. In addition to viewing content,
studies have found that TikTok users derive enjoyment from creating content as well
(Vaterlaus and Winter, 2021). This fits into the U&G theory model as users are deriving
gratification from the use of the application.
Additionally, role projection could be easily connected to behaviors that emanate into
a role an individual aspires to project (Wu and Holsapple, 2014). Wang et al. (2020) also
focused on the relationship between role projection and behavioral intention. Role projection
is a crucial factor when investigating smartphone usage apps and the subjective well-being
of children (Abbasi et al., 2021b). As suggested by Abbasi et al. (2019b), role projection
produces an association with particular TikTok characters. However, results include that
role projection does not significantly contribute to expounding behavioral intention to use
the TikTok app. This may be understood in relation to the nature of the application. Users
have reported that the application allows them to create, express and archive content that is
suited to their preference (Omar and Dequan, 2020). These different types of use do not
involve the emergence of roles that can be adopted by the users, limiting the utility of role
projection in this context.
 Moreover, extensive studies reveal that emotional involvement impacts the extent to TikTok app
which a consumer engages in the shopping decision-making process (Wu and Holsapple, usage behavior
2014). Jang et al. (2020) predicted a relationship between emotional involvement and
behavioral intention. Another piece of evidence gives us a significant relationship
between emotional satisfaction and behavioral intention (Hussain et al., 2020). However,
this study contradicts previous studies in how emotional involvement does not positively
explain the behavioral intention of TikTok app users. This may be explained by viewing
TikTok as an application that encourages emotional expression, not emotional
involvement. This may be understood under the “emotional architecture” framework
developed by Wahl-Jorgensen (2018) who distinguished different social media
applications in terms of how they supported certain aspects of emotional involvement
and expression. TikTok is a tool conducive to self-expression; however, it does not boast
the features that may engage users emotionally. Therefore, in terms of the U&G theory,
TikTok is not intended for emotional involvement, and so it does not have a significant
effect on continued usage of an application.
The study results indicate that sensory experience has a significant positive impact on
usage intention. Significantly, a positive sensory experience always leads to a greater sense
of joy and engagement, which ultimately results in behavioral intention (Csikszentmihalyi
and Csikszentmihalyi, 1992; Dalmoro et al., 2019; Kim et al., 2016). Sensory experience has
also been influenced by technology, and new technologies impact the future of
entertainment services (Petit et al., 2015). This is also linked to behavioral intention since
entertainment and leisure services are associated with emotions and sensory experiences.
Given the primary purpose of TikTok is to share user-generated content which holds
entertainment value, it is imperative that the content produces a positive sensory
experience. The users seek play/fun gratification from the platform which has been
related to positive sensory experiences (Vaterlaus and Winter, 2021).
On the other hand, the study validates that fantasy has an irrelevant negative influence
on behavior intention to use TikTok app, which agrees with the findings of Wu and
Holsapple (2014). A hedonic consumption perspective implies that fantasy results in
determining usage intention (Wu and Holsapple, 2014). Moreover, previous researchers
have identified fantasy as a vibrant force in digital media that arouses a TikTok app user to
imitate certain playful characters to gain behavior intention. However, fantasy may not be
as vivid or encompassing in the context of TikTok as adoption of characters is not the
major use of the application (Vaterlaus and Winter, 2021). Instead, the imitation of playful
characters may be related to the use of TikTok as a platform for self-expression and
entertainment (Omar and Dequan, 2020). Therefore, it is concluded that fantasy has not
contributed positively to the behavioral intention to use the TikTok app.
Finally yet importantly, the study demonstrates that behavioral intention has a positive
effect on the usage of the TikTok app by incorporating the U&G theory. Such theory is well
known in the domain of information systems as it assists in explaining gratifications of
individual behavior in various fields. Additionally, the positive relationship between
behavioral intention and TikTok usage app initiates playful consumption experiences to
affect behavioral intention so that TikTok users enjoy the app more and more. The nature
of TikTok as an entertainment application meets the needs wanted by its audience. In
comparison with other applications, it performs better on users’ perceived playful
experiences (e.g. sensory, enjoyment, arousal, escapism and role projection), which leads
to have better suitability for users.
DTA 5.1 Theoretical implications
It is crucial to understand the theoretical implications of the given research. The study has
chosen U&G theory to investigate the factors affecting behavioral intention to use the
TikTok app. U&G theory has been used to better extract the impact of social media on its
users. Further, Omar and Dequan (2020) implemented the U&G theory to understand the
TikTok usage behavior. Similarly, a study by Shao and Lee (2020) illustrated the TikTok
usage intention and applied U&G theory. For instance, Wu and Holsapple (2014) identified
the vitality of investigating the hedonic consumption theory to uncover behavioral
intention. In contrast, they overlook the sensory experience as a primary predictor of
behavioral intention. Hence, the current study has investigated the phenomenon of
sensory experience in detail, which recently studied in the context of MOBA games
(Abbasi et al., 2021a) and PUBG game (Rehman et al., 2022). However, we extend this
perspective to the TikTok app as it has gained significant importance in the current
situation of coronavirus outbreak (Oketunmbi et al., 2021).
Hu (2020) also conducted a study on the TikTok app and WeChat to analyze the U&G
theory in practice. Subsequently, prior studies embedded U&G theory to study social media
and the importance of stickers to achieve gratification (Lee and Lin, 2020). Further, the
authors studied engagement behaviors of TikTokers in China from the perspective of Big
Five personality, narcissism and gratification needs (Meng and Leung, 2021). Feldkamp
(2021) tried to understand the rise of TikTok during the pandemic COVID-19 from the
perspective of the U&G theory. However, this study pays a closer attention to not only on
the U&G theory but also to study why users engage in the entertainment application (e.g.
TikTok App) through playful consumption experience during a crisis such as COVID-19.
Our study contributes to the U&G theory to relate playful consumption experiences
(comprising emotional involvement, enjoyment, arousal, fantasy, escapism, role projection
and sensory experience) as possible gratifications for users to develop their behavioral
intention to use the TikTok app and its further impact on users’ actual usage of the app.
Besides, we advance the perspective of TAM via studying hedonic consumption
experiences as predictors of behavioral intention and examining its subsequent effect on
TikTok app usage behavior. This study also adds the contextual contribution because it is
conducted on Pakistani users, which would benefit other academicians and practitioners in
other parts of the developing economies. In the context of Pakistan, our study’s model posits
that TikTok app users are encouraged to engage in the TikTok app due to escapism,
arousal, enjoyment and sensory experiences.

5.2 Practical implications

Social media app designers, marketing managers, brand managers of the entertainment
industry and scholars can use the playful consumption experience model to examine
individuals’ behavior by applying questionnaires before and after the study and
comparing the results with other studies. Furthermore, understanding the reasons behind
engaging in the TikTok app would help practitioners understand usage intentions and
create new apps that focus on assisting consumers in experiencing escapism, playful
consumption, enjoyment and arousal. Current apps and video games could also adjust
their content and strategy to provide a successful entertainment service experience to allow
customers to better experience a desired state. In fact, social media, video games and the
internet have been considered a coping mechanism that helps individuals escape the reality
(Fernandes et al., 2020). Nonetheless, service providers should consider the strategies
extracted from this research and during a worldwide pandemic as individuals are
experiencing escapism to relocate themselves in a COVID-19-free world.
 Specifically, for the TikTok app, the current research will help application developers TikTok app
articulate which details and features they should center their attention on. As escapism is usage behavior
a primary determinant of the intention to use the TikTok app, entertainment application
developers should introduce elements that influence the user’s feeling of the ability to drift
away from reality. However, incorporating fantasy elements is not recommended, as the
insignificant negative influence will help developers enhance user behavior for the TikTok
app usage. Additionally, developers would find that introducing more characters for
increased role projection would assist consumers in becoming more emotionally involved.
Hence, the future research avenues would be focusing on predicting the significant impact
of these variables to indicate behavioral intention. In contrast, research should consider
other entertainment applications like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Moreover, entertainment service providers should consider the variables extracted from
this research to enhance the quality and overall experience of engaging in such apps.
TikTok app provides a platform to all businesses to promote their products and services
to a wide range of community. Creating and posting the user-/firm-generated content on
their official account on TikTok app will allow the users to instantly get the information on
trendy products and services. More importantly, businesses can generate a wide pool of
online community through the followers of their account, which in turn help them
understanding the users’ preferences and needs to send them a personalized content to
boost the sale of any businesses.

5.3 Conclusion
This study offers several notable contributions. First, it applies the assumption of U&G
theory, especially answering the “why” question via incorporating hedonic consumption
experiences (escapism, fantasy, enjoyment, role projection, arousal, emotional involvement
and sensory) to find out the factors influencing behavioral intention to use the TikTok app.
Second, we employ hedonic consumption experiences to assess users’ acceptance of TikTok
app usage behavior. Third, we study the TikTok app consumption in a developing
economy (i.e. Pakistan) to examine users’ experiences pertaining to the TikTok app to
instigate their intention and usage behavior.

5.4 Future research and limitations

It is essential to mention that behavior can be influenced by the five sensory experiences,
and this has not been tested in a multisensory environment. As well, another research gap
can be identified as the literature handles sensory experience as either a positive or
a negative unilateral construct. However, TikTok consumers may have various mixed
feelings toward the same experience. Another research gap is related to a methodological
approach incorporated in measuring an individual’s sensory experience (Mehraliyev et al.,
2020). This research paper has covered the seven variables, which ignite behavioral
intention to use TikTok app. A cross-sectional study is a limitation, so future research is
encouraged to focus on either a longitudinal or an experimental design. However, future
research can expand the current findings by investigating the mediating role of customer
engagement in TikTok app to elevate and enrich users’ behavioral intention to consume
TikTok app (Lim and Rasul, 2022; Lim et al., 2021). Not to mention that researchers could
also change the dependent variable of behavioral intention to another variable (e.g. users’
satisfaction and subjective well-being). Likewise, problem projection could be added as an
independent variable. Presently, this study employed the symmetrical approach (e.g. PLS-
SEM) to investigate the factors influencing users’ intention to use the TikTok app, which in
turn determines the overall usage behavior of TikTok app. This approach is valid but it
does not cover the complexity of human behavior (i.e. usage intention and behavior of
DTA TikTok app). Therefore, we encourage the future study to explore asymmetrical technique
(e.g. fsQCA; Abbasi et al., 2022; Kumar et al., 2022) as a complimentary approach to provide
finer-grained insights on the combination of U&G factors (e.g. hedonic consumption
experiences) that would impact users’ actual usage of TikTok app. It is important to
quote that our study did not address the intention–behavior gap. Therefore, the future
research is much needed to explore potential covert and overt behavioral controls driven by
the theory of behavioral control (Lim and Weissmann, 2021) to develop the exploratory
insights within the present study.

ORCID iD
Amir Zaib Abbasi https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8220-1989

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About the authors

Amir Zaib Abbasi is working as an academic researcher in IRC for Finance and Digital Economy,
KFUPM Business School, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. His
areas of research are based on Human–Computer Interaction, Marketing and Consumer Behaviour. Dr
Abbasi has published his work in Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Telematics and
Informatics, Data Technologies and Applications, Journal of Services Marketing, JMIR Serious
Games, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Current Psychology, Journal of Product &
Brand Management, Frontiers in Psychology, Entertainment Computing, IEEE Access and in top–tier
conferences published by Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer such as International
Conference on Entertainment Computing Series and Joint Conference on Serious Games. Dr Abbasi
is currently working on projects relating to consumer video game engagement, learning, personality
traits, hedonic theory and consumption behaviors in entertainment industry. Amir Zaib Abbasi can be
contacted at: aamir.zaib.abbasi@gmail.com
Natasha Ayaz has completed her MS in Management Sciences from Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Institute of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan. Her research interests include social media,
personality traits, engagement and digital technologies.
Sana Kanwal has completed her MBA with thesis from Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of
Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan. Her research interests involve social media, consumer
behavior and digital marketing.
Mousa Albashrawi is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems and Director of IRC for
Finance and Digital Economy at KFUPM Business School, King Fahd University of Petroleum and
Minerals, KSA. Dr. Albashrawi earned his PhD degree from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in
2017. His research interests include, but not limited to, acceptance of mobile technologies,
entrepreneurial intention, data analytics and machine learning. He has presented his research in
good IS conferences such as, AMICS, Eastern Academy of Management, Pre-ICIS, ACM and HICSS.
As well, his works have been accepted and published in Journal of Data Science, Information Systems
Management, Information Systems Frontiers and International Journal of Information Management.
DTA Nadine Khair, PhD, is an assistant professor in marketing and is currently the department head at
the American University of Madaba. She completed her PhD in the UK and specialized in international
marketing, consumer behaviour and fashion marketing. Her research interests articulate around
international marketing, consumer behavior, fashion marketing, gender-related studies, ethnography
and auto-ethnography.

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