Antecedents to Audience Activity: Activators in the Activariation Model
Professor Daechun An, Ph.D; Chen Wang, Young-Je Kim; Ki Seok Choi

Abstract
The purpose of this study is to suggest a conceptual model that illustrates what causes a variation in audience activity and how they relate to audience activity. Unlike uses and gratifications theory, this study looks at what actually causes the variation in audience activity. The model developed in this study – the Activariation Model – illustrates an overarching pattern of relationships between audience activity and activators (audience factors): individual, social and media factors. It suggests that media users are differentiated by activators, which will determine the levels of activity, when attending to media for specific reasons and to satisfy specific needs and this will lead them to end up with varying degrees of gratifications. This model can become a useful tool to examine media users and their factors in today’s fragmented and individualized communication environment because it may explain the direct influence of audience activity on the use of new media.

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