Who listens to podcasts, and why?: the Israeli case
| Pages | 482-495 |
| Published date | 12 August 2019 |
| Date | 12 August 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-04-2017-0119 |
| Author | Tal Samuel-Azran,Tal Laor,Dana Tal |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
Who listens to podcasts, and
why?: the Israeli case
Tal Samuel-Azran
Department of Communications, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya,
Herzliya, Israel
Tal Laor
Department of Communications, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel, and
Dana Tal
Department of Communications, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya,
Herzliya, Israel
Abstract
Purpose –Podcasts have become a main content delivery platform in the last decade. Since not enough
studies examined the wider population adoption patterns of podcasts in general and outside the USA in
particular, the purpose of this paper is to examine the socio-demographics of podcast listeners and the uses
and gratifications fulfilled by listening to podcasts using Israel’s most popular podcast as our case study.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors uploaded a survey on the podcast platforms aiming to
identify their socio-demographic profiles of listeners (n¼960) and where they listen to the podcast. Next, the
authors conducted follow-up interviews with 100 respondents to understand their main uses and
gratifications fulfilled while listening to the podcast.
Findings –The findings of thissurvey indicate podcast listeners in Israelas mostly male, with self-reported
high income, under the age of 45, highly educated and nearly half work in the high-tech sector. Follow-up
interviewsidentified that the mainuses and gratifications fromlistening to podcasts werecognitive –acquiring
new knowledge, soc ial –a desire to share new data with friends, entertainment, hobby and a way to assist
falling asleep.
Research limitations/implications –The findings of this study indicate that access to podcasts in Israel
is utilized mostly by members of already advantaged and technology-oriented groups, thus potentially
widening existing societal gaps.
Originality/value –The study examines the podcast adoption in a country whose podcast adoption
patterns were not yet explored, thus contributes toward mapping of the global usage of podcasts. It portrays
podcasts in Israel as a platform used mostly by members of privilegedand technology-oriented groups, which
is similar to findings regarding the demographics of podcast listeners in the USA. Some of the uses and
gratifications are similar to that in the USA while others, such as the desire to share knowledge and efficient
time management, are unique and reflect the impact of the local culture and conditions on podcast adoption.
Keywords History, Israel, Technology adoption, Podcast, Elite, Uses, Gratifications
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Analysis of new content delivery platforms and their adoption patterns is at the core of
media and information studies. One of the under-addressed platforms that became
increasingly popular in the last decade is podcasts, information-based online broadcasts
available for live listening or downloading, which recent surveys indicate are continuously
growing in popularity. To illustrate, a 2018 survey identified that 44 percent of the US
population is familiar with podcasts (Edison Research, 2018) representing a major growth in
popularity in comparison to 2017 and 2016 (Forbes, 2017). Thus, it is highly important to
understand the podcasts adoption patterns, particularly which demographics listen to
podcasts worldwide and why they decide to tune-in.
To contribute to the global mapping of podcast adoption, this study examines which
demographics listen to podcasts via a survey distributed among the listeners of Israel’s
most popular podcast. Thus, we first identified the most popular podcast in Israel via
Online Information Review
Vol. 43 No. 4, 2019
pp. 482-495
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-04-2017-0119
Received 13 April 2017
Revised 22 October 2017
15 September 2018
Accepted 26 December 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
482
OIR
43,4
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