Understanding gratifications for engaging with short-video: a comparison of TikTok use in the USA and China

As one of the first comparative TikTok studies, we examine TikTok mobile app users' gratifications sought, gratifications obtained, and engagement in the USA and China to conceptualise a new comprehensive gratifications engagement model. This study comprises an original survey conducted in the USA (N = 148) and China (N = 150) in 2018. Our theoretical model predicted three TikTok engagement typologies among American and Chinese users, further providing evidence of the cross-cultural application of uses and gratifications theory. Overall, TikTok users tend to be more active in promoting themselves engaged in TikTok's video content than traditional short-video app (e.g., Snapchat) users. Our findings show that gratifications sought to play a more important role in the American engagement effects model than in the Chinese model. The outcomes of this study could be utilised by corporate brands to create better appeal strategies for customer engagement with the TikTok app.