Ali A. Al-Kandari

The impact of the Internet on political attitudes in Kuwait and Egypt

This study reports the responses of 445 university students, 242 (54%) from Egypt and 203 (46%) from Kuwait, to a questionnaire exploring the influence of the length of time a person spends on the Internet, their reasons for using the Internet and the use of Internet applications on political efficacy, engagement and knowledge. Data were collected before the political unrest in Egypt took place. The study finds that Internet use for the reason of self-expression has a negative impact on political efficacy. The use of Facebook, Twitter and blogs as Internet applications, together with Internet use for information, positively predict political engagement. The discussion presented relates the results to the political upheavals currently transforming the Arab world and its politics.

Internet adoption by Saudi public relations professionals

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of individual, organizational, and social contexts on internet adoption by Saudi public relations professionals.Design/methodology/approach – Using the diffusion of innovations model, this study investigates the responses of 354 Saudi public relations professionals to a survey about internet adoption in public relations‐related tasks.Findings – The paper finds that only 46 per cent of Saudi public relations professionals adopted the internet for public relations. Organizational context variables were the influential predictors of internet adoption.Research limitations/implications – In the light of the intense bureaucracy in Arab organizations, scholars should be cognizant of the roles played by Arab organizational structures in the adoption of innovations.Practical implications – While the adoption of innovations in Western organizations is more likely to be influenced by commercial needs, organizational structures play more defining roles i...

Factors Influencing the Adoption of the Internet by Public Relations Professionals in the Private and Public Sectors of Saudi Arabia

Managers from Western cultures tend to assume that efficiency and profitability will drive the adoption of new technologies by multinational conglomerates. The present study shows that for non-Western organizations, the sector that the organization operates in (public or private) and its decision-making style are also relevant factors. The research employs the diffusion of innovation model to explore Internet adoption by public relations professionals in Saudi Arabian organizations. A survey of 354 public relations professionals revealed that 93% of the professionals in the private sector had adopted the Internet, compared to 83% of their counterparts in the public sector. Professionals in the private sector ascribed relative advantage as critical for adoption. Regression analyses revealed that authoritarian decision making and organizational encouragement were predictors of adoption.

Needs and Motives of Instagram Users that Predict Self-disclosure Use: A Case Study of Young Adults in Kuwait

This study employed the media uses and gratifications model to examine the needs and motives of Instagram users that predict self-disclosure use. Students from the Gulf University of Science and Technology, Kuwait, were surveyed for this study. This study suggests that Instagram provides categories of needs and motives similar in nature to those of the other social media such as self-expression, social interaction, entertainment and opinion exchange. It also caters to the need for experimenting with photography that few available social media satisfy. Self-expression and social interaction needs were the strongest predictors of the use of Instagram for self-disclosure on all its dimensions, that is, honesty, amount, positive valence and depth. Other intersecting factors such as biological sex and frequency of use showed different patterns of use. The implications of Arab culture on Instagram use are discussed since Kuwaiti culture, as opposed to the Western cultures, is more collectivist in nature.

Predicting the Clash of Civilizations: The Use and Impact of Religious Media in Kuwait

This study employs the uses and gratifications perspective to examine whether the way that individuals use the media, and the length of time for which they access specific religious media content (e.g., radio, newspapers, magazines, CDs, Internet, TV), correlates with their endorsement of Samuel Huntingtons theory of a “Clash of Civilizations.” Huntingtons thesis is that the future relationship between the West and Muslims will necessarily be one of conflict. The responses of 328 university students to a questionnaire revealed that 55% of respondents endorsed the notion of a “Clash.” The use of religious content for social religious gratification positively predicted acceptance of the notion, while the use of the media for individual religious gratification negatively predicted it. The study discusses whether classifying religious media gratification into social and individual varieties might be productive in predicting macro level social and political attitudes, at least among Muslims.

Looking perfect: Instagram use in a Kuwaiti cultural context

ABSTRACT This study surveys 539 Arab university students to examine gender motivational differences in Instagram use, exploring the Self-Perfectionist Personality concept and usage activities that best predict a Self-Presentation motive on Instagram. While both genders utilized Instagram mainly for Entertainment, they varied on the priority of other motives. Females were less likely to have public accounts, post personal pictures, and disclose personal information. Also, self-perfectionists of both genders excessively edited their personal pictures before posting them and were more likely to use Instagram for Self-Presentation. Outcomes are discussed in the light of the influences of culture and gender roles in Kuwait.

Selfie-taking motives and social psychological dispositions as predictors of selfie-related activities among university students in Kuwait:

This study explores motives for taking and posting selfies on social media and whether those motives and other social psychological dispositions predict the selfie-related activities of “taking,” “posting,” and “editing” selfies. A sample of 404 university students in Kuwait indicated they took and posted selfies for motives of appraisal-seeking self-presentation (ASSP), entertainment, status-updating self-presentation (SUSP) and documentation. Females were more likely to be involved in selfie-related activities and to use selfies for ASSP. Documentation was the prime predictor of the activity of “taking” selfies, SUSP was for “posting” selfies, and ASSP was for “editing” selfies. Self-perceived attractiveness predicted the activities of “posting” and “taking” selfies. Results are discussed in light of the influence of culture in Kuwait and some conceptual considerations about selfies are made.

Egypt 5 Years After the Revolution: A Political Gratifications Study of the Motives for Viewing Television News and Political Programs That Predict Political Attitudes

This study employs the uses and gratifications perspective to examine the motives that led a sample of 466 university students in Egypt to view television news and political programs and whether those motives and the frequency of exposure to media predict political efficacy, support for democracy, and political cynicism. The outcomes revealed that motives for viewing were Support in Discussions, Watchdog on Government, Reinforcement, Opinion Formation, Information, and the Free Marketplace of Information. Although Support in Discussions predicted political efficacy and the Free Marketplace of Information negatively predicted it, levels of prediction were not powerful. Support for democracy was weakly predicted by Information, Support in Discussions, the Free Marketplace of Information, and Watchdog on Government. Political cynicism was not predicted by any media variables. The motives for media use are discussed in relation to the political psyche of Egyptians and the political conditions affecting Egypt after the revolution.

The use and impact of media during the 2008 global financial crisis: a media-user perspective

This study examines the impact of media exposure and reasons for media engagement from a media-user perspective on the level of trust in the government, the economy and the future in Kuwait during the 2008 international financial crisis. The study revealed that respondents used media for reasons of future prediction, general knowledge, solution seeking, advice seeking and crisis impact. Hierarchal regression analyses indicate that trust in the media positively predicted all criterion variables. The use of media to estimate the Crisis Impact predicts trust in the economy. Newspaper use predicts faith in the economy and the future and surfing the internet only predicts trust in the economy. General exposure to the media negatively predicts trust in the economy and the future. The study discusses the power of the communicator-centred and audience-centred approaches in predicting attitudes and beliefs during times of crises.