Abstract

With the advancement of information technology and the varied demands of people’s daily lives, the progress of podcasts has gradually matured. Podcasts are capable of catering to users’ needs for companionship, free-form content, and interactive listening experiences, effectively meeting users’ listening requirements. These attributes enhance users’ inclination to engage with podcasts. Previous studies have concentrated primarily on the realms of education and broadcasting convergence, featuring specificity and failing to comprehensively examine motivations for podcast usage across various disciplines. Thus, this research delves into the existing literature on motivations for utilizing podcasts across various fields to gain insights into the current state of research topics and to compare variations in individuals’ motivations for using podcasts in diverse fields. This study systematically reviewed key literature on people’s motivations for using podcasts with different contents. The PRISMA method was employed for the systematic review of the literature from 2004 to 2023. Scopus and Web of Science were selected as the study’s main sources. The analysis of thirty-one selected articles on podcast usage motivations revealed six distinct content categories: education, various genres, health, crime, politics, and sports. Additionally, various usage motivations were identified, namely, entertainment, knowledge acquisition, convenience, and multitasking. These findings have the potential to guide future research in this field.