Digital photo hoarding in online retail context. An in-depth qualitative investigation of retail consumers

The digital hoarding field is now recognized as a significant research topic. Scholars and practitioners are interested in understanding why users hoard digital content, primarily digital photos. The study aims to extend our understanding of the motivating factors that lead individuals to hoard digital content, especially in the context of digital photos. The study employed the grounded-theory methodology to situate our research within the context of users' real experiences and used the Gioia technique to adopt a qualitative research strategy to explore the themes that arose from the participant replies. The Uses & Gratification Theory (UGT) was found to be in line with the themes that were derived from the participants' opinions. The first part of our study aimed to explore people's perception of "what is digital hoarding?". Our study's focal research question was targeted at finding out what gratifications people get from hoarding digital photos and how those gratifications motivate their digital hoarding behavior. Different stakeholders in the digital world can obtain a deeper understanding of the numerous uses and gratifications that drive people's digital hoarding behavior, which can help develop strategies for encouraging more effective and meaningful digital photo management by illuminating the psychological and practical aspects of digital hoarding. This will ultimately improve people's digital experiences and lessen the burden of excessive data accumulation in the digital age.