Abstract The rapid proliferation of subscription video-on-demand platforms has established binge-watching as a dominant media consumption mode among young adults globally, yet empirical evidence mapping this phenomenon within Arab cultural and linguistic contexts remains scarce. Drawing on Uses and Gratifications Theory and Media System Dependency Theory, this study examines the complex relationships between platform design affordances, psychosocial motivations, systemic platform dependency, and behavioral binge-watching patterns among university students in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Data were gathered through a cross-sectional survey administered to undergraduate students across four prominent public and private universities in both nations: Cairo University, October 6 University, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, and Alfaisal University. The empirical findings reveal extensive binge-watching habits alongside highly elevated levels of psychosocial motivations, platform dependency, and perceived interface design influence. Bivariate correlation analyses indicate that all hypothesized relationships are statistically significant, positive, and robust, with psychosocial motivations and explicit platform dependency emerging as the factors most strongly associated with consecutive episode viewing. Furthermore, multivariate regression analysis confirms that psychosocial motivations, usage intensity, and daily viewing duration jointly explain a substantial proportion of the variance in binge-watching behavior, with active psychosocial needs serving as the most powerful unique predictor in the model. This study concludes that binge-watching among university students in Egypt and Saudi Arabia represents a complex, hybrid behavioral practice where active user need-seeking—encompassing entertainment, emotional regulation, and social belonging—is systematically amplified by the persuasive architecture of the streaming interface. By documenting how features like autoplay and algorithmic recommendation systems lower behavioral friction, these findings successfully expand contemporary media dependency and gratification theories to Arab streaming ecosystems. Ultimately, this research offers critical, culturally situated insights to inform future media literacy education, platform design ethics, and targeted digital self-regulation interventions for young adults in the region.
ELRAHMAN et al. (Thu,) studied this question.