Unboxing the Paradox: Understanding How Viewing Motivations Drive User Fatigue and Attrition on Short-Form Video Platforms

Understanding how unboxing video viewing motives influence users’ cognitive and behavioral outcomes is essential for managing engagement and fatigue in short-form video environments. This study examines how different viewing motives in unboxing short-form videos - entertainment and boredom/habitual pass time - affect perceived information overload and subsequent discontinuance intention to use. Using structural equation modeling, the results reveal that boredom/habitual pass time motives lead to repetitive and passive viewing patterns, thereby intensifying information overload, whereas entertainment motives exert no significant effect, reflecting their restorative nature. Consistent with Cognitive Overload Theory, when users perceive an overload of information, the resulting fatigue and cognitive confusion collectively drive their intention to withdraw from short-form video use. Moreover, customer engagement moderates these effects: highly engaged users process content via the central route and experience greater strain, while low-engagement users rely on peripheral cues that alleviate overload. These findings deepen the understanding of cognitive and affective mechanisms underlying short-form video fatigue while offering practical guidance for optimizing content rhythm, recommendation algorithms, and user experience design on digital platforms. Collectively, they also extend the Elaboration Likelihood Model by revealing how cognitive overload operates within interactive media contexts.