Refining the Response-Frequency Measure of Media Habit – The role of time pressure

Media habits attract growing attention in communication research. Therefore, valid measures of habit strength are needed. The response-frequency measure of media habit (RFMMH) provides an implicit approach. It does not rely on retrospective self-reports of the habitual character of a behavior. Participants are presented with vignettes referring to various goal situations and choose under time pressure script-based which media device they would use in the respective situation. Choosing the same device across the different goal situations indicates strong general habits. The present paper refines the RFMMH by testing different time pressure levels in a heterogeneous sample to identify the ideal amount of time pressure.