The Domestication of Netflix in the Gulf

Authors

  • Bouziane Zaid Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane
  • Mohamed Benmoussa University of Sharjah
  • Khayrat Ayyad University of Sharjah
  • Mohammed Ibahrine Northwestern University in Qatar
  • Abdelmalek El Kadoussi Ibn Toufail University

Keywords:

Domestication, Gulf countries, localized content, Netflix, SVoD, user reception

Abstract

The introduction of subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) services has transformed the media landscape in the television market of Arab Gulf countries. This article adopts Silverstone’s domestication theory as a conceptual framework to analyze how users, as individuals and households, incorporate Netflix and engage with its content, how they create their own symbolic meanings and social practices, and how they integrate its algorithmic recommendations and personalization into their temporal-spatial routines. This article relies on qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews with 18 young urban adults from the six Gulf countries. The computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software package NVivo was used to conduct a series of qualitative analyses. The findings suggest that the users are deliberate in their adoption of Netflix and of the entertainment content they consume, and that Netflix has been incorporated into the users’ daily routines and activities to fit with their own personal and cultural needs. 

Author Biographies

Bouziane Zaid, Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane

Bouziane Zaid, PhD., is an associate professor at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco. His research interests are in the areas of information technologies, media law and policy, public service media, digital rights, and internet governance. He authored and co-authored two books and numerous journal articles, country reports, and book chapters. Dr. Zaid has served as a consultant for the UNESCO, Open Society Foundation, Freedom House and other international organizations.+212 682277828

Mohamed Benmoussa, University of Sharjah

Mohamed Ben Moussa is an Associate Professor at the College of Communication, University of Sharjah, UAE. He received a PhD in Communication Studies from Concordia University, Canada, and an MA in Communication from the University of Leeds, UK. His research interests revolve around new media and social movements, digital culture and media convergence, online public relations, and ICTs for development, among others.

Khayrat Ayyad, University of Sharjah

Khayrat Ayyad, PhD., is Associate Professor at the College of Communication in the University of Sharjah, UAE. He published three books in the areas of government communication and public relations. He also published many journal articles in the areas of the implications of digital transformation on journalism and public relations. Dr. Ayyad also participated in many international conferences such as ECREA & IAMCR.

Mohammed Ibahrine, Northwestern University in Qatar

Mohammed Ibahrine, Dr. phil., is professor of integrated marketing communication at the Northwestern University in Qatar. His research interests cover technology and marketing, entrepreneurship, innovation, the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution.

Abdelmalek El Kadoussi, Ibn Toufail University

Abdelmalek El Kadoussi, PhD., is Assistant Professor of media and communication at Ibn Toufail University, Kenitra, Morocco. Over the last 15 years, he has conducted research on different layers of media scholarship, including but not confined to, media and democratization, media political economy, media production and reception. He has presented papers in national and international conferences and published on national and international journals.

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Published

2023-11-13

Issue

Vol. 17 (2023)

Section

Articles

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