Emotions, experience, identity – motivations of the teens’ information behaviour in the area of culture

Introduction.Young users reveal specific information behaviour towards cultural collections, focusing primarily not on information, but on affective and relation-building aspects of the content. That imposes a question concerning actual character of the youth's goals and needs towards this specific type of information resources. Method.The research was conducted according to the phenomenological paradigm, with inductive qualitative methodology. The study including two focus group interviews, together with an information searching task, was conducted in December 2016 – January 2017. Analysis. Data were analysed from various interdisciplinary perspectives, including affective aspects of information behaviour models, studies on youth motivations of cultural activities, and the relational theory of culture. Results. Emotions, experiences, and potential of interactivity were found to be decisive features of cultural content, attracting attention of young users. This can significantly change their ways of cultural information searching, focusing their needs on emotions, experiences and mediators rather than a topic, title, or performer. Conclusion. Affective needs of young users can bee a basis for developing a preliminary model of information behaviour in the area of culture, including not only typical elements of information searching, but also those being sought by the youth, like emotions, values, and identity.