Examining the role of perceived value in virtual communities continuance: its antecedents and the influence of experience

Although perceived value has long been recognised as an influential means of affecting continuance intention in information systems (IS), little attention has been devoted to explore its antecedents, which constitutes an important research issue. This study, building on prior literature on continued usage in IS as well as the resource-based view, proposed a model to address this gap. Our model suggests that perceived value, a major driving force for members’ satisfaction and continuance intention, is affected by four kinds of resources embedded in virtual communities, which are relationship resources, technology infrastructure, knowledge resources and human resources. To provide additional insights on the pivotal role of perceived value, we also postulate that experience moderates the link between perceived value and its antecedents. Data collected from 235 members of a professional virtual community provide strong support for the research model. It was found that perceived value exerts a great effect on both satisfaction and continuance intention. In addition, when different levels of experience are taken into consideration, relationship resources, knowledge resources and human resources were found to be more salient to high-experience members, whereas technology infrastructure was found to be more salient to low-experience members. Finally, this study discusses the implications of these findings and offers direction for future research.     

Understanding Chinese users’ continuance intention toward online social networks: an integrative theoretical model

This study explores users’ continuance intention in online social networks by synthesizing Bhattacherjee’s IS continuance theory with flow theory, social capital theory, and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to consider the special hedonic, social and utilitarian factors in the online social network environment. The integrated model was empirically tested with 320 online social network users in China. The results indicated that continuance intention was explained substantially by all hypothesized antecedents including perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, usage satisfaction, effort expectancy, social influence, tie strength, shared norms and trust. Based on the research findings, we offer discussions of both theoretical and practical implications.     

Working for one penny: Understanding why people would like to participate in online tasks with low payment

The development of Internet technology has facilitated the emergence of online marketplace for various kinds of tasks (e.g., Amazon’s Mechanical Turk in USA and Taskcn.com in China). Although the payment is relatively low, numerous people participate in the tasks in these online marketplaces. Drawing upon shopping value literature, we develop a research model by considering various value perceptions so as to better understand this interesting phenomenon. Specifically, it is proposed that hedonic value and utilitarian value (including benefit-cost ratio and net benefit) influence satisfaction and continuance intention. A field survey with 205 participants in an online working website in China was carried out to examine the proposed research model and hypotheses. The key findings are: (1) benefit-cost ratio significantly influences satisfaction, while net benefit does not; (2) there is a significant substitutive effect or negative interaction effect between benefit-cost ratio and net benefit; (3) hedonic value directly influences continuance intention, as well indirectly influences continuance intention via satisfaction. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.     

Factors influencing Internet shopping value and customer repurchase intention

This research empirically examines the effect of various Internet shopping site qualities on the utilitarian and hedonic values of Internet shopping. The influence of the perceived level of Internet shopping value on customer satisfaction and repurchase intention is also investigated. We perform structural equation analysis with a sample of 293 observations consisting of two different income groups (workforce and student). Our results show that while system and service qualities are critical factors affecting utilitarian shopping value, information and service qualities are the factors most closely associated with hedonic shopping value. These findings suggest that service quality plays a significant role in increasing both utilitarian and hedonic shopping values. Our results also show that the impact of quality factors on Internet shopping values and subsequent repurchase intention differs across the two income groups.     

Modeling hedonic is continuance through the uses and gratifications theory: An empirical study in online games

It has long been a challenge for online game providers that online game players frequently switch to alternative games without much hesitation. Current IS continuance theories are mainly developed to interpret user continuance of general utilitarian IS and are ineffective in interpreting user continuance of hedonic IS. In this study based on the uses and gratifications theory, a hedonic IS continuance model is developed by incorporating three types of gratification: hedonic gratification (enjoyment, fantasy and escapism); social gratification (social interaction and social presence); and utilitarian gratification (achievement and self-presentation). Age and gender are the moderating factors in the model. The research model is empirically assessed based on 3919 validated responses from the users of a social network game in China. In this study we found that three types of gratification affect an individual’s continuance intention to use a social network game: hedonic gratification (enjoyment, fantasy and escapism), utilitarian gratification (achievement) and social gratification (social interaction and social presence). The results provide weak support for the moderating effect of gender on the relationship between each antecedent and continuance intention, but offer strong support for the moderating effect of age on the relationships.     

Understanding consumers’ continuance intention towards mobile advertising: a theoretical framework and empirical study

While issues regarding mobile advertising have captured the interest and attention of both practitioners and academics, in practice success stories are rare. An understanding of the continuance intention to use such services can provide insights into failed mobile marketing campaigns, and help to improve the implementation of future ones. Therefore, it is important to examine the underlying drivers of loyalty with regard to mobile advertising. This study uses the expectation–confirmation model in conjunction with the perspectives of value and trust to derive an integrated model to better understand the motivations behind consumers’ continued use of mobile advertising. We conducted an empirical study consisting of an online survey of 508 consumers who had experience with mobile advertising. The results show that perceived value, perceived usefulness, and satisfaction all directly influence continuance intention. Furthermore, consumer satisfaction has a crucial intervening role in the relationships that perceived value, perceived usefulness, and confirmation have with continuance intention. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. One key limitation of this research is that the majority of respondents were students, although this group is the chief user of mobile advertising. Future research could be extended to consider other drivers of loyalty in this context, such as cultural differences and personal behavioural characteristics.     

The relationships among service quality,perceived value,customer satisfaction,and post-purchase intention in mobile value-added services

The purposes of this study are to construct an instrument to evaluate service quality of mobile value-added services and have a further discussion of the relationships among service quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction, and post-purchase intention. Structural equation modeling and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data collected from college and graduate students of 15 major universities in Taiwan. The main findings are as follows: (1) service quality positively influences both perceived value and customer satisfaction; (2) perceived value positively influences on both customer satisfaction and post-purchase intention; (3) customer satisfaction positively influences post-purchase intention; (4) service quality has an indirect positive influence on post-purchase intention through customer satisfaction or perceived value; (5) among the dimensions of service quality, “customer service and system reliability” is most influential on perceived value and customer satisfaction, and the influence of “content quality” ranks second; (6) the proposed model is proven with the effectiveness in explaining the relationships among service quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction, and post-purchase intention in mobile added-value services.     

Understanding the consequences of information systems service quality on IS service reuse

IS researchers have normally assumed that satisfaction is the key factor influencing IS customers’ reuse of services; however, a focus on customer satisfaction does not always guarantee customer retention. We synthesized customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction models from prior service quality research to provide a comprehensive model predicting the behavioral intentions of customers to reuse IS services. Five research hypotheses were empirically tested by using a field study of 263 users of an IS service department. Our findings placed IS service quality in a causal network leading to IS service reuse and highlighted the relative importance that service quality value played in predicting behavioral intention to reuse the service.     

Understanding Continuance Intention to Use Social Media in China: The Roles of Personality Drivers,Hedonic Value,and Utilitarian Value

Despite the enormous increase in active users of WeChat, research examining users’ continuance intention based on personality habits and value perceptions is very scarce. To fill this gap, the present study aims to offer a research model which examines the role of four personality drivers, namely, (1) personal innovativeness, (2) face consciousness, (3) need for uniqueness, and (4) ambiguity intolerance in WeChat users’ hedonic and utilitarian value perceptions. Further, our model examines how hedonic and utilitarian value perceptions influence continuance intention. Data were collected from 262 active users of WeChat. Structural equation modeling was employed to test study hypotheses. The findings reveal that personal innovativeness had a positive effect on users’ hedonic value. Face consciousness and need for uniqueness were found to be a strong predictor of both hedonic and utilitarian value. A negative association was found between ambiguity intolerance and utilitarian value. The hedonic and utilitarian value positively affects continuance intention. The authors offer theoretical and practical implications for Information System scholars and practitioners, and close by acknowledging the limitations and future research direction.     

Understanding customers' repeat purchase intentions in B2C e‐commerce: the roles of utilitarian value,hedonic value and perceived risk

Customer loyalty or repeat purchasing is critical for the survival and success of any store. By focusing on online stores, this study investigates the repeat purchase intention of experienced online buyers based on means‐end chain theory and prospect theory. In the research model, both utilitarian value and hedonic value are hypothesised to affect repeat purchase intention positively. Perceived risk is hypothesised to affect repeat purchase intention negatively and moderate the effects of utilitarian and hedonic values on repeat purchase intention. Utilitarian value is proposed as a formative second‐order construct formed by product offerings, product information, monetary savings and convenience. Hedonic value is also proposed as a formative second‐order construct formed by the six hedonic benefits that have been identified in prior research. Data collected from 782 Yahoo!Kimo customers provide strong support for the research model. The results indicate that both the utilitarian value and hedonic value are positively associated with buyers' repeat purchase intention. A higher level of perceived risk reduces the effect of utilitarian value and increases the effect of hedonic value on repeat purchase intention. Implications for theory and practice and suggestions for future research are provided.     

Toward a theory of perceived benefits,affective commitment,and continuance intention in social virtual worlds: cultural values (indulgence and individualism) matter

In this study we examine the contingent effects of two cultural values, indulgence and individualism, on the relationships between perceived benefits (utilitarian value, hedonic value, and relational capital), affective commitment, and continuance intention in social virtual worlds. We test our theoretical model in multi-group analyses using SmartPLS 2.0, based on a sample of 414 Second Life users from the U.S.A., Great Britain, and numerous other countries. By comparing the high- vs the low-indulgence subsamples, we find that indulgence weakens the effect of utilitarian value, but strengthens the effect of hedonic value, on affective commitment. Furthermore, compared with low-individualism users, the users with high-individualism showed a weaker effect of relational capital on affective commitment, as well as a weaker effect of affective commitment on continuance intention. The theoretical, empirical, and practical implications of these findings are also discussed.     

The effect of online social value on satisfaction and continued use of social media

Social media offers customers a unique service value proposition. Recognizing service value as a pivotal concept, this study develops an aggregate construct of online social value, whereby customers evaluate utilitarian and hedonic benefits relative to what they must sacrifice in effort and risk in deriving a value calculation of online social networking services which predicts satisfaction and continued use of online social media, such as Facebook. By empirically testing a model that explains online social value, this research contributes to information systems (IS) theory by introducing a customer value perspective in the social media context and helps service providers by identifying factors predicting satisfaction and continued use that might be employed to improve offerings to keep customers coming back.     

Understanding determinants of information systems users’ behaviour: a comparison of two models in the context of integrated accounting and budgeting software

This study examines determinants that affect the behaviour of information systems (IS) users, and influence of the users’ decisions to continue using IS by two models: the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the expectation-confirmation model of IS continuance (ECM-IS). The behaviour of professionals who utilise complex software solutions for performing their working tasks has been in the focus of this research. Based on data gathered from questionnaires filled-out by users of the integrated accounting and budgeting software (IABS), the confirmatory factor analysis has shown that both models demonstrate good factor, convergence and discriminatory validity, respectively. The comparison of the obtained results has been performed, and it shows that ECM-IS has a larger explanatory power (R²) over TAM, explaining 49% of the dependent variable (IS continuance intention) in relation to 29%. The IS continuance intention is determined by the users’ satisfaction and perceived usefulness. The user satisfaction is influenced by perceived usefulness and confirmation. The confirmation of the user's expectations has had a positive influence on perceived usefulness. The perceived ease of use has not exerted a significant influence on the user's intention of IS continuance.     

Why do users speak more positively about Mac OS X but are more loyal to Windows 7?

Users seek a more complete experience with software products, an experience that not only achieves well-defined goals, but also involves the senses and generates affective response. There is therefore a need to develop product characteristics that provide both instrumental and hedonic value to users of even utilitarian software products. But software product development organizations will be motivated to provide these features only if enhances business outcomes such as User Loyalty (UL) and positive Word-of-Mouth (WOM). Keeping this context in view, this study investigates how utilitarian product characteristics, as measured by perceived usefulness, and hedonic product characteristics, that generate perceived enjoyment and playfulness, impact UL and WOM. The results of the study show that hedonic and utilitarian product characteristics have distinctive impacts on UL and WOM with hedonic characteristics positively and significantly impacting WOM while utilitarian characteristics positively and significantly impacting UL. The reasons for this rather unexpected findings are discussed.     

Modeling the continuance usage intention of online learning environments

This study focused on the continuance usage intention toward online learning environments and also proposed and empirically tested an integrated model to better understand the determinants of students’ continuance intention to use these environments. For this purpose, variables which may have an effect on the continuance usage intention were examined and an “online continuance usage intention model” was revealed. When the variables of the hypothetical model were determined, Technology Continuance Theory, Information Systems Success Model, Cognitive Model and Information Systems Expectation Confirmation Model have been practiced on. Empirical data from 467 public university students who had used an online learning environment for the first time were tested against the proposed research model by using path analysis. The results indicated that, confirmation of the usage of online learning environments could be explained by information quality, system quality and service quality variables. 63% of the variance of the satisfaction variable was explained by information quality, system quality, service quality, confirmation, utilitarian value, outcome expectations and perceived value. Research results confirmed the propounded constructs of Information Systems Success Model and Information Systems Expectation Confirmation Model. In line with the obtained findings and results, some of the various suggestions were provided for the next studies and implementations.     

The antecedents of consumers’ loyalty toward Internet Service Providers

Internet popularity is growing at an impressive rate. Sooner or later, every consumer comes face to face with the decision of choosing an Internet Service Provider (ISP). This study developed and empirically tested a model examining the antecedents of consumer loyalty toward ISPs. It incorporated the concept of expected technology change into the model to examine its effects on the formation of ISP loyalty intention. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed to examine the reliability and validity of the measurement model, and the structural equation modeling techniques were used to evaluate the casual model. Based on an internet survey in Taiwan, this study showed that perceived value is very important in generating overall customer satisfaction and loyalty intention toward an ISP, and that perceived trust of an ISP enhances perceived value, overall satisfaction, and loyalty intention. However, the study demonstrated that future ISP technology expectancy exerted a negative influence on a consumer’s overall satisfaction and loyalty intention toward their ISP.     

Usability,quality, value and e-learning continuance decisions

Previous research suggests that an eventual information technology (IT) success depend on both its initial adoption (acceptance) and subsequent continued usage (continuance). Expectancy disconfirmation theory (EDT) has been successfully used to predict users’ intention to continue using information technologies. This study proposed a decomposed EDT model to examine cognitive beliefs and affect that influence users’ continuance decision in the context of e-learning service. The proposed model extended EDT by decomposing the perceived performance component into usability, quality, and value. Research hypotheses derived from this model are empirically validated using the responses to a survey on e-learning usage among 183 users. The results suggest that users’ continuance intention is determined by satisfaction, which in turn is jointly determined by perceived usability, perceived quality, perceived value, and usability disconfirmation.     

Usability, quality, value and e-learning continuance decisions

Previous research suggests that an eventual information technology (IT) success depend on both its initial adoption (acceptance) and subsequent continued usage (continuance). Expectancy disconfirmation theory (EDT) has been successfully used to predict users’ intention to continue using information technologies. This study proposed a decomposed EDT model to examine cognitive beliefs and affect that influence users’ continuance decision in the context of e-learning service. The proposed model extended EDT by decomposing the perceived performance component into usability, quality, and value. Research hypotheses derived from this model are empirically validated using the responses to a survey on e-learning usage among 183 users. The results suggest that users’ continuance intention is determined by satisfaction, which in turn is jointly determined by perceived usability, perceived quality, perceived value, and usability disconfirmation.     

User experience,satisfaction, and continual usage intention of IT

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a research model that investigates the effects of user experience with information technology (IT) on user satisfaction with and continual usage intention of the technology. The research model uses the concept of cognitive absorption (CA) to conceptualize the optimal holistic experience that users feel when using IT. A set of hypotheses are proposed regarding the direct and indirect effects of CA on user satisfaction through the perceived utilitarian and hedonic performance and expectation disconfirmation of IT. An online survey was conducted to test the model and its associated hypotheses. The results provided support for the hypothesized effects of CA and indicated its importance for the formation of post-adoption satisfaction and continuance intention with IT.