Retaining and attracting users in social networking services: An empirical investigation of cyber migration

Users are the most critical strategic resource of any online social networking service (SNS). This paper offers strategic recommendations for SNS providers based on an empirical study exploring why users switch from a primary SNS to others. We first identify important characteristics that combine to distinguish SNSs from conventional information systems, then develop a “cyber migration” research model that includes push, pull and mooring factors which influence user intention to switch from one SNS to another. Findings from a field survey of 180 users reveal four significant factors that promote switching: dissatisfaction with socialization support, dissatisfaction with entertainment value, continuity cost, and peer influence. Strategies grounded in these factors are suggested for SNS providers to better attract and retain users.     

Constructing a hybrid hierarchical value map to understand young people’s perceptions of social networking sites

ABSTRACT

Based on the means–end chains (MECs) and push–pull–mooring (PPM) model, this study aims to reveal the functional attributes of Facebook (FB) and Instagram (IG), classify them into the PPM model (i.e. push, pull, and mooring effect) and integrate the nature of MECs (i.e. attribute–consequence–value linkages) to examine young people’s perceptions of FB and IG and their switching intentions. Mixed methods, including qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed to gather data in Taiwan. Sixty-two one-on-one in-depth interviews were content-analysed to design the survey questionnaire. A total of 457 valid samples were collected to establish a hybrid hierarchical value map (HVM) for MEC and PPM analyses. The hybrid HVM shows that ‘privacy protection’ and ‘information collection’ are push effects, which are the unfavourable factors of FB that push users to migrate to IG. By contrast, ‘visual interaction’, ‘relationship maintenance’, and ‘expanding friendship ties’ are pull effects favourable to IG that encourage FB users to migrate. Moreover, ‘self-expression’ and ‘message seeding’ belonging to mooring effects are factors that discourage FB users from migrating. Valuable insights may be provided for the design and improvement of social networking sites by understanding the hybrid HVM.     

Post-adoption switching behavior for online service substitutes: A perspective of the push–pull–mooring framework

The post-adoption behaviors of online service users are critical performance factors for online service providers. To fill an academic gap that persists regarding bloggers’ switching behavior across online service substitutes, this empirical study investigates which factors affect bloggers who switch social network sites, in an attempt to understand specifically how push, pull, and mooring factors shape their switching intentions. The data to test the hypotheses come from an online survey of 319 bloggers, analyzed using partial least squares techniques. The results confirm positive influences of push and pull effects, a negative influence of mooring effects, and an interactive effect of push and mooring on switching intentions. The push–pull–mooring framework thus is a useful tool for comprehending the competing forces that influence the use of online service substitutes. In particular, perceptions of weak connections and writing anxiety push bloggers away, whereas relative enjoyment and usefulness pull bloggers to social network sites; switching cost and past experience also inhibit a change. These findings offer key insights and implications for the competitive strategy choices of online service providers.     

Easy come or easy go? Empirical evidence on switching behaviors in mobile payment applications

Switching behaviors of mobile payment application received scarce attention. This study investigates the key factors influencing the switching behaviors of mobile payment application through the perspective of the push–pull–mooring framework. Privacy concerns, alternative rewards, and inertia are identified as push, pull, and mooring factors, respectively. The model was tested with 3785 valid responses among Alipay users. Inertia was found to attenuate the relationship between alternative rewards and switching behavior. This study sheds new light on the switching behavior of mobile payment application users. Our findings inform service providers to retain existing users as well as attract potential users.     

The power of a thumbs-up: Will e-commerce switch to social commerce?

By taking advantage of social networking capabilities, social commerce provides features that encourage customers to share their personal experiences. The popularity of online social networks has driven the purchase decisions of buyers on social commerce sites, but few studies have explored why consumers switch between e-commerce (product-centered) and social (social-centered) commerce sites. In applying the push–pull–mooring model, the objective of this study was to gain an understanding of specifically how push, pull, and mooring factors shape their switching intentions. The findings revealed that push effect, in terms of low transaction efficiency, drives customers away from e-commerce sites, whereas the pull effects, including social presence, social support, social benefit, and self-presentation, attract customers to social commerce sites. Moreover, mooring effects, including conformity and personal experience, strengthened consumers’ behavior in switching between e-commerce and social commerce sites. Besides, conformity was also found to moderate the influences of social presence, social support, social benefit, and efficiency on switching intention, whereas personal experience moderated the effects of social benefit, self-presentation, and efficiency on switching intention. Such an understanding assists online retailers in understanding online shoppers’ switching behaviors, and thus turning social interactions into profits and sales.     

Exploring users’ switching intention and behavior on social networking sites: Linear and nonlinear perspectives

The increasing integration of computers and networks into society has profoundly affected our lives in recent years. In Taiwan, use of SNSs – especially Facebook – has become the main action for the Internet users; accordingly, a number of scholars have explored people's intention to use, or actual use of, SNSs. However, few studies have investigated how and why users stop using one SNS and begin using another from the linear perspective. The findings are incomplete for the human behaviors which are complex and nonlinear systems. The purpose of this study is therefore to explore the relationship between SNS users’ switching intention and switching behavior based on structural equation modeling (SEM) and cusp catastrophe model (CCM). The key factors for the switching intentions and behaviors of SNS users were examined through empirical research, and a structural model was established. The model, which involved habits as a mediating factor, was used to conduct a qualitative and quantitative analysis on the switching behaviors of SNS users from a nonlinear perspective. This model will provide a new method for future researchers to analyze nonlinear behaviors as well as a dynamic decision support model for service providers to improve their business operation.     

Political mobilization through social network sites: The mobilizing power of political messages received from SNS friends

Recent political communication scholarship has examined whether social network sites (SNSs) contribute to political participation. Regarding SNSs’ mobilization effect, however, mixed results have been reported. This study, relying on representative survey data from the 2012 South Korean general election, investigates interplay between three factors influencing electoral participation: (1) type of SNS use (i.e., political versus nonpolitical use), (2) user characteristics (i.e., past voters versus nonvoters), and (3) directionality of SNS messages (i.e., messages received from versus those sent to SNS friends). Results indicate SNSs’ mobilization effect emerges when conditions are met. Voting intention is increased among past nonvoters who use SNSs through political messages received from their SNS friends. Theoretical and practical implications of SNSs’ mobilization effect are discussed.     

‘Migrating to a new virtual world’: Exploring MMORPG switching through human migration theory

Online gaming has become a popular leisure-time activity. In this study, we enlisted and adapted the Push-Pull-Mooring model, which analyzes human migratory behavior based on the Demographic Migration Theory, to study the game switching of gamers. Data was obtained via an empirical survey of 654 online gamers and then was analyzed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. The results indicate that the Push-Pull-Mooring model can be extended to explain the switching intentions of online gamers. The “mooring effect” appears to have a stronger influence on the player’s switching intention than the “pull effect”, while the “push effect” appears to have no influence at all. We discuss the implications of our findings and offer possible avenues of exploration for managers of online game providers in order to help them understand their customers better.     

Online Social Networking Sites Continuance Intention: A Model Comparison Approach

Retaining existing users and letting them continue to use the current social networking sites (SNSs) have become increasingly challenging for developers. This study takes a model comparison approach to investigate this important issue. Based on technology acceptance model, self-determination theory, and net-valence model, our study develops four models that explain individuals’ continuance intention. Based on the data collected from U.S. SNS users, all four models can predict individuals’ intention reasonably well, and net-valence model with perceived benefits and risks as second-order constructs explains the largest amount of variance of SNS continuance intention. This study is among the first model comparison studies in the SNS continuance area. It is also among the first to apply self-determination theory and net-valence model to investigate SNS continuance.     

Developing an antecedent model of knowledge sharing intention in virtual communities

This study explored the antecedent model of knowledge sharing intention in virtual communities based on social influence theory. A field survey was performed with the participation of 176 college students who were Facebook users. The results indicated that expected benefits (i.e., cognitive benefits, social integrative benefits, personal integrative benefits, and hedonic benefits) significantly and positively influenced social influence factors (i.e., group norms, social identity, and subjective norms). In addition, social influence factors (i.e., group norms, social identity, and subjective norms) significantly and positively influenced knowledge sharing intention in virtual communities. Finally, social influence factors (i.e., group norms, social identity, and subjective norms) fully mediate the effects of expected benefits (i.e., cognitive benefits, social integrative benefits, personal integrative benefits, and hedonic benefits) on knowledge sharing intention. This study identified the antecedents of knowledge sharing intention in virtual communities, and the results could be applied to areas of organization, education, and business.     

User-switching behavior in social network sites: A model perspective with drill-down analyses

Social network sites (SNSs) are considered the most representative and influential Web 2.0 applications. Users frequently switch between SNSs and user devices because of the intense SNS market competition and the increasing mobile-device user base. However, the switching behavior of SNS users is yet to be explored to gain new knowledge and practical suggestions. This study uses a higher level research model and lower level switching pattern drill-down analysis to understand the actual switching behavior of SNS users. Users of major SNSs filled out an online questionnaire, which yielded 343 valid samples. The partial least square (PLS) results of the proposed research model show that both service quality and switching cost indirectly influence the switching intention of users through the satisfaction and switching barriers, respectively. Convenience and peer pressure are the top reasons for switching SNS platforms, whereas mobile capabilities and real-time access are the top motivations for switching to mobile SNSs. Six managerial implications are derived from the research model and the switching pattern analysis. Two research limitations are also provided with the conclusions.     

Multi-homing on SNSs: The role of optimum stimulation level and perceived complementarity in need gratification

Given the increasingly intense competition for social networking sites (SNSs), ensuring sustainable growth in user base has emerged as a critical issue for SNS operators. Contrary to the common belief that SNS users are committed to using one SNS, anecdotal evidence suggests that most users use multiple SNSs simultaneously. This study attempts to understand this phenomenon of users’ multi-homing on SNSs. Building upon optimum stimulation level (OSL) theory, uses and gratifications theory, and literature on choice complementarity, a theoretical model for investigating SNS users’ multi-homing intention is proposed. An analysis of survey data collected from 383 SNS users shows that OSL positively affects users’ perceived complementarity between different SNSs in gratifying their four facets of needs, namely, interpersonal communication, self-presentation, information, and entertainment. Among the four dimensions of perceived complementarity, only interpersonal communication and information aspects significantly affect users’ intention to multi-home on SNSs. The results from this study offer theoretical and practical implications for understanding and managing users’ multi-homing use of SNSs.     

Examining the beneficial effects of individual's self-disclosure on the social network site

Today, individual's self-disclosure on the social network sites (SNS) have become a prevalent phenomenon. This study proposes a research model for investigating the beneficial effects of individual's self-disclosure on the social network sites (SNS). In this study, social support and online social well-being are seen as the beneficial effects of individual's self-disclosure on the SNS. Furthermore, this study examines whether self-disclosure increases social support and online social well-being. For developing a more parsimonious research model, this study chose self-disclosure and social support as second-order constructs. Self-disclosure is devised as a formative second-order construct that includes five components: amount, depth, honesty, intent, and valence. Social support is used as a reflective second-order construct comprising two factors: informational support and emotional support. In addition, this research also proposes that social support increase online social well-being. Further, online social well-being is hypothesized to positively affect the continuance intention in relation to the SNS. Data collected from 333 Facebook users provided support for all the hypotheses. Implications for theory and practice are discussed, and suggestions are made for future research.     

Key success factors for the launch of government social media platform: Identifying the formation mechanism of continuance intention

Social media has flourished recently, and government agencies across different levels are experimenting with launching government social media (GSM) to socialize government services, processes, and data. Both researchers and practitioners are focusing on understanding the key success factors related to the launch of GSM. This study aims to identify the key success factors by exploring the formation mechanism of individuals' continuous usage intention. Through the theoretical lens of the uses and gratifications theory (UGT), we identify the gratification factors (i.e., information seeking, social activity, content consumption, collective intelligence, and network externality) that stimulate users' continuance intention toward GSM. Furthermore, we draw upon the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework to develop a model for exploring the effects of gratification factors (as stimulus in the SOR framework) on individuals' online experiential states (i.e., flow experience and sense of belonging) and, subsequently, their continuance intention. The results of our survey of 336 government microblogging residents indicate that usage continuance intention is in part determined by gratification factors. Furthermore, the associations among gratification factors and users’ continuance intention can be mediated by the sense of belonging and flow experience.     

How to unite the power of the masses? Exploring collective stickiness intention in social network sites from the perspective of knowledge sharing

This study aims to investigate users’ knowledge-sharing intention and collective stickiness intention towards social network sites (SNS). SNS offer an opportunity for users to interact and form relationships, while knowledge is accrued by integrating users’ information, experience, and practice. However, there have been few systematic studies that question why people use SNS to share knowledge. We adopt social capital theory, social identity theory, as well as use and gratification theory, to explore the determinants of members’ knowledge-sharing intention in using SNS. The survey was conducted on two education virtual communities (VCs) on Facebook, of which most members were teachers and educators. Data analysis was executed to validate our research model, and SmartPLS was used to analyse users’ collective stickiness intention. The results show that social capital and social identity have an impact on teachers’ knowledge-sharing intention, which, in turn, influences collective stickiness intention towards SNS. Our findings can not only help researchers interpret why members share their knowledge in VCs, but can assist practitioners in developing better SNS strategies as well.     

Do perceived use contexts influence usage behavior? An instrument development of perceived use context

In this study, we advance current knowledge on IS usage behavior by introducing the concepts of time, location, social, and technological use in perceived use context. We develop an instrument to verify the effects of use context on intention-to-use game services. We find that contextual factors of perceived use context (i.e., perceived time use, perceived location use, perceived social use, and perceived technological use) influence users’ behavioral beliefs (i.e., perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use), which leads to their subsequent attitude and behavioral intention toward using game services. Grounded in our findings, key implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Why do users continue using social networking sites? An exploratory study of members in the United States and Taiwan

In this paper, we draw on an extended Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) to explore factors that affect members’ continued use intention toward Social Networking Sites (SNSs). We also theorize about the intricate relationships among a variety of UGT constructs. Further, we conduct this research in a global context by comparing SNS use in the United States and Taiwan. Empirical survey data are collected to validate the research model, and several intriguing findings are observed. Our research results indicate that four determinants, i.e., gratifications, perceived critical mass, subjective norms, and privacy concerns, influence SNS users’ continuance intention and that regional differences moderate the effects of both gratifications and privacy concerns on continuance intention. Our study makes noticeable contributions to the literature on UGT and SNSs. The findings reported also inform service providers in developing better strategies for member retention.     

How behaviors on social network sites and online social capital influence social commerce intentions

Following the fast growth of social network sites (SNSs) such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook in the cyber world, social commerce has become an important emerging issue in these SNS. The study aims to comprehend the antecedents for SNS users’ social commerce intentions (SCI). This study applied SNS behavior and social capital theory to investigate how these factors influence SCI. Each of the three constructs was further decomposed into two first-order constructs, participating and browsing for SNS behavior, bonding and bridging social capital for social capital, and giving and receiving for SCI. The results, which were based on 970 effective samples of Facebook users, supported several findings. Both SNS behavior and social capital affect SCI, while the relationship between SNS behavior and SCI is partially mediated by the bonding and bridging social capital. In addition, browsing and participating behaviors have significantly positive relationships with bonding and bridging social capitals, respectively. All of the relationships between first-order constructs tested significant, with the single exception that browsing of SNS behavior did not lead to the giving of SCI. This study also applied post hoc analysis for better understanding SCI on SNSs. The results showed that browsing of SNS behavior has a stronger impact than participating of SNS behavior on either bonding or bridging social capital. In addition, bridging social capital has a stronger influence than bonding social capital on the giving intention of social commerce. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications are also discussed to provide several future research directions and suggestions for scholars and SNS operators, respectively.     

Factors influencing continuance intention to use social network sites: The Facebook case

Social networking sites (SNS) have become one of the most popular means of online social interaction. However, few studies have examined SNS from the context of post-adoption. This study focuses on continuance usage intention toward Facebook, a popular SNS, among university students in the United Arab Emirates. We have extended the expectation–confirmation model by investigating the influence of enjoyment and subjective norms as critical factors that directly influence continuance usage intention, and added habit as a mediator between satisfaction and continuance intention. We used structural equation modeling to validate the proposed model and hypotheses. We find that perceived usefulness, satisfaction, habit, enjoyment, and subjective norms explain 54.8% of the variance in continuance intention. Furthermore, our study shows that the effect of satisfaction on continuance intention is both direct and mediated by habit. Thus, practitioners should focus on all of these factors to encourage continuance usage intention in their site’s users.     

Giving too much social support: social overload on social networking sites

As the number of messages and social relationships embedded in social networking sites (SNS) increases, the amount of social information demanding a reaction from individuals increases as well. We observe that, as a consequence, SNS users feel they are giving too much social support to other SNS users. Drawing on social support theory (SST), we call this negative association with SNS usage ‘social overload’ and develop a latent variable to measure it. We then identify the theoretical antecedents and consequences of social overload and evaluate the social overload model empirically using interviews with 12 and a survey of 571 Facebook users. The results show that extent of usage, number of friends, subjective social support norms, and type of relationship (online-only vs offline friends) are factors that directly contribute to social overload while age has only an indirect effect. The psychological and behavioral consequences of social overload include feelings of SNS exhaustion by users, low levels of user satisfaction, and a high intention to reduce or even stop using SNS. The resulting theoretical implications for SST and SNS acceptance research are discussed and practical implications for organizations, SNS providers, and SNS users are drawn.