Accepted Manuscript

Exploring the influential factors in continuance usage of mobile social Apps:

Satisfaction, habit, and customer value perspectives

Chun-Hua Hsiao, Lillian J. Chang, Kai-Yu Tang

PII: S0736-5853(15)00113-6
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2015.08.014
Reference: TELE 730

To appear in: Telematics and Informatics

Received Date: 11 May 2015

Revised Date: 14 August 2015
Accepted Date: 24 August 2015

Please cite this article as: Hsiao, C-H., Chang, L.J., Tang, K-Y., Exploring the influential factors in continuance
usage of mobile social Apps: Satisfaction, habit, and customer value perspectives, Telematics and Informatics
(2015), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2015.08.014

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 Exploring the influential factors in continuance usage of mobile
social Apps: Satisfaction, habit, and customer value perspectives

Chun-Hua Hsiao
Department of Marketing, Kainan University
No. 1 Kainan Road , Luchu, Taoyuan County 33857, Taiwan
Tel: +886-3-341-2500, Fax: +886-3-3412430, Email: maehsiao@gmail.com

Lillian J. Chang
Department of International Business, Hsing Wu University
No. 101, Sec.1, Fenliao Rd., LinKou District, New Taipei City 24452, Taiwan
Tel: +886-2-2601-5310, Fax +886-2-2601-5310, Email: jj.nctu@gmail.com

Kai-Yu Tang (Corresponding author)

Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education,
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
No. 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei, 10607, Taiwan
Tel: +886-2-2730-3218, Fax: +886-2-2730-3218, Email: ky.nctu@gmail.com

1. Introduction
The social mobile Apps such as WhatsApp, WeChat and LINE are changing the way
in which we communicate and maintain relationships with others. Most of these
applications offer free messaging capabilities and are helpful for users to connect with
their friends immediately. According to a recent survey by Flurry Analytics (2014),
overall downloads of mobile Apps in 2013 had reached 115% year-over-year growth
in 2013. Looking in more detail, the category of “utilities and productivity Apps”
posted 150% year-over-year growth, whereas “messaging and social Apps” (i.e.,
social apps) was up to 203%, the most dramatic growth in Apps in 2013.
With the rapid explosion of the release of new social Apps offering a wide variety
of functions, some leading social Apps such as Facebook have shown a decline in use,
especially among teenagers, mostly due to privacy issues. Alternative social Apps,
such as Instagram and Line have been gradually gaining in popularity. Another

1
example is the launch of FireChat, an anonymous and non-Internet-based messaging
social Apps. It first became popular in 2014 in Iraq after government restrictions on
Internet use (Hern, 2014), and thereafter successfully gained over 500,000 downloads
during a political rally by the umbrella movement in Hong Kong (Meinecke, 2015).
Unlike most social Apps, FireChat relies on peer-to-peer connections through wireless
mesh networking via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, making it an excellent communicating tool
with a high degree of privacy.
With more developers launching new social Apps, users have plentiful
opportunities to access them. How to retain existing users has become important for
related industries such as mobile services; businesses can benefit from understanding
how users develop continuance intention, and then efficiently provide new social
Apps to meet users’ needs. This also raises some issues for this study: Will users
continue using the social Apps they are currently using? How satisfied are users with
their currently used Apps? How will users habitually use the social Apps which they
are using now? What are the major factors influencing users’ post-acceptance usage
of social Apps?
To answer the above research questions, this paper proposes a research framework
of social App continuance intention based on Bhattacherjee’s (2001) post-acceptance
model of information system (IS) continuance. As such, satisfaction is adopted to
explain users’ continuance intention. In addition to satisfaction, we also apply a
habitual construct “habit” in the proposed model, mainly because users access mobile
social Apps frequently and daily; thus, social App users’ behaviors may become
habitual. Therefore, we adopt both satisfaction and habit as predictors of continuance
intention (e.g., Kim, Malhotra, and Narasimhan, 2005; Limayem, Hirt, and Cheung,
2007), and test their mediating effects. We also assume that continuance intention is
influenced by consumer perceived values, which are generally considered as
motivations of behavioral outcomes, such as customer satisfaction, behavioral usage
intentions, and loyalty (Yang and Peterson, 2004). Note that three perspectives of
perceived value are applied in the context of mobile social Apps, namely utilitarian,
hedonic, and social views concerning the distinct nature of social Apps. The research
framework is presented in Figure 1.
The contributions of this study are threefold. First, we shift the focus from initial
adoption to continued use of social Apps. Our proposed model differs from previous
models by incorporating satisfaction and habit. Second, we identify three importance
2
customer values in the context of using social Apps, and simultaneously test their
effects on satisfaction, habit, and continuance intention. Third, the mediating effects
of satisfaction and habit are tested and compared in the present study for the first time.
In the following sections, we draw on the related literature to develop the conceptual
model and a series of hypotheses.

2. Theoretical background and hypotheses development

2.1. Overview of past research on mobile applications
Mobile Apps were originally offered for general utilitarian purposes, including
emailing, calendars, and stock market and weather information. Due to public demand
and the development of the availability of mobile technology, more functions were
established, such as mobile games, banking, order-tracking, GPS, and location-based
services. As such, the popularity and tremendous growth of smartphone usage has
facilitated the research on the extensive adoption of new mobile applications. This
study focuses on exploring social Apps’ continued usage, as few researchers have
worked on this issue (Lankton et al., 2012; Lee, 2014).
In the study of information systems and mobile technologies, the theory of
reasoned action, the theory of planned behavior, the technology acceptance model
(Davis, 1989), the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (Venkatesh et
al., 2012), and the IS expectation–confirmation model (Bhattacherjee, 2001) have all
been widely used to examine factors influencing user acceptance and continuance
usage. However, in consideration of the distinct nature of mobile Apps, which are
mostly freely downloaded, prior studies have proposed various extended models to
explore the usage behavior of mobile App users. For example, Verkasalo et al. (2010)
compared users and non-users’ adoption of new mobile applications (e.g., mobile
Internet use, games and the use of maps) and identified the significant variables (e.g.,
perceived enjoyment and usefulness) for both users and non-users. Islam et al. (2013)
employed the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the diffusion of innovation
model to investigate users’ adoption of advanced mobile phone services (e.g.,
multimedia messages, location-based information, mobile gaming, mobile chatting,
and so on). They concluded that perceived usefulness and compatibility are key
factors for using advanced mobile phone services. Park et al. (2014) proposed an
integrated model based on TAM to examine the satisfaction and usage intention of
mobile social network games. The results indicated that perceived enjoyment,
3
perceived usefulness, perceived mobility, and perceived control skill are motivational
factors for players.
Mobile applications are usually divided into utilitarian (e.g., business scheduling,
stock trading, online banking, etc.) and hedonic services (e.g., picture/music
downloading, gaming, chatting, social networking, etc.). While some studies have
explored the general content of mobile Apps in all categories, as mentioned above,
others have distinguished these two mobile services (Kim and Hwang, 2012; Kim et
al., 2014) or focused on a sole mobile App as an illustrative case study, such as
mobile games (Park et al., 2014).
Although the above theories have provided considerable theoretical underpinnings
to examine new IS adoption, few empirical investigations have been found concerning
the adoption of social mobile Apps. Moreover, the above theories do not fully capture
user continuance behavior regarding social App usage, which users frequently
perform and which is likely to become habitual and automatic over time (Lankton et
al., 2012). Consequently, there is a need to explore the satisfaction and continuance
usage of social mobile Apps to provide a better understanding of users’ post-adoption
(i.e., continued usage) in the mobile Apps research. In addition, a past study has
shown that users’ intention is considered to be strongly correlated with volitional
behavior, and IS continuance intention is considered a primary factor of IS actual
usage (Ajzen, 1991). Therefore, our focus is on continuance intention rather than
behavior.

2.2. Satisfaction and continuance intention

Satisfaction along with continuance usage is viewed as the key to fostering and
retaining a loyal relationship with consumers. It is an overall affective response to the
gap between prior expectation and perceived performance after consumption (Oliver,
1988). In the current study, we define customer satisfaction as the total consumption
perception of consumers when using social Apps. Research on user satisfaction and
continuance usage has emerged as a dominant issue in the IS and marketing literature.
Bhattacherjee (2001) proposed the “post-acceptance model of IS continuance”,
which aims to explain an IS user’s intention, and is focused on post-acceptance
variables. In this model, users’ continuance intention is determined by their
satisfaction with IS use and perceived usefulness of continued IS use. Bhattacherjee
(2001) argued that users with higher levels of satisfaction tend to have stronger
4
intention to use the online channel again in the context of an online environment.
The direct relationship between satisfaction and continuance intention is at the core
of the IS continuance model, and is validated empirically (Bhattacherjee, 2001).
Besides, a significant body of research in the areas of IS and marketing suggest that
user satisfaction is a reliable predictor of continued IS use intention (Thong et al.,
2006; Wang et al., 2010). Past studies of mobile services have also supported this
argument that customer satisfaction is positively related to post-purchase intention
(Kim et al., 2011). Consistent with most prior IS and marketing studies, it stands to
reason that satisfaction is a powerful predictor of continuance intention. Thus:

Hypothesis 1: Satisfaction positively influences continuance intention.

2.3. Habit and continuance intention

Habit has been included in certain continuance intention models to explain IT-use
behavior because consumers use those IT devices frequently and the behavior
becomes automatic (Limayem et al., 2007). It is defined by researchers from different
perspectives across disciplines, and is commonly understood as “learned sequences of
acts that become automatic responses to specific situations, which may be functional
in obtaining certain goals or end states” (Verplanken and Wood, 2006). In the current
study, we define habit in the context of social Apps as the extent to which users tend
to automatically access social mobile Apps without thinking (Kim et al., 2005).
Habit theory supports the habit–continuance intention relationship because prior
habitual behaviors can produce favorable feelings toward the behavior, thereby
increasing continuance intention (Kim and Malhotra, 2005). In the context of IS, both
intention and habit have been regarded as major antecedents of behavior; however, the
relationships among habit, intention, and behavior have been quite controversial
(Bhattacherjee, Limayem, and Cheung, 2012; Limayem et al., 2007; Venkatesh et al.,
2012).
Habit can have both a direct and an interactive effect on behavior. While some
studies have adopted habit as an antecedent of intention (Barnes, 2011; Hong et al.,
2011; Venkatesh et al., 2012), others have considered it to be a moderator of intention
and actual behavior (Guo and Barnes, 2011; Kim et al., 2005; Limayem et al., 2007).
Some other studies have also insisted that habit has relatively little conceptual overlap
with intentions, thus providing potentially additional explanatory power regarding
5
continued IT usage (Limayem et al., 2007; Lee, 2014). Consistent with previous
studies that the automaticity of behavior decreases the need to access intention (Aarts
et al., 1998), we thus adopt habit and another important factor (i.e., satisfaction) as the
antecedents of continuance intention instead of intention.
Another controversial issue regarding habit is its relationship with satisfaction and
with other factors (e.g., perceived usefulness). Some researchers have concluded that
satisfaction leads to habit, as they assume that satisfactory experiences with a
behavior will increase one’s tendency to repeat the same activity (Aarts et al., 1998;
Limayem et al., 2007). However, other researchers hold the contrary stance that habit
has a significant effect on satisfaction (Khalifa and Liu, 2007; Shiau and Luo, 2013).
Their arguments are that habit is a major driver of affect, and satisfaction is also an
affect. In this sense, habit could affect satisfaction directly by enhancing a favorable
feeling towards a behavior (Limayem and Hirt, 2003).
The third argument is that habit and satisfaction are parallel and distinct variables,
so they do not have causal relationships (Woisetschläger, Lentz, and Evanschitzky,
2011). In the current paper, we consent the third argument and test their effects on
continuance intention as mediators between perceived value variables and
continuance intention. Although satisfaction is commonly believed to have a
relationship with repurchase intention, few studies have yet confirmed that
satisfaction leads to actual repurchase behavior (Olsen, 2002). Moreover, the
development of habits requires a certain amount of repletion or practice for a
reasonable amount of time (Aarts et al., 1998). Consumers’ satisfactory experiences
with a behavior will increase their tendency to repeat it, but it does not necessarily
lead to the formation of habitual behavior.
Despite the contentious role of habit with other variables, in particular satisfaction,
its relationship with continuance intention is evident. The marketing literature also
posits that habit is an important predictor of customer loyalty or repeat purchase
intention (Rauyruen, Miller, and Grot, 2009). The frequent use of mobile Apps can fit
into users’ daily life patterns; thus, continued usage may not be strongly influenced by
conscious evaluation such as satisfaction, but rather may be the result of habitual use
(e.g., Kim et al., 2005; Limayem et al., 2007). Research on switching behaviors also
supports that the more habitual the behavior, the more the perceived effort necessary
to change that behavior (Jones et al., 2002), because any intention to switch service
providers would require extra information processing effort which would result in a
6
potential loss of benefits. Thus, deriving from previous research, we posit that habit
has a significantly positive effect on continuance intention.

Hypothesis 2: Habit positively influences continuance intention.

2.4. Customer value perspectives

Customer value has been recognized as an important predictor of customer purchase
decision in the marketing and e-commerce literature (Kim, Chan, and Gupta, 2007). It
is derived from an individual’s experience and interaction with a product or service
(Turel, Serenko, and Bontis, 2010). Understanding the value of a product or service
from the perspective of users has long been recognized as a successful customer
strategy, and is often linked to overall business performance (Desarbo, Jedidi, and
Sinha, 2001). In general, value is often divided into utilitarian and hedonic values
(Pöyry, Parvinen, and Malmivaara, 2013). Other scholars have proposed functional
needs and nonfunctional wants (including social, emotional, and epistemic values) as
motives for obtaining products or services in the context of information technology
(Turel et al., 2010). Kim et al. (2011) proposed that three pertinent dimensions of
customer consumption value influence consumers’ purchase intention: functional,
emotional, and social.
The consumer behavior literature has indicated that behavioral intentions for
products or services may be driven by multiple values (Kim et al., 2012; van der
Heijden, 2004). As such, the effect of multiple value dimensions should be taken into
account concurrently as predictors of behavior. Recent research has provided
significant evidence that the relevance of emotional, hedonic, and social aspects
should not be ignored (Banerjee and Kumar, 2013). Prior research has indicated that
value considerations motivate people to perform a specific behavior for both
utilitarian and hedonic purposes (Chiu et al., 2012; Kim et al., 2012). Yang and
Peterson (2004) argued that perceived value not only affects consumption choice
decision as its original view, but may also influence many other behavioral outcomes
such as customer satisfaction, behavioral usage intentions, and loyalty. Therefore, this
study has constructed an integrated model with multiple viewpoints for investigating
social App usage, including utilitarian, hedonic, and social components, as follows.

2.4.1. Utilitarian motivation

7
An important and long-standing IS research question is how to accurately explain user
acceptance of new information technology. One of the dominant theories in this area
of research is rooted in Davis’ technology acceptance model (TAM), which is widely
applicable for elucidating user acceptance of productivity-oriented information
systems, such as task-related systems (Hsiao and Yang, 2011). Utilitarian value
reflects the acquisition of a product or service in an efficient manner, and can be
viewed as reflecting a more task-oriented, cognitive, and non-emotional outcome of
adoption (Babin, Darden, and Griffin, 1994; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982). The
objective of a utilitarian information system is to increase the user’s task performance
while encouraging efficiency. Therefore, utilitarian systems provide instrumental and
productivity-oriented value to users.
Based largely on a utilitarian view, the traditional model of user acceptance of IS
includes perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use as key variables influencing
behavioral intention to use. However, while perceived usefulness has consistently
proven to be an important construct of post-adoption behavior and in prior
continuance studies, perceived ease of use has not (Bauer et al., 2005). Hence, we
include only perceived usefulness in our model.
When Davis first introduced perceived usefulness as one of the constructs in TAM,
it was defined as “the perceived degree to which an individual believes that using a
specific service or system improves his or her task performance” (Davis, 1989). The
“two-appraisal” model of satisfaction evaluation (Oliver, 1988) posits that cognitive
interpretation and related processes of product/service usage lead to satisfaction. In
addition, Babin et al. (1994) proposed that utilitarian value should influence customer
satisfaction, and they empirically showed strong correlations of utilitarian value with
satisfaction. Therefore, consistent with previous studies related to these two fields,
this paper hypothesizes the following:

Hypothesis 3a: Perceived usefulness positively influences satisfaction

Theoretically, perceived value can be considered a cognition-based construct for

capturing the benefit-cost discrepancy. Usefulness is the individual’s perception of the
act of performing a behavior to gain specific rewards. Previous usage experience
plays an important role in building continuous usage intentions (Dorsch, Grove, and
Darden, 2000). Rogers (1995) explained that such experience might reduce
8
uncertainty and help obtain information on high-tech services since habit refers to
one’s automatic behavior because of learning (Limayem et al., 2007). As mentioned
earlier, the value considerations motivating consumers to engage in a specific
behavior have utilitarian and hedonic dimensions (Chiu et al., 2012). Additionally, the
TAM suggests that individuals accept information technology if they believe in its
positive performance (Davis, 1989), and thus will increase the tendency to use it
frequently. Therefore, this study tests the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 3b: Perceived usefulness positively influences habit.

Perceived usefulness refers to users’ subjective probability that IS use will improve
their performance, and therefore captures the instrumentality or rational component of
their usage decision. The “post-acceptance model of IS continuance” (Bhattacherjee,
2001) focuses on the explanation of IS users’ intention, and especially on
post-acceptance variables. In this model, perceived usefulness is considered as an
adequate expectation in the IS continuance context. Hence, the current study
hypothesizes the following:

Hypothesis 3c: Perceived usefulness positively influences continuance intention.

2.4.2. Hedonic motivation

The value of a hedonic system reflects the degree to which the user experiences fun or
enjoyment when using IS. The major concept of hedonic influence is captured by
perceived enjoyment, which was introduced to the TAM model as playing a crucial
role in explaining consumer adoption of new technology (Davis, 1989). Differing
from traditional information technologies, many mobile Apps serve entertainment
purposes, enabling users to experience pleasure when using the system. Such
entertainment-oriented Apps exert significant worldwide influence (Childers et al.,
2001).
Hedonic motivation is defined as the fun or pleasure derived from using a
technology, and it has been shown to play an important role in determining
technology acceptance and use (Brown and Venkatesh, 2005). Individuals often seek
out stimulation of multiple sensory channels, and mobile Apps can provide such
multisensory experiences (van der Heijden, 2004). The pleasure trait of hedonic
9
systems has a strong effect on users’ attitudes because their aim is to maximize the
users’ enjoyment while using a certain technology (Childers et al., 2001). Social Apps
may be viewed as interactive hedonic systems by users, which they can use to
communicate with others. These pleasurable and fun experiences evoke favorable and
positive feelings that will lead to a higher degree of satisfaction and continued usage
intention.
The consumer behavior literature has demonstrated that both utilitarian and
hedonic value influence consumers’ repurchase and use intention of products or
services. Perceived enjoyment and usefulness are usually treated as the major hedonic
and utilitarian components, respectively (Coursaris and Sung, 2012). Barnes (2011)
suggested that modern digital products and services should work for multiple
purposes because they contain both hedonic and utilitarian components. As mentioned
before, user satisfaction is conceptualized as individuals’ affective reactions to the use
of social Apps. The satisfaction construct is perceived to be in parallel with the
attitudes construct. Therefore, perceived enjoyment is inferred to impact users’
satisfaction with social App usage. In the light of these arguments, we propose the
following:

Hypothesis 4a: Perceived enjoyment positively influences satisfaction.

Habit has been included in the post-continuance model to account for IT-use
behaviors that have become automatic (Limayem et al., 2007). Prior research has
considered consumer values as a motivation affecting consumers’ behavioral outcome,
such as behavioral usage intentions and post-continuance intention (Chiu et al., 2012;
Kim et al., 2012; Yang and Peterson 2004). Hedonic value, one of the important
customer values, is confirmed as being a crucial element in the use of technology
acceptance (Brown and Venkatesh, 2005). If an individual evaluates his or her
consumption experience positively, it is likely that his/her willingness to perform the
same behavior increases, i.e., mobile App usage in this study. When users
communicate using social Apps, the feeling of enjoyment increases their tendency to
repeat the action, and this action occurs without a conscious decision to act, and is
performed as a habit. Therefore, the following hypothesis regarding the relationship
between perceived enjoyment and habit can be proposed:

10
 Hypothesis 4b: Perceived enjoyment positively influences habit.

Most human behaviors are intrinsically pleasure-seeking (Hirschman and

Holbrook, 1982). Perceived enjoyment represents an intrinsic type of motivation, and
several studies in IS have confirmed a significant effect of intrinsic motivation in
shaping the continued use of hedonic IS (van der Heijden, 2004). Moreover, the
consumer behavior literature has strongly supported the argument that the causes of
repurchase and use intentions of products or services are driven by hedonic values
(Bauer et al., 2005). We therefore posit the following:

Hypothesis 4c: Perceived enjoyment positively influences continuance intention.

2.4.3. Social influence

The IS literature has suggested that the perspective of social influence plays an
important role in the adoption of innovative products and services (Turel et al., 2010;
Venkatesh et al., 2012). Social influence is defined as the degree of impact on the
interaction among people in the social network (Rice and Aydin, 1991), and as the
perceived pressure gained to perform a specific behavior (Venkatesh and Brown,
2001). For example, people can share service experiences such as media consumption
or use, and these joint experiences are likely to form a collective basis for
conversations within a social network.
In the process of creating social networks, social ties represent individuals of social
networks’ perceived strength of social relationship with others. These social ties play
a role in coercing behavioral norms among group members as well as promoting a
diffusion of information (Chai et al., 2011). The strength of ties is often measured in
terms of duration, frequency of contact, and social importance (Money, 2004), for
example, how often an individual corresponds or communicates with others and how
important an individual considers his/her friends. Strong social ties give customers
abundant opportunities to recommend a service to others, and in such situations, these
ties depend greatly on customer satisfaction.
In general, social influence has stronger impacts on young people than on older
users because young people gain approval from others to experience a sense of
community and connection, in particular in mobile phone use or other kinds of novel
technology (Smetana, Campione-Barr, and Metzger, 2006). Accordingly, from a
11
social perspective, we consider that social ties positively relate to satisfaction in the
current study.

Hypothesis 5a: Social ties positively influence satisfaction.

Both habits and social ties act as important variables in IS consumption.

(Woisetschläger et al., 2011). An important precondition for the development of habit
is when there has been a high frequency of the behavior in a stable context which has
become an automatic response to that context (Limayem et al., 2007). In the context
of a social App group, individuals share service experiences such as media
consumption or use, and these joint experiences are likely to form a collective basis
for conversations within social networks of customers. When one social App gains
popularity among group users, then its daily use becomes steady, and it may even
diminish the use of other social Apps (Quan-Haase and Young, 2010). Thus, given
that using a familiar social App occurs at high frequency, and individuals do not
spend much time thinking about using it, it is likely that it can become habitually
enacted. In light of these arguments, we propose the following:

Hypothesis 5b: Social ties positively influence habit.

Social factors have been empirically proven to have a strong effect on the
individual’s intention to use a system (Karaiskos et al., 2012). Social Apps create a
collective interactive basis for conversations within social networks of users. Some
types of social media provide opportunities for frequent interactions among users, so
that social switching barriers may develop. Switching to another service provider
might result in a loss of the conversation basis within the family or among friends.
Moreover, it would require additional information processing effort, necessitate set-up
costs, and risk potential loss of benefit (Wood et al., 2005). In this situation, social ties
become essential in shaping users’ relational market behavior, and have a positive
effect on intention to remain with a service provider (Woisetschlager et al., 2011).
While some evidence has confirmed the relevance of social relationships among users
for customer loyalty in online settings (Tsai and Ghoshal, 1998), the literature has yet
to consider social ties as an outcome of sharing service-usage within a family or
community. This understanding leads to the following hypothesis:
12
 Hypothesis 5c: Social ties positively influence continuance intention.

3. Methodology

3.1. Participants and procedure

Empirical data for this study were collected through a paper-based survey of college
students from Taiwan. Taiwan’s Networked Readiness Index (NRI1) was ranked tenth
among 144 economies in 2013. The well-developed infrastructure suggests that
Taiwanese users have more experience with mobile applications compared with users
from many other countries, and are suitable for analysis in a study of mobile Apps. In
addition, according to a survey on mobile usage conducted by the Institute for
Information Industry, an official institution in Taiwan, more than half of the heavy
users of mobile devices and services are young adults with a maximum of 30 years of
age (MIC, 2014). This indicates that young people comprise the majority of heavy
users of mobile applications. Researchers have found that college students’ Internet
use is habitual (Limayem et al., 2007); therefore, a student sample is suitable for this
mobile App study. In addition, student subjects are not systematically different from
other users; they can be effective surrogates for non-students or adults in various
empirical studies (Bhattacherjee and Premkumar, 2004). Therefore, this study
collected data from young people at three universities in Taiwan. An experienced
instructor administered the survey during regular class time with the permission of the
teachers and students.
The questionnaire consisted of three parts. First, a short greeting, research purpose,
and a guarantee of confidentiality were expressed to the students. Then, before the
research items, a brief statement asked the students to recall the social App which they
use most frequently. The final part of the introduction related to demographic
information such as age, gender, and related mobile information. After the brief
introduction, the instructor gave the students a copy of the questionnaire, leaving

1
The World Economic Forum’s Networked Readiness Index (NRI) (2013) measures the propensity for
countries to exploit the opportunities offered by information and communications technology. It is
published annually. The NRI seeks to better comprehend the impact of ICT on the competitiveness of
nations. The NRI is a composite of three components: the environment for ICT offered by a given
country or community (market, political and regulatory, infrastructure environment), the readiness of
the community’s key stakeholders (individuals, businesses, and governments) to use ICT, and finally
the usage of ICT amongst these stakeholders.

13
sufficient time for them to complete it. Upon completion, the respondents were
thanked and dismissed.
Of the 407 questionnaires distributed, 378 usable questionnaires were collected
and used for subsequent analysis (92.9%). Using Chow’s test and Wilk’s lambda
(Chow, 1960), the results of all three samples showed no significant differences in the
items measuring dependent and independent variables. Therefore, the data from the
three universities were pooled because they were similar and statistically inseparable.
On average, the responding students were 23.86 years old with a standard deviation of
4.96 years. The composition of female and male students made up 60.3% and 39.7%
of the sample, respectively. The resulting distribution of the sample in our study is
consistent with a current survey from Pew Research Center (2014), in which 74% of
women were users of social networking sites, compared with 62% of men. The result
indicates that female users of social networking services are outnumbered than male
users. Thus, our sample can be regarded as an adequate representation of young social
App users.

3.2. Measurement of constructs

Following the previous literature and their validated instruments, research items based
on a 7-point Likert scale were drawn up and modified to measure the constructs. All
measures with anchors ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” are
provided in the Appendix. The back translation technique (with items translated from
the original English scale into Chinese, and then back into English) was used. During
the translation process, any discrepancies between the two language versions were
compared and resolved. To address face validity, three business professors were asked
to refine the questionnaire. Based on their feedback, some items were reworded to fit
the research purpose. The result of the pretest provided a first assurance of the validity
of the scale items. The final version of the instrument is given in Appendix A.
Consistent with the previous research addressing technology acceptance, items of
perceived usefulness (PU) were drawn from Davis et al. (1992). Items of perceived
enjoyment (EN) were drawn from prior studies which assessed antecedent beliefs
regarding information technology continuance (Thong et al., 2006). The questions for
social ties (ST) were adopted from Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) as well as Tsai and
Ghoshal (1998). Indicators for measuring satisfaction (SA) with the use of Apps were
modified from Vila and Küster (2011), which is a study focused on consumers’
14
feelings and behaviors regarding the use of websites. Items of habit (HA) were
adapted from Limayem and Hirt (2003). Finally, the construct of continuance
intention (CI) was measured using items that assess a subject’s intention regarding the
likelihood of continuing to use the current most frequently used social Apps
(Bhattacherjee, 2001; Davis et al., 1992).

4. Empirical results

4.1. Measurement assessment

To assess the reliability and validity of the measures, two-step structural equation
modeling (SEM) was applied (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). First, the measurement
model was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) accompanied by
LISREL 8.54. The assessment results show a satisfactory fit to the data with a chi
square (χ2) of 368.24 (df = 120, p < 0.001) and other goodness of fit indices as follows:
NFI = 0.98; NNFI = 0.98; CFI = 0.99; IFI = 0.99; GFI = 0.90; AGFI = 0.86; RMR =
0.049; RMSEA = 0.074. Additionally, the composite reliability (CR), measuring how
consistently individuals respond to the items within a scale, provides evidence for the
existence of internal reliability (ranging from 0.87 to 0.97, Table 1). All the variables
also demonstrated significant positive inter-correlations from 0.50 to 0.73, as shown
in Table 2. It also shows the means, standard deviations, and the square roots of the
AVE on the diagonal values.

Table 1 here

Table 2 here

Convergence was statistically achieved in two ways. First, CR and AVE (average
variance extracted) for each construct in table 1 exceeded 0.7, indicating that the items
explained more variance in the underlying construct than the measurement error did
(Fornell and Larcker, 1981). Second, all factor loadings for indicators contained in the
same construct were statistically significant, with t-values ranging from 16.76 to
25.62.
Discriminant validity was evaluated by the Chi-square difference test, which
conducted simultaneous pair-wise comparisons between the constrained and

15
unconstrained measurement models. If the chi-square difference (with 1 df) is
significant, it means that the two constructs are viewed as distinct (but correlated)
factors, then discriminant validity can be obtained. According to Bagozzi and Yi
(1988), the critical value of the Chi-square test based on the Bonferroni method was
used in the present paper. The threshold under overall 0.01 levels with 1 df ( χ12, 0.01 /15 )

is 11.58. Since the Chi-square difference statistics for paired constructs all exceeded
the critical value (see table 3), the existence of discriminant validity is also
successfully confirmed in this study. In addition, discriminant validity is also
completed if the square root of the average variance extracted for each construct is
greater than the correlations between it and other constructs. As shown in table 2, the
square roots of AVE were all greater than the off-diagonal elements in the
corresponding rows and columns. Therefore, it can be concluded that the instrument
had proper convergent and discriminant validity.

Table 3 here

All the measures were self-reported by the same respondents; therefore, there is a
potential problem of the occurrence of common method variance (CMV). Recently,
some researchers have used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) as a test of CMV. If
the fit of a one-dimensional model is worse than that of the measurement model, this
suggests that the common method variance does not appear to be a serious threat
(Podsakoff et al., 2003). The results show that the fit is considerably worse for the
one-dimensional model than it is for the measurement model; therefore, the issue of
CMV is of less concern in this study.

4.2. Results of the structural model

Having established an adequate measurement model, the next step was to analyze the
structural model for the hypothesis testing. The results showed a satisfactory fit of the
2
data ( χ121 = 387.82; NFI = 0.98; NNFI = 0.98; CFI = 0.98; IFI = 0.99; GFI = 0.90;
AGFI = 0.86; RMR = 0.056; RMSEA = 0.076). Next, by examining the standardized
path coefficients, we found that all the paths were significant and in the expected
direction, except for one: from perceived usefulness to continuance intention
(Hypotheses 3c).

16
 As shown in table 4 satisfaction with social Apps and habit both significantly
influence continuance intention (β = 0.31, p < 0.001; β = 0.17, p < 0.01; H1&H2
supported). The effects of perceived usefulness on satisfaction and habit are
significant (β = 0.26, p < 0.001, H3a supported; β = 0.25, p < 0.001, H3b supported),
but not on continuance intention (β = 0.01, p > 0.05, H3c not supported). Perceived
enjoyment significantly impacts satisfaction, habit, and continuance intention (β =
0.48, p < 0.001, H4a; β = 0.42, p < 0.001; β = 0.21, p < 0.01, H4a~4c supported).
Finally, social ties is a significant determinant of satisfaction (β = 0.24, p < 0.001,
H5a supported), habit (β = 0.30, p < 0.001, H5b supported), and continuance intention
(β = 0.27, p < 0.001, H5c supported).

Table 4 here

In addition, the present study also found that the proposed model accounted for
70% of variance explained for satisfaction with the use of social Apps, 67% for habit,
and 71% for continuance intention.

4.3. Testing for mediation

This study further examined the mediation effects of satisfaction and habit. The
present research conducted mediation analysis following the procedures described in
prior research (Mayer and Davis, 1999) that are based on Baron and Kenny’s (1985)
general principles. The results of the three models are illustrated in table 5. Since only
nested models can be compared, two comparisons were made: (1) direct model vs.
saturated model (chi-square difference is 41.52 with 2 degrees of freedom; p < 0.001),
and (2) indirect model vs. saturated model (chi-square difference is 41.21 with 1
degree of freedom; p < 0.001). The testing result suggests that the proposed model
(saturated model) provides a better fit than the other two models.
Next, full mediation occurs if the effect of the independent variable is no longer
significant when the mediating variable is added, whereas partial mediation is
suggested if the effect of the independent variable is reduced but remains significant.
As seen in table 5, full mediation effects of satisfaction and habit did occur between
perceived usefulness and intention to continue use. However, both satisfaction and
habit partially mediate the relationship between perceived enjoyment and continuance
intention, and between social ties and continuance intention.
17
 Table 5 here

A further analysis of mediations is presented in table 6. The result indicates that the
mediated effect of perceived usefulness on continuance usage intention through
satisfaction (61%) is stronger than through habit (39%). Similarly, the mediated
effects of perceived enjoyment and social ties on continuance usage intention are also
stronger through satisfaction (63%, 57%, respectively) than through habit (37%, 43%,
respectively).

Table 6 here

5. Discussion

Overall, the proposed model demonstrates a good fit. Most of the relationships are
supported, as summarized in table 4. The explained variance of satisfaction, habit, and
continuance intention accounted for 70%, 67%, and 71%, respectively. In addition,
ten out of all eleven hypotheses are supported. This indicates that the research model
provides good explanatory power to meet the research purpose.
The results provide insights into the relationship between the continuance intention
of social Apps and its antecedents among young people. These offer three theoretical
contributions: that (1) users’ satisfaction with social Apps is derived from three
factors, namely, utilitarian, hedonic and social factors, (2) users’ habitual usage of
social Apps is also derived from these three perspectives, and (3) users’ continuance
intention of social Apps is influenced by satisfaction and hedonic as well as social
perspectives.
The findings show that satisfaction, perceived enjoyment, habitual use, and social
ties significantly influence users’ continuance intention of social Apps. Consistent
with the studies of the IS continuance model (Bhattacherjee, 2001), this study
confirms that satisfaction is a key and the most influential factor in explaining users’
continuance of using social Apps. Moreover, social ties is identified as a stronger
determinant of users’ continuance intention than the other factors. This result
indicates that the continuance usage of social Apps is driven by users’ satisfaction,
tight connection with others (i.e., social ties), and hedonic motivation to use the Apps.

18
However, it is notable that our study failed to demonstrate perceived usefulness as a
critical element in consumers’ decisions to continue using social Apps. This finding is
inconsistent with the marketing and IS literature, which contends that perceived
usefulness is one of the important antecedents to assess customers’ repurchase
intention. It is especially true that despite making significant investments in enhancing
the customer service experience, long-term customer loyalty remains an elusive goal
for App service providers. Therefore, the competitive values of utilitarian features
should be emphasized on behalf of consumers’ well-being. This means that social
App service providers should track whether individuals use a function more often and
are more satisfied with it to explore which parts of their social App use become
habitual, then inform consumers of the potential benefits of their social Apps, which
will improve the efficiency of their daily life and task scheduling.
Next, all three important perspectives, namely perceived usefulness, hedonic, and
social aspects, significantly influenced users’ satisfaction with and habit of using
social Apps. After careful examination, it was found that perceived enjoyment had a
dominant impact on satisfaction and habitual usage among all three antecedents. This
finding demonstrates that users are much more concerned with whether the use of a
social App can satisfy their pleasurable affect, functional advantage, and social need
to connect with friends. The significant impact of the hedonic factor (i.e., perceived
enjoyment) indicates that enjoyable experiences of social App usage positively
enhance users’ assessment of and strong impetus to use social Apps. In addition, the
perceived usefulness shows its impact on satisfation. The results show that users are
not only concerned with the affective (emotional and social) nature of Apps, but also
care about the functional aspects such as reliability and efficiency in managing their
daily tasks. Both affective and cognitive functions of mobile Apps act as habitual
communicating tool for users to link with others
As can be seen in table 5, full mediation effects of satisfaction and habit did occur
between perceived usefulness and intention to continue use. However, both
satisfaction and habit partially mediate the relationship between perceived enjoyment
and continuance intention, and between social ties and continuance intention.
Finally, significant results from the mediation test show that full or partial
mediation effects of satisfaction and habit exist between three antecedents (namely,
perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, and social ties) and post-behavioral
intention. This indicates that these three antecedents exerted an impact on continuance
19
intention for social Apps via user satisfaction and habit. Of these two factors,
satisfaction shows a stronger mediation effect than habit does. This result points out
that users are more likely to continue using their current social App if they are
satisfied with it than if they are used to it.

6. Implications and conclusions

This paper provides both theoretical and practical implications for mobile social Apps
in terms of building users’ satisfaction levels and their intention to consider continued
use after their initial adoption.
All three antecedents have positive impacts on use satisfaction and habitual use of
social Apps. The confirmation of perceived usefulness indicates that to maintain user
satisfaction and frequent use of social Apps, developers must emphasize the utilitarian
feature to improve users’ performance of daily tasks. Next, social ties have proved to
be a strong influence driving users’ satisfaction, habit, and continuance intention of
using social Apps. As previous studies have mentioned that peer pressure exerts
greater influence on young people than on their older counterparts, our results also
reveal that users have a strong demand for social functions when using social Apps.
Mobile Apps can conveniently facilitate users’ communication, and convey their
opinions via their social network. Therefore, practitioners could implement strategies
aiming at young people to develop their sense of identity, which is linked to mobile
App use amongst this cohort. For example, high-level interactive functions are able to
convey personal information not only through text but also via pictures, and can
receive prompt feedback from their social networks.
Finally, the result of our model highlights perceived enjoyment as a stronger factor
influencing social App satisfaction and habitual adoption. Hence, App designers can
dedicate their efforts to emphasizing the hedonic value, appealing to consumers’
hedonic experiences, such as animated images, stickers, and games which create
visual attraction and facilitate communication to attract a wider variety of users, and
thus enhance users’ satisfaction.
In summary, we have explored the factors influencing consumers’ satisfaction
levels regarding social Apps and their continuance intention. Three influential values
were theorized and validated from the utilitarian, hedonic and social perspectives. The
findings leave some critical issues for both manufacturers and developers to consider
when developing further strategies for the paid versions of their social Apps.
20
 In conclusion, this current study provides insights into exploring the antecedents of
users’ continuance intention regarding social Apps. This encompasses: (1) a
conceptual understanding of social App satisfaction and continued adoption processes,
(2) critical thinking regarding the post-acceptance model of IS continuance in the
social Apps usage context, and (3) significant roles of the three perspectives which are
characterized by perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, and social ties of social
App usage.
The limitations of this study are mostly related to its external validity. The research
respondents were taken from three universities within a single country, and a
convenience sampling method was utilized. Accordingly, the results of the present
investigation can be generalized only for young adults in Taiwan. However, college
students who are actual users of Apps were recruited for this survey to validate the
theoretical framework. In addition, even though actual female users of social
networking services exceed male users by about 10%, in our sample, the female
respondents constituted nearly 60% of our sample, which may not be an ideal
representation of the young adult population. Future studies can present a sample
which more closely reflects the actual gender balance of the young adult population.
Finally, including other important user behaviors (e.g., the names of the frequently
used social Apps and frequency of usage) could provide insights into the
characteristics of our respondents.

21
Appendix
Measure of Constructs

Construct Source
Perceived usefulness (PU)
PU1. Using this social App will improve my performance in Adapted from
managing my personal life. Davis et al.
PU2. Using this social App will increase my productivity in managing (1992)
my personal life.
PU3. Using this social App will enhance my effectiveness in
managing my personal life.

Perceived enjoyment (EN)

EN1. Using this social App is pleasurable. Adapted from
EN2. I have fun using this social App. Thonga et al.
EN3. I find using this social App to be interesting. (2006)

Social ties (ST)

ST1. I maintain close social relationships with my friends by using Adapted from
this social App. Nahapiet and
ST2. I spend a lot of time interacting with my friends by using this Ghoshal (1998);
social App. Tsai and
ST3. I have frequent communication with my friends by using this Ghoshal (1998)
social App.

Satisfaction (SA)
SA1. I think I made the correct decision in using this social App. Adapted from
SA2. My experience of using this social App has been satisfactory. Vila and Kuster
SA3. I am satisfied with the social App I have downloaded. (2011)

Habit (HA)
HA1. The use of social App has become a habit for me. Adapted from
HA2. I am addicted to using this social App. Limayem and
HA3. I must use this social App. Hirt (2003)

Continuance intention (CI)

CI1. I intend to continue using this social App in the future. Adapted from
CI2. I will always try to use this social App in my daily life. Bhattacherjee
CI3. I will keep using this social App as regularly as I do now. (2001)

22
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Figure. 1. Research framework

28
 Table 1. Standardized loadings and reliability measures
Indicators Standardized t value CR AVE Cronbach’s α
Loading
PU1 0.77 t = 17.02 0.87 0.70 0.87
PU2 0.90 t = 21.44
PU3 0.83 t = 19.05
EN1 0.92 t = 23.34 0.97 0.91 0.97
EN2 0.97 t = 25.50
EN3 0.97 t = 25.62
ST1 0.80 t = 18.26 0.91 0.78 0.91
ST2 0.94 t = 23.65
ST3 0.90 t = 21.99
SA1 0.82 t = 18.77 0.89 0.72 0.88
SA2 0.90 t = 22.05
SA3 0.83 t = 19.25
HA1 0.85 t = 20.24 0.91 0.76 0.91
HA2 0.87 t = 20.72
HA3 0.90 t = 22.21
CI1 0.93 t = 23.38 0.91 0.78 0.90
CI2 0.95 t = 24.41
CI3 0.75 t = 16.76
Note: PU= Perceived usefulness; EN= Enjoyment; ST= Social Ties; SA= Satisfaction;
HA=Habit; CI= Continue usage Intention; AVE= Average Variance Extracted; CR= Composite
Reliability.

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Table 2. Descriptive statistics, variance explained, and correlations

Means S.D. PU EN ST SA HA CI

PU 4.81 1.23 0.84 － － － － －

EN 5.37 1.24 0.52* 0.95 － － － －

ST 4.70 1.16 0.50* 0.58* 0.88 － － －

SA 4.88 1.12 0.60* 0.73* 0.68* 0.85 － －

HA 4.89 1.36 0.57* 0.70* 0.66* 0.70* 0.87 －

CI 5.07 1.21 0.54* 0.70* 0.72* 0.72* 0.70* 0.88

* p < 0.001; On-diagonals are square roots of AVE.

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 Table 3. Chi-square difference test
2
Construct Pair Unconstrained ( χ120 ) = 368.24

Constrained Difference
2
( χ121 ) ( χ12 )
(PU, EN) 789.05 420.81*

(PU, ST) 873.48 505.24*

(PU, SA) 721.33 353.09*

(PU, HA) 761.43 393.19*
(PU, CI) 804.73 436.49*

(EN, ST) 829.53 461.29*

(EN, SA) 682.71 314.47*

(EN, HA) 714.24 346.00*

(EN, CI) 753.47 385.23*

(ST, SA) 799.06 430.82*

(ST, HA) 827.96 459.72*

(ST, CI) 735.85 367.61*

(SA, HA) 636.47 268.23*

(SA, CI) 654.42 286.18*

(HA, CI) 721.22 352.98*

* p < 0.01. Note that the critical value of the chi-square test
based on the Bonferroni method under overall 0.01 levels is χ2
(1, 0.01/15) = 11.58.

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 Table 4. Path coefficients and t-values
Hypothesis Path Standardized t-value
coefficient
H1 SA → CI 0.31*** 4.30
H2 HT → CI 0.17** 2.67
H3a PU → SA 0.26*** 5.40
H3b PU→ HA 0.25*** 5.11
H3c PU → CI 0.01 0.27
H4a EN → SA 0.48*** 8.93
H4b EN → HA 0.42*** 7.99
H4c EN → CI 0.21** 3.27
H5a ST → SA 0.24*** 5.09
H5b ST → HA 0.30*** 6.18
H5c ST → CI 0.27*** 5.23
Note: * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.

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 Table 5. Analysis of mediation effects
Measure Direct model Indirect model Saturated model
χ2 429.34 429.03 387.82
Df 123 124 121
PU → SA 0.26*** 0.25*** 0.26***
PU→ HA 0.25*** 0.24*** 0.25***
PU → CI 0.15** － 0.01
EN → SA 0.48*** 0.49*** 0.48***
EN → HA 0.42*** 0.43*** 0.42***
EN → CI 0.42*** － 0.21**
ST → SA 0.25*** 0.27*** 0.24***
ST → HA 0.31*** 0.31*** 0.30***
ST → CI 0.40*** － 0.27***
SA → CI － 0.54*** 0.31***
HA → CI － 0.36*** 0.17**
CFI = 0.98 CFI = 0.98 CFI = 0.98
NFI = 0.98 NFI = 0.98 NFI = 0.98
GFI = 0.89 GFI = 0.89 GFI = 0.90
RMSEA = 0.081 RMSEA = 0.081 RMSEA = 0.076
Note: * p< 0.05; ** p< 0.01; *** p< 0.001.

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 Table 6. Analysis of indirect effects
Path Indirect effects through Total effects
Satisfaction Habit
PU
CI 0.135 61% 0.086 39% 0.221
EN
CI 0.265 63% 0.155 37% 0.419
ST
CI 0.146 57% 0.112 43% 0.257

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Abstract: The emergence of mobile application software (App) has explosively grown
in conjunction with the worldwide use of smartphones in recent years. Among
numerous categories of mobile Apps, social Apps were one of those with the greatest
growth in 2013. Despite abundant research on users' behavior intention of mobile App
usage, few studies have focused on investigating key determinants of users'
continuance intention regarding social Apps. To fill this gap, we integrated customer
value perspectives to explore the influential factors in the continuance intention of
social App use. Moreover, users' satisfaction and habit from both the marketing and
psychology literature were also incorporated into the research model. A total of 378
valid questionnaires were collected by survey method, and structural equation
modeling was employed in the subsequent data analysis. The results indicate that the
continuance usage of social Apps is driven by users' satisfaction, tight connection with
others, and hedonic motivation to use the Apps. In addition, full mediation effects of
satisfaction and habit were found between perceived usefulness and intention to
continue use. These findings extend our understanding of users' continuance intention
in the context of social Apps. Discussion and implications are provided.

Keywords: Social Apps; Continuance intention; Satisfaction; Habit; Customer value

perspectives.

35
Highlights

 Mobile social apps have exponentially changed the way people communicate.
 Three antecedents (utilitarian, hedonic, and social perspectives) were examined.
 User satisfaction and habitual use were successfully explained by all antecedents.
 Continuance usage was driven by satisfaction, habitual use, and two other factors.
 The mediation effects of satisfaction and habitual use were found.

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