Telematics and Informatics xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Telematics and Informatics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tele

Understanding word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions of mobile app

users: The role of simplicity and emotions during the first
interaction
⁎
Silas Formunyuy Verkijika , Lizette De Wet
Department of Computer Science & Informatics, University of the Free State, 205 Nelson Mandela Drive, Bloemfontein, South Africa

A R T IC LE I N F O ABS TRA CT

Keywords: With the known poor user retention rates of mobile apps, mobile app developers and service
Word-of-mouth providers can significantly benefit from positive word-of-mouth (WOM) as a cost-effective means
Mobile apps to reach a critical mass. Many users abandon mobile apps after just a single use. As such, the first-
Simplicity time user experience of a mobile app is crucial as it might form a lasting impression about the
Emotions
app. However, little is known about some of the factors that can foster the creation of positive
Satisfaction
Ease of use
WOM intentions after a user’s first interaction with a mobile app. The main aim of the present
study was to show how simplicity and emotions (based on the PAD model) could be used to
understand WOM intentions of mobile apps users. Using a quasi-experimental design with 100
participants from South Africa, the study showed that simplicity and emotions (PAD model) were
instrumental in shaping users’ satisfaction and WOM intentions. The findings have implications
for emotional design in mobile apps, as well as for designing for simplicity.

1. Introduction

Mobile applications (apps) are currently being used to automate a lot of functions that help individuals, communities, businesses,
and governments to be more productive, as well as to attain their various personal and organizational objectives. With the wide
variety of available mobile apps, smartphone users are increasingly switching from one app to another and are quick to dump an app
after just a single use (O'Connell, 2016). As such, mobile app developers and service providers are increasingly concerned about the
low retention rate of mobile app users. One of the approaches through which mobile app retention can be increased is through
positive word-of-mouth (WOM), which has proved valuable in other contexts (Calvo-Porral et al., 2017; Huang et al., 2017; Mishra
et al., 2016; San-Martin et al., 2015).
WOM generally refers to the informal communication that an individual directs towards others that describes the features of a
given product/service offering with the aim of influencing users’ perceptions of the offering. Basically, with WOM, an individual who
has experienced a certain product/service offering passes their experience to others through word of mouth (Calvo-Porral et al., 2017;
Mishra et al., 2016). Researchers have particularly placed a lot of importance on WOM because of its key role in improving customer
acquisition and retention (Huang et al., 2017; San-Martin et al., 2015). WOM is considered as a powerful strategy to advertise a new
product and get potential customers to try it (Huang et al., 2017).
This is particularly important in mobile apps where user retention rates are very low (O'Connell, 2016). This necessitates mobile
app developers and service providers to advertise their apps to a huge number of potential users before they can reach a critical mass.

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: vekasif@gmail.com (S.F. Verkijika), dWetL@ufs.ac.za (L. De Wet).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2019.05.003
Received 6 June 2018; Received in revised form 6 May 2019; Accepted 6 May 2019
0736-5853/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Silas Formunyuy Verkijika and Lizette De Wet, Telematics and Informatics,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2019.05.003
S.F. Verkijika and L. De Wet Telematics and Informatics xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

It is often argued that first-time users of a product are instrumental in the diffusion of the product as they play a critical role in
generating positive WOM, which encourages others to also try the product. While this is true for positive WOM, negative WOM can
have an adverse effect. It is, therefore, not surprising that many authors of guidelines for developing mobile apps have emphasized
the importance of developing systems that provide a good first impression (Salz & Moranz, 2013; Van Drongelen & Dennis, 2017;
Welinske, 2014). In fact, Welinske (2014) even argues that mobile app developers only get one chance to make the first impression
and as such, they should develop their apps in a manner that will generate a positive first-time user experience. In this regard, a key
question of the present study is as follows: “What are some of the factors that mobile app developers should consider in the de-
velopment of a mobile app so that users can be satisfied with their first-time use and possibly provide positive WOM about the app”.
Following this question, the present study proposes simplicity and emotions as two fundamental factors that should be considered
by mobile app developers as a means to improve the chances of getting positive WOM from users’ first interactions with their apps.
Simplicity is an important concept in human-computer interaction and has been argued to play a central role in determining the
satisfaction of users with a given system (Choi & Lee, 2012). Likewise, emotions have been known to play a key role in human
decision making (Huang et al., 2017; Miniero et al., 2014). As such, the emotions that users experience when using an app for the first
time could play a significant role in determining what WOM decisions they make about the app. Positive emotions are likely to result
in positive WOM, while negative emotions are likely to result in negative WOM. The present study focused on the pleasure-arousal-
dominance (PAD) model of emotions. This model relates to positive emotions that are well-suited to the context of the present study
in terms of its focus on positive WOM.
The rest of the paper is structured as follows. The next section presents the theoretical background and development of the
hypotheses. Afterward, the research methodology is discussed. Next, the data analysis and results are presented, which is followed by
the discussion and implications of the findings. Lastly, the paper culminates with a discussion of key limitations and avenues for
future studies.

2. Antecedents of WOM

The importance of WOM has been widely acknowledged in the literature, a reason why many researchers have evaluated the
determinants of WOM across different domains and settings. Prior studies often focus on either positive (Duarte et al., 2018; Huang
et al., 2017; San-Martin et al., 2015; Van Vaerenbergh & Holmqvist, 2014) or negative (Balaji et al., 2016; Nikbin et al., 2015; Weitzl
et al., 2018) WOM. With respect to positive WOM, a common view shared by most studies is that user satisfaction plays an important
role in enhancing WOM (Duarte et al., 2018; Mishra et al., 2016; San-Martin et al., 2015). As such, satisfaction is often presented as a
central factor in most positive WOM related models. For example, in the mobile shopping context, San-Martin et al. (2015) proposed
a model suggesting that entertainment and subjective norm has a significant influence on WOM through user satisfaction. Ad-
ditionally, entertainment also has a direct influence on WOM. Their findings supported these views, although the influence of
subjective norms on satisfaction was only significant for adults. In the context of Hindi movie consumption, Mishra et al. (2016)
proposed a model showing that arousal and pleasure had a direct influence on positive WOM as well as an indirect influence through
satisfaction. Their findings showed that both the direct and the indirect (through satisfaction) influence of pleasure on WOM was
positive and significant, while the influence of arousal (both direct and indirect) was surprisingly negative. In the online shopping
context, Duarte et al. (2018) proposed and empirically validated the view that online shopping convenience influenced WOM through
its positive influence on user satisfaction. Likewise, in the higher education sector, Casidy and Wymer (2017) proposed and validated
the view that brand strength positively influences WOM and that the association was mediated by satisfaction and loyalty.
Some other studies examining positive WOM have, however, not considered the role of satisfaction. For example, with respect to
online games, Huang et al. (2017) proposed that user experience dimensions (functional, hedonic and social) had a significant
influence on WOM through the mediating role of emotions (i.e. pleasure, arousal, and dominance). Their findings showed that all
three emotions and user experience dimensions had a significant direct positive influence on WOM. However, three of the nine
proposed indirect effects were not supported by the findings. Also, in the restaurant context, Van Vaerenbergh and Holmqvist (2014)
proposed five (language divergence, price perceptions, food quality and reliability, perceived employee responsiveness and physical
design and appearance) factors that explain WOM intentions of restaurants. The findings showed that all factors except for language
divergence and food quality and reliability were significant and directly associated with WOM intentions. The influence of price
perceptions on WOM was negative while that of perceived employee responsiveness and physical design and appearance were
positive.
With respect to negative WOM, several studies (e.g. Balaji et al., 2016; Nikbin et al., 2015; Weitzl et al., 2018) have examined
various factors that could either increase or decrease negative WOM in various settings. For example, Balaji et al. (2016) developed a
model which proposed that negative WOM in the social media context was influenced by contextual (i.e. feeling of injustice, firm
attribution, and firm image), individuals (i.e. face-concern, suppression emotion regulation and reappraisal emotion regulation) and
social networking (i.e. social network use intensity and tie strength) factors. Their findings showed that except for suppression
emotion regulation which had no significant influence on WOM, four factors (i.e. the feeling of injustice, face-concern, social network
use intensity, and tie strength) significantly increased negative WOM while three factors (firm attribution, firm image, and re-
appraisal emotion regulation) significantly decreased negative WOM. In the context of online customer care, Weitzl et al. (2018)
proposed a model suggesting that failure attribution (i.e. locus, controllability, and stability) has a direct influence on post-webcare
negative WOM as well as an indirect influence through the mediating role of post-webcare satisfaction. The findings showed that two
attribution dimensions (i.e. locus and stability) significantly increased negative WOM and decreased satisfaction while satisfaction
significantly reduced negative WOM. Similarly, Nikbin et al. (2015) examined the direct influence of two attribution dimensions (i.e.

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Fig. 1. Proposed model.

controllability and stability) on negative WOM in the airline industry and found that both factors significantly increased negative
WOM.

3. Theoretical model and research hypotheses

The proposed research model is presented in Fig. 1. The model suggests that simplicity and emotions (using the PAD model) have
a direct positive influence on WOM intentions. Additionally, simplicity influences WOM intentions through the intermediate roles of
ease of use and satisfaction, while emotions influence WOM intentions through the intermediate role of satisfaction.
Simplicity is a multifaceted concept with numerous dimensions and thus represented as a second order formative factor following
prior studies (Choi & Lee, 2012; Lee et al., 2015). In addition to simplicity, the model proposes that the PAD model influences WOM
intentions through the intermediate role of satisfaction. This is because satisfaction and ease of use play a key role in enhancing user
experience (Choi & Lee, 2012; Hornbaek, 2006), which in turn results in positive WOM intentions (Miniero et al., 2014; Popp &
Woratschek, 2017). A discussion of the underlying assumptions that guide the hypothesized associations is presented below.

3.1. Facets of simplicity

Simplicity is an important concept in human-computer interaction. In the past decade, many researchers have begun to explore its
different facets and how simplicity could influence user satisfaction and user experience (Choi & Lee, 2012; Eytam et al., 2017; Lee
et al., 2015). Simplicity is a multifaceted concept with numerous dimensions. Consequently, researchers have emphasized the need to
always represent simplicity as a second-order formative factor (Fig. 1) of its numerous facets (Choi & Lee, 2012; Lee et al., 2015). The
present study focused on user’s appraisal of simplicity during the first interaction with a mobile app. As such, it was important to
consider facets of simplicity that can be successfully evaluated during the first interaction with the app. After careful evaluation of the
facets of simplicity used in prior studies (Choi & Lee, 2012; Lee et al., 2015), visual aesthetics, reduction, and dynamic complexity
were selected for the present study as these were believed to be factors relevant in the context of mobile apps, and that users could
successfully judge them during their first interaction. Additionally, these factors were also carefully selected so that all three domains
of simplicity as suggested by Choi and Lee (2012) were covered. These include simplicity in information design (i.e. reduction),
simplicity in task complexity (i.e. dynamic complexity) and simplicity in visual aesthetics (visual aesthetics).
Visual aesthetics generally refers to the attractiveness of something or how pleasing its appearance is (Moshagen & Thielsch,
2010; Tractinsky, 2013). As such, a mobile app can be considered to demonstrate good visual aesthetics if its users perceive it to be
attractive or if it has a good and pleasing appearance. Perceptions of the visual aesthetics of a given user interface often differ across
users given the subjective nature of beauty (Eytam et al., 2017; Moshagen & Thielsch, 2010). However, given the importance of
“unity in diversity” as a fundamental rule in interface design (Choi & Lee, 2012), it remains important to ensure that the visual appeal
of an interface is positive to the majority of potential users. Prior evidence indicates that visual aesthetics play an important role in
shaping user perceptions about a system’s ease of use as users generally perceive attractive designs to be more easy to use (Lavie &
Tractinsky, 2004). Moreover, visual aesthetics enhance users’ performance on a given system (Sonderegger & Sauer, 2010), thus
increasing the overall user satisfaction with the system (Cyr et al., 2008; Moshagen & Thielsch, 2010).
The simplicity facet of reduction refers to the aspect of ensuring that a system is designed in such a manner that only essential
steps are required to complete a given task (Maeda, 2006). Systems that do not apply the reduction principle of simplicity often tend

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to have complicated, difficult or unnecessary steps to complete a task on the system (Choi & Lee, 2012; Lee et al., 2015). Conse-
quently, users are likely to be more frustrated with such a system as they find it difficult to use. This will likely have a significant
influence on their perception of the system’s ease of use, as well as the overall satisfaction they experience from using the system.
Lastly, dynamic complexity refers to the ambiguity that users face when completing tasks on a given system. Systems that are
dynamically complex often have different possible interpretations for the same information cues, thus making it difficult for users to
know exactly what to expect from a given system functionality due to the low level of predictability (Choi & Lee, 2012). Reducing
dynamic complexity can be very important for the perceived ease of use of a system as it is generally argued that it is easier to learn
how to use a predictable system (Morville & Rosenfeld, 2006).
From the preceding discussion, it is evident that facets of simplicity play a significant role in shaping perceptions about a system’s
ease of use and influencing the satisfaction of users with the system. As such, prior studies have argued that simplicity as a whole is
instrumental in shaping user perceptions about the ease of use and satisfaction with a given system. This view has been supported by
empirical evidence from several researchers. For example, Lee et al. (2015) showed that simplicity had a significant positive influence
on the perceived ease of use of mobile phones. Likewise, Choi and Lee (2012) observed a significant positive association between
simplicity and the satisfaction of smartphone users. Additionally, simplicity is important in shaping user attitudes towards a system
such that users are more inclined to form positive attitudes towards products that are properly designed from a simplicity perspective
(Eytam et al., 2017; Reinecke et al., 2013). As such, a positive attitude towards a system and user satisfaction with it are important
factors that will drive a user to speak positive WOM about the system (Agag & El-Masry, 2016; Lien & Cao, 2014; Miniero et al., 2014;
Mishra et al., 2016; San-Martin et al., 2015). Consequently, simplicity is likely to have a direct influence on WOM intentions. Thus,
the present study hypothesizes that:
H1. Simplicity positively influences the ease of use of mobile apps.
H2. Simplicity positively influences user satisfaction of mobile apps.
H3. Simplicity positively influences WOM intentions.

3.2. PAD model

The PAD (pleasure, arousal, dominance) model was proposed by Mehrabian and Russell (1974) and has been argued to be a
valuable model that can be used to satisfactorily capture the emotional states of individuals (Huang et al., 2017; Miniero et al., 2014).
Pleasure can be seen as the extent to which an individual feels happy or elated (Eroglu et al., 2003). Arousal refers to the degree of
excitement about something, while dominance refers to the level of control that one has over a given environment (Chang et al.,
2014; Huang et al., 2017; Mehrabian & Russell, 1974).
Pleasure is highly associated with user satisfaction. Once users experience a pleasurable emotional state when using a given
system, such users are likely to be satisfied with the experience. This view has been supported by several researchers (Liu et al., 2016;
Miniero et al., 2014) who have shown the existence of a significant positive association between pleasure and user satisfaction. Prior
studies have further elucidated that the level of pleasure experienced by a user is often influenced by the other two dimensions of the
PAD model. For example, arousal has a positive influence on pleasure, as users experience happiness when they are excited about a
given activity (Chang et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2016; Miniero et al., 2014). Similarly, dominance has been shown to have a significant
positive influence on pleasure, as users are often elated when they are in control of the environment as opposed to when they are
being controlled by the environment (Miniero et al., 2014). Additionally, users who experience positive emotions when interacting
with a given system are often more inclined to share their positive experience with others (Huang et al., 2017). As such, it is generally
expected that positive emotions like pleasure, arousal and dominance will have a significant positive influence on WOM (Huang
et al., 2017; Loureiro & Ribeiro, 2014). Thus, the present study hypothesizes that:
H4. Pleasure has a significant positive influence on user satisfaction.
H5. Pleasure has a significant positive influence on WOM intentions.
H6. Arousal has a significant positive influence on pleasure.
H7. Arousal has a significant positive influence on WOM intentions.
H8. Dominance has a significant positive influence on pleasure.
H9. Dominance has a significant positive influence on WOM intentions.

3.3. Ease of use

Ease of use is generally seen as the extent to which a person believes that using a given system is/or would be free of effort (Agag
& El-Masry, 2016). Making a design easy to use also encompasses aspects of learnability, which Nielsen (2012) describes as the level
of ease with which a user can accomplish a basic task on the system the first time they encounter it. As such, ease of use in the context
of the present study also incorporates ease of learning, similar to prior studies (Lee et al., 2015). When it is easy to use a given system,
users are likely to experience more satisfaction from the system. This view has been supported by numerous studies that have shown a

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significant positive association between ease of use and satisfaction (Amin et al., 2014; Flavian et al., 2006; Lee et al., 2015).
Likewise, users are more likely to speak positively about a system that is easy to use than one which they struggle to use. For example,
users often write reviews of apps when they use it, and this often incorporates aspects of the usefulness and ease of use of the system
(Stojmenovic et al., 2018). Generally, systems that are useful and easy to use are more likely to attract good reviews, which con-
sequently results in positive WOM (McGregor et al., 2002). Following from the above, it is hypothesized that:
H10. Ease of use has a significant positive influence on user satisfaction.
H11. Ease of use has a significant positive influence on WOM intentions.

3.4. Satisfaction

Satisfaction is a post-use behavior that captures a user’s affective response with regards to their use experience of a given product
or service (Hsiao et al., 2016; Lee et al., 2015). Many researchers have argued that user satisfaction holds a central position in user
experience design (Choi & Lee, 2012; Hornbaek, 2006). As such, product developers often thrive to ensure that users are able to
experience a great deal of satisfaction from using their products because satisfied users are likely to continue using the product (Hsiao
et al., 2016). Also, satisfied users generally have a positive attitude towards a product/service offering, which influences them to use
it frequently and also provide positive WOM regarding the offering. In fact, positive WOM can be seen as a user’s way of reciprocating
the satisfaction gained from interacting with the product (Wu et al., 2018). This view has been supported in numerous studies in
different contexts, where satisfaction has been shown to have a significant positive influence on WOM intentions (Calvo-Porral et al.,
2017; Lee & Jaafar, 2011; Miniero et al., 2014; Mishra et al., 2016; Pham & Ahammad, 2017; Popp & Woratschek, 2017; San-Martin
et al., 2015). As such, this study hypothesizes that:
H12. Satisfaction has a significant positive influence on WOM intentions.

4. Methodology

This study adopted a quantitative approach to validate the proposed theoretical model. More specifically, the study adopted a
single-group post-test only design for evaluating the proposed model. This type of design is the simplest form of the quasi-experimental
design and entails having a single group of subjects that interact with a given product and provide their experience post-use (Jackson,
2012).
Given the need to understand first impressions with mobile apps, the present study recruited a total of 100 participants (all
students) who had never used a specific student time management app before. Each of the participants was given 12 min to interact
with the mobile app following a set of guided tasks that covered a selection of the main functions of the app. After the interaction
with the app, the participants were then provided with a post-test questionnaire to rate their experience with the app. The measures
for the constructs used in the study (Appendix A) were adapted from prior studies (Choi & Lee, 2012; Huang et al., 2017; Lee et al.,
2015; Miniero et al., 2014; Van Vaerenbergh & Holmqvist, 2014). The questionnaire included the different constructs of the proposed
model. A summary of the demographic profiles of the participants is presented below (Table 1).
The majority of the respondents were males (56%). Most of the participants were between the age group of 20–25 years (56%),
and the majority had used a mobile phone for over 24 months (81%). Lastly, the majority of the participants used an Android
smartphone (97%), which is expected given the availability of low-cost Android smartphones in developing countries.

5. Data analysis and results

5.1. Measurement model

The analysis commenced with the evaluation of common-method bias, as all the constructs used in the proposed model were
captured using subjective measures. This was achieved by examining the common method variance (CMV) using Harman’s one-factor
test. In line with the guidelines from Podsakoff et al. (2003), all the items in Appendix A were introduced into a factor analysis using

Table 1
User Demographics.
Age group Percentage Length of smartphone use Percentage

Below 20 years 30% Less than 12 months 11.1%

20–25 years 56% 12–24 months 8%
Over 25 years 14% Over 24 months 81%

Gender Type of smartphone

Male 56% Android 97%

Female 44% Others 3%

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Table 2
Quality Criteria.
Construct Cronbach’s Alpha CR AVE

Arousal (AR) 0.908 0.956 0.915

Dominance (DM) 0.879 0.943 0.892
Dynamic Complexity (DC) 0.752 0.890 0.801
Pleasure (PL) 0.874 0.923 0.800
Reduction (RD) 0.850 0.910 0.772
Satisfaction (ST) 0.901 0.931 0.771
Ease of Use (EU) 0.911 0.934 0.740
Visual Aesthetics (VA) 0.877 0.924 0.803
WOM Intentions (WI) 0.888 0.947 0.899

the SPSS software. All the factors that emerged from the un-rotated solution explained 76.4% variance, with the first factor explaining
39.7% of the variance. Since the variance of the first factor was less than 50%, CMV was not seen to be a key concern.
Following this outcome, the measurement model was then evaluated using Partial Least Squares (PLS) structural equation
modeling (SEM) by running the SmartPLS software (Ringle et al., 2015). Generally, the PLS-SEM approach was selected because it is
very useful for testing models that have not been previously validated. Additionally, PLS-SEM can provide accurate results for small
sample sizes (Hair et al., 2014). As such, given the quasi-experimental nature of the present study, a sample size of 100 was deemed
suitable for PLS-SEM analysis following from the popular “10-times rule” used as a guide for selecting a sample size for PLS-SEM
analysis. A number of criteria were used to evaluate the suitability of the constructs used (Table 2). These criteria include Cronbach’s
alpha, composite reliability (CR) and the average variance extracted (AVE).
From Table 2, it is observed that all the constructs had Cronbach’s Alpha values and CR values above the recommended threshold
value of 0.7 (Hair et al., 2014), thus indicating the inter-rater reliability of the constructs. Additionally, the AVE values ranged from
0.771 to 0.915, which are far above the recommended threshold value of 0.5 (Hair et al., 2014). This confirmed the convergent
validity of the constructs as the results suggested that the constructs were more likely to capture construct-related variance than error
variance. Additionally, a visual inspection of the factor loadings and cross-loadings (Appendix B) showed that all the factors loaded in
their respective constructs.
Additionally, the constructs were evaluated for discriminant validity using two well-known approaches. These are the Fornell-
Larcker Criterion (Table 3) and the heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT) (Table 4).
The Fornell-Larcker criterion suggests that discriminant validity is achieved when the square root of AVE is greater than the
paired inter-correlations between constructs (Hair et al., 2014). The data in Table 3 shows that all the square-roots of the AVE
(diagonal values) were larger than the values in the corresponding rows and columns. As such, all the first-order constructs are seen
to exhibit good levels of discriminant validity.
However, the accuracy of this discriminant validity when using SmartPLS can be further ascertained using the HTMT approach,
which some researchers have argued to be an optimal approach for evaluating discriminant validity. The HTMT approach used by
SmartPLS suggests that two constructs effectively discriminate when the HTMT value is below 0.9, although some researchers argue
for a more conservative value of 0.85 (Kline, 2011). The results in Table 4 showed that all the observed HTMT values were below the
conservative threshold of 0.85, thus further confirming the discriminant validity of all the first-order constructs.

5.2. Hypothesis testing

The proposed structural model was evaluated using SmartPLS with bootstrapping (ran with 5000-subsamples) to obtain data for
the path coefficients and their significance values. The outcome of the analysis is presented in Fig. 2 (structural model) and Table 5
(the outcome of hypotheses).
Fig. 2 shows that simplicity explained 52.8% variance in ease of use, while simplicity, ease of use and the PAD model explained
60.1% variance in satisfaction. Also, within the PAD model, arousal and dominance explained 64.0% variance in pleasure. Lastly, the

Table 3
Fornell-Larcker Criterion: Correlation matrix of constructs and the square root of AVE (in bold).
AR DM DC PL RD ST EU VA WI

AR 0.957
DM 0.343 0.945
DC 0.433 0.486 0.895
PL 0.750 0.519 0.504 0.895
RD 0.211 0.465 0.442 0.337 0.879
ST 0.602 0.574 0.594 0.638 0.530 0.878
EU 0.348 0.675 0.689 0.535 0.601 0.677 0.860
VA 0.399 0.533 0.433 0.372 0.424 0.455 0.450 0.896
WI 0.643 0.521 0.559 0.662 0.417 0.664 0.523 0.624 0.948

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Table 4
HTMT Criterion for discriminant validity.
AR DM DC PL RD ST EU VA

DM 0.384
DC 0.524 0.598
PL 0.840 0.594 0.618
RD 0.239 0.524 0.544 0.387
ST 0.656 0.647 0.719 0.708 0.602
EU 0.417 0.751 0.832 0.595 0.666 0.748
VA 0.446 0.605 0.530 0.426 0.490 0.509 0.494
WI 0.716 0.591 0.684 0.754 0.476 0.731 0.578 0.709

Fig. 2. Structural model.

proposed model explained 64.5% variance in WOM intentions. A visual inspection of Fig. 2 and Table 5 shows that all the hy-
pothesized paths, except for hypotheses H9 and H11 were significant. This suggests that ease of use does not have a direct association
with WOM intentions (β = 0.139, p > 0.05). This supports evidence from Lee and Jaafar (2011) who also failed to find a significant
association between ease of use and WOM in the context of internet banking.

6. Discussion and implications

It is widely purported that first impressions always count, which is why mobile app developers are encouraged to ensure that their
apps are properly designed in a manner that will improve user satisfaction (Amin et al., 2014; Lee et al., 2015). This is because
satisfied users are likely to be the first advertisers of the product through positive WOM (Wu et al., 2018).
The present study aimed at examining how (and if) several factors could improve the WOM intentions of a mobile app after the
users formed their first impression of the app. Facets of simplicity and the PAD model were used as the starting point for under-
standing WOM intentions after a user’s first impression of a mobile app. The findings showed that simplicity was positive and
significantly associated with ease of use (hypothesis H1) and satisfaction (Hypothesis H2), thus supporting the findings of previous
studies (Choi & Lee, 2012; Cyr et al., 2008; Lee et al., 2015). Also, it was observed that simplicity has a significant positive influence
on WOM intentions (hypothesis H3). This suggests that when a mobile app is properly designed from a simplicity perspective (i.e.

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Table 5
Outcomes of hypotheses.
Hypothesis Constructs’ Relationship Standardized path coefficient Critical ratio Significance (p) Hypothesis Supported (Yes/No)

H1 SM → EU 0.728** 15.237 p = 0.000 Yes

H2 SM → ST 0.275** 2.986 p = 0.003 Yes
H3 SM → WI 0.419** 5.075 p = 0.000 Yes
H4 PL → ST 0.341** 3.891 p = 0.000 Yes
H5 PL → WI 0.211** 2.043 p = 0.041 Yes
H6 AR → PL 0.648** 11.472 p = 0.000 Yes
H7 AR → WI 0.233* 11.641 p = 0.013 Yes
H8 DM → PL 0.297** 5.173 p = 0.000 Yes
H9 DM → WI 0.070 0.890 p = 0.374 No
H10 EU → ST 0.296** 2.962 p = 0.003 Yes
H11 EU → WI 0.147 1.382 p = 0.167 No
H12 ST → WI 0.239* 2.148 p = 0.032 Yes

** p < 0.01.
* p < 0.05.

taking into account the different facets of simplicity), users are likely to find it easier to use and also experience high levels of
satisfaction from using it. Additionally, users do not stop at simply being satisfied with products that are designed for simplicity, but
they are likely to express their satisfaction with the design through positive WOM.
Also observed was that the PAD model influenced satisfaction in line with the views of prior studies (Chang et al., 2014; Liu et al.,
2016; Miniero et al., 2014), such that pleasure had a direct association with satisfaction (hypothesis H4), while arousal (hypothesis
H6) and dominance (hypothesis H8) were both positive and significantly associated with pleasure. Additionally, prior studies have
argued that emotions play a vital role in influencing positive WOM, however, the findings have been mixed across different tech-
nologies (Huang et al., 2017; Loureiro & Ribeiro, 2014). The present study found that only pleasure (hypothesis H5) and arousal
(hypothesis H7) had a significant positive influence on WOM, while the influence of dominance was not significant (hypothesis H9).
The findings with regard to pleasure are in line with prior studies in various settings (Huang et al., 2017; Loureiro & Ribeiro, 2014),
however, the significant influence of arousal is contrary to existing evidence evaluating websites (Loureiro & Ribeiro, 2014), while
the non-significant influence of dominance is contrary to existing evidence from online games (Huang et al., 2017). This suggests that
different emotions play different roles depending on the technology being used.
Lastly, ease of use had a significant positive influence on satisfaction (hypothesis H10) which is in line with prior studies (Amin
et al., 2014; Flavian et al., 2006; Lee et al., 2015). However, its influence on WOM intentions was surprisingly non-significant, and
thus hypothesis H11 was not supported. Agag and El-Masry (2016) also failed to support the positive and significant influence of ease
of use on WOM in the online travel context. This suggests that the impact of ease of use on WOM might not be direct, but rather
indirect through satisfaction. Furthermore, satisfaction had a significant positive influence on WOM intentions (hypothesis H12),
which supported the evidence from prior studies (Calvo-Porral et al., 2017; Lee & Jaafar, 2011; Miniero et al., 2014; Mishra et al.,
2016; Pham & Ahammad, 2017; Popp & Woratschek, 2017; San-Martin et al., 2015). This suggests that users will be inclined to
provide positive WOM about a mobile app if they were satisfied with their first use experience of the app.
The findings of the present study have both theoretical and practical implications. From a theoretical perspective, the study
presents a new model that integrates simplicity and the PAD model as vital starting points for understanding WOM intentions after
the first impressions of a mobile app. Prior studies have linked satisfaction to WOM intentions (Calvo-Porral et al., 2017; Lee & Jaafar,
2011; Mishra et al., 2016; Pham & Ahammad, 2017; Popp & Woratschek, 2017; San-Martin et al., 2015), however, the sources of
satisfaction can significantly differ for different products and service offering. In the context of mobile apps, the present study showed
that satisfaction could be jointly explained by simplicity, ease of use and the PAD model. Lee et al. (2015) showed that mobile phone
ease of use explained 26.3% variance in satisfaction, while Miniero et al. (2014) showed that the PAD model explained 33% variance
in satisfaction. However, the proposed model in this study explained 64.5% variance in satisfaction, thus emphasizing the need for
considering the direct influence of simplicity on user satisfaction while also combining the influences of ease of use and the PAD
model. This, in turn, will provide a good means of understanding WOM intentions and possibly other post-adoption behaviours (e.g.
continued use intentions and user loyalty) that are a direct consequence of user satisfaction (Calvo-Porral et al., 2017; Miniero et al.,
2014; Pham & Ahammad, 2017; Popp & Woratschek, 2017). Additionally, prior studies have acknowledged the importance of
simplicity in system design (e.g. Choi & Lee, 2012; Eytam et al., 2017; Lee et al., 2015), however, the consequences of simplicity have
been sparingly examined. In particular, these researchers have mostly focused on the direct positive influence of simplicity on ease of
use (Lee et al., 2015), satisfaction (Choi & Lee, 2012) and product choice (Eytam et al., 2017). However, the present study has shown
that beyond ease of use and satisfaction, simplicity can have a significant direct positive influence on WOM intentions, thus extending
the current knowledge base on the consequences of design simplicity.
The practical implications are twofold. Firstly, the study emphasizes the role of simplicity in designing user interfaces for mobile
apps. A simple user interface will have several positive outcomes. For example, it will enhance the perceived ease of use of the mobile
app, as well as improve the user's satisfaction with the mobile app and their intention to engage in positive WOM regarding the app.
The most important aspect for mobile app developers to understand is that simplicity is a multifaceted concept with several di-
mensions, thus designing for simplicity should take into account its multifaceted nature, including visual aesthetics, reduction, and

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dynamic complexity. Designers should strike a balance between the different facets of simplicity to ensure users’ positive appraisal of
the app. Mobile app designers, developers, and evaluators need to consider the simplicity of the apps as a central aspect of the
summative and/or formative evaluation of the app. This will ensure that the final versions of apps sent out to users are perceived to
be simple. This is particularly important, as simplicity has been known to be neglected by many mobile app developers (Salz &
Moranz, 2013).
Secondly, mobile app developers should consider various antecedents of satisfaction when testing their mobile apps. Mobile app
developers and user experience evaluators often thrive to evaluate the satisfaction of the mobile apps, as satisfaction is responsible for
most of the valued post adoption/use behaviors, such as WOM intentions. However, enhancing user satisfaction is something that has
to be practically considered from the perspective of the design and development of mobile apps. For example, mobile app developers
can ensure that (1) the app is simple in the eyes of the users, (2) the app is easy to use and users can easily learn how to use it, and (3)
the emotional experience of the user is considered. Besides emotions being seen as an antecedent of user satisfaction, this study
showed that two emotions (i.e. pleasure and arousal) have a direct positive influence on WOM intentions. This suggests that mobile
app developers should increasingly adopt the concept of emotional design when developing their apps. This will ensure that they
create apps that will elicit positive emotions in the users. Also, mobile app evaluators should increasingly pay attention to the
affective response of the apps. This is because the affective response of the app will influence both the user’s satisfaction with the app
and their intentions to speak positive WOM about the app.

7. Conclusion

This study aimed at evaluating the role played by simplicity and emotions (captured using the PAD model) in influencing WOM
intentions after a single use of a mobile app. Besides the direct influence of simplicity and the PAD model on WOM intentions, this
study used ease of use and satisfaction as valuable intermediate factors that connect simplicity and the PAD model to WOM in-
tentions. Of the twelve hypothesized associations, only two (i.e. hypotheses H9 and H11) were not supported.
The findings provided implications for theory and practice. Nevertheless, it is imperative to highlight some of the study’s key
limitations, as they provide relevant avenues for future studies. Firstly, the study focused on a student’s time management app which
limits generalizability to all categories of apps. Even though the sample selected were students who represented the target audience
for the app used, it is not certain if the role of simplicity and emotions will apply the same to a non-student audience. As such, future
studies should test the proposed model in other settings. For example, it might be possible to find a strong direct effect of ease of use
on WOM intentions for an elderly population as they are often inclined to adopt technologies that are easy to use (Macedo, 2017).
Secondly, the study focused on users’ first impressions with a mobile app. While first impressions are important and shape user
decisions about an app, some users might use the app two or three times before ‘dumping’ the app (O'Connell, 2016). This also has a
huge effect on user retention rates. As such, future studies can examine the relevance of the proposed model for users who have had
more than a single use experience with the app.

Declaration of Competing Interest

None.

Appendix A

Questionnaire Items

Construct and Items

Arousal (AR)
• AR1 – After using the APP, I thought that it was very exciting
• AR2 – After using the APP, I felt very excited
Dynamic Complexity (DC)
• DC1 – Each control input took me to the desired action
• DC2 – Information presented on the next screen was predictable and certain
Dominance (DM)
• DM1 – I could control the APP in the way that I wanted to in order to complete any task
• DM2 – When using the APP, I was in full control of the functions
Pleasure (PL)
• PL1 – I felt joyful after using the APP
• PL2 – I felt pleasure after using the APP
• PL3 – I felt gratified after using the APP
Reduction (RD)a
• RE1 – The APP requires unnecessary steps in order to use certain functions
• RE2 – The APP requires difficult steps in order to use certain functions
• RE3 – The APP requires complicated steps in order to use certain functions
(continued on next page)

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Questionnaire Items (continued)

Construct and Items

Satisfaction (ST)b
• SA1 – Very dissatisfied/Very satisfied
• SA2 – Very displeased/Very pleased
• SA3 – Very frustrated/Very contented
• SA4 – Absolutely terrible/Absolutely delighted
Ease of use (EU)
• EU1 – I could easily understand the overall interface of the APP
• EU2 – It was easy to learn how to use the APP
• EU3 – I could easily and quickly complete a task on the APP
• EU4 – It was easy to use the APP
• EU5 – It is easy to remember how to use the APP
Visual Aesthetics (VA)
• VA1 – The interface design of the APP is neat
• VA2 – The interface design of the APP is modern
• VA3 – The interface design of the APP is well balanced
WOM Intentions (WI)c
• WI1 – How likely are you to provide positive word of mouth feedback about this APP?
• WI2 – If your friends were looking for a time management APP, how likely are you to suggest to them to try this APP?
Notes: a = Items were reverse coded; b = Items were rated using a semantic differential scale; c = Items were rated on a scale anchored by 1 “Very unlikely” to 5
“Very likely”

Appendix B

Factor loadings and cross loadings

AR DC DM PL RE SA EU VA WI

AR1 0.955 0.317 0.315 0.701 0.139 0.568 0.302 0.355 0.593
AR2 0.959 0.451 0.341 0.735 0.261 0.583 0.425 0.408 0.636
DC1 0.389 0.896 0.514 0.488 0.394 0.525 0.570 0.396 0.515
DC2 0.387 0.895 0.357 0.414 0.397 0.538 0.663 0.379 0.485
DM1 0.315 0.475 0.943 0.482 0.408 0.547 0.634 0.516 0.497
DD2 0.333 0.444 0.947 0.499 0.469 0.539 0.639 0.491 0.487
PL1 0.728 0.492 0.461 0.918 0.300 0.573 0.496 0.340 0.567
PL2 0.705 0.497 0.468 0.933 0.345 0.589 0.505 0.303 0.616
PL3 0.573 0.355 0.467 0.829 0.256 0.550 0.428 0.360 0.596
RE1 0.183 0.253 0.218 0.236 0.781 0.350 0.305 0.359 0.286
RE2 0.223 0.434 0.489 0.364 0.937 0.534 0.607 0.411 0.434
RE3 0.150 0.457 0.485 0.279 0.910 0.496 0.630 0.350 0.366
SA1 0.596 0.531 0.480 0.640 0.455 0.884 0.619 0.410 0.668
SA2 0.562 0.534 0.535 0.602 0.495 0.912 0.574 0.445 0.631
SA3 0.388 0.155 0.503 0.396 0.497 0.838 0.568 0.380 0.445
SA4 0.539 0.558 0.506 0.566 0.424 0.877 0.623 0.358 0.553
EU1 0.372 0.530 0.510 0.440 0.558 0.519 0.767 0.395 0.451
EU2 0.336 0.623 0.635 0.461 0.560 0.557 0.885 0.455 0.431
EU3 0.263 0.589 0.548 0.396 0.466 0.592 0.858 0.285 0.397
EU4 0.290 0.621 0.579 0.436 0.506 0.618 0.930 0.364 0.409
EU5 0.373 0.595 0.615 0.550 0.484 0.626 0.853 0.413 0.546
VA1 0.380 0.416 0.541 0.359 0.439 0.422 0.432 0.922 0.560
VA2 0.357 0.298 0.462 0.299 0.335 0.397 0.301 0.884 0.596
VA3 0.335 0.443 0.425 0.340 0.360 0.403 0.460 0.881 0.525
WOM1 0.606 0.550 0.526 0.649 0.421 0.614 0.487 0.584 0.946
WOM2 0.613 0.510 0.464 0.606 0.370 0.642 0.503 0.599 0.950

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