Affinity and foreign users’ perception about Chinese mobile apps: An integrated view of affective contagion and value-based perspectives

Abstract

• Affective contagion and value-based perspectives explain foreign user satisfaction. • Culture affinity positively affects foreign users’ satisfaction. • Culture affinity affects foreign users and mobile apps with high cultural context. • Utility and enjoyment mediate culture affinity effect on satisfaction. Cross-cultural user experience with mobile apps is a vital topic for international digital marketers. By integrating the affective contagion and the value-based perspectives, this study theorizes and validates the role of affinity in foreign users’ satisfaction with local mobile apps. We further propose that the effect of affinity via the affective contagion mechanism is contingent on cultural context and is mediated by foreign users’ value perception of local mobile apps. The proposed model is empirically tested by two samples of foreign users in China. By controlling a comprehensive set of extraneous variables, we find that culture affinity has a positive impact on foreign users’ satisfaction with local mobile apps, but people affinity has an insignificant effect. The results also indicate that the effect of culture affinity on satisfaction is stronger for foreign users from a high cultural context and mobile apps with a high cultural context. In addition, the proposed effect is mediated by perceived value in terms of enjoyment and utility. The findings support affective contagion effects in cross-national mobile apps adoption and improve our understanding of affinity on foreign users’ satisfaction and value perception. Specific guidelines are provided for mobile marketers and app developers in global markets.