Moderating role of gender in the relationships between perceived benefits and satisfaction in social virtual world continuance

Abstract

Previous studies on social virtual world (SVW) continuance have suggested that satisfaction, which promotes SVW continuance intention, is determined by three types of perceived benefits (i.e., utilitarian, hedonic, and social benefits). Moreover, the relative impacts of these benefits on satisfaction are contingent on individual difference factors such as gender. However, little (if any) research has systematically investigated the effects of these benefits on satisfaction simultaneously, and how these effects are moderated by gender, in the SVW context. Adopting the need fulfillment perspective as a guiding framework and extending the literature of gender differences in technology usage into the distinctive context of SVWs, this study investigates the effects of the three types of perceived benefits, moderated by gender, on satisfaction in relation to SVW continuance. The proposed hypotheses are supported by multigroup PLS analyses using empirical data collected from 464 users of Second Life, a typical SVW. Specifically, we find that utilitarian and social benefits are more important for female users in predicting satisfaction, whereas hedonic benefit has a more salient effect on satisfaction for male users. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications.