Abstract
Mobile social apps have experienced enormous growth as online personal networking media. Social exchange theory (for individual motivation), theories of collective action and social capital theory (for social capital) can be applied in order to understand how an individual’s behavior may exert effects on or receive influences from other users with regard to the continuance usage intention of mobile social apps. This study examines individual motivations and social capital affecting relationship quality in terms of trust in and satisfaction with mobile social apps and how these factors influence continuance usage intentions of mobile social apps. An online survey is used to collect 320 responses from users of mobile social apps. Our results indicate that promotional motivation and innovativeness affect relationship quality levels. Maintaining relational enhancement, social homogeneity, and social identity along with service usefulness have effects on the relationship quality level, which in turn affects continuance usage intention. Given the lack of studies regarding the application of the theories of collective action and social capital to gain a better understanding of continuance usage intentions, this study provides additional insight into how individual motivations and social capital affect continuous usage.
Highlights
Mobile social apps have witnessed a rapid increase in the number of users around the world
Theories of collective action and social capital can be useful when attempting to understand individuals’ behaviors, studies that apply these theories of continuance usage intention are rare
Based on theories of collective action and social capital, the purpose of the present study is to investigate individual motivations and social capital, which affect relationship quality encompassing trust and satisfaction with mobile social apps, which in turn affect attitudes toward use and continuance usage intentions of mobile social apps
Summary
Mobile social apps have witnessed a rapid increase in the number of users around the world. Social apps offer a method by which to build and share social network. Despite the fact that maintaining the continued usage of a social network service (SNS) can have strategic importance, major social network services are showing a slowdown in terms of the number of users [3]. Given the decreased numbers of revisiting users, research that investigates the key factors that influence continuance usage intention is crucial to those who devise marketing strategies for mobile social apps. Mobile social apps are mobile versions of desktop social applications installed on mobile devices such as smart phones and iPads, providing much more business importance than desktop applications as the reliance of business activities on smart devices increases. Sustainability issues can be applied in developing factors affecting the continuous usage of social apps
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