User Adoption of Mobile Social Service

Abstract

Mobile social service (MSS) is the one most widely used mobile applications by users recently. MSS can be generally classified into communication-oriented MSS (Co-MSS) and social/dating-oriented MSS (So-MSS). Since the number of MSS users has been constantly increasing, it would be important to understand what are the key factors and functions that the users expect while adopting the MSS. This study used Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) to analyze and make comparisons to find the most concerned key factors and functions while users adopt the Co-MSS and the So-MSS. The results indicated the Co-MSS users would pay more attention to the availability of basic mobile communication tools, such as the group chat, text messaging and voice call. On the other hand, the So-MSS users would pay more attention to the people functions of searching for unacquainted members nearby and searching for other members based on different conditions. The findings of this study are helpful to MSS providers in developing their software functions/services, and also helpful to users in deciding which MSS is more suitable for them to adopt.