Understanding social networking sites continuance. The perspectives of gratifications, interactivity and network externalities

Date08 October 2018
Published date08 October 2018
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-03-2017-0088
Pages989-1006
AuthorChun-Ming Chang
Subject MatterLibrary & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management
Understanding social networking
sites continuance
The perspectives of gratifications, interactivity
and network externalities
Chun-Ming Chang
Department of International Business, Ming Chuan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model to investigate the determinants of
continuance intention toward social networking sites (SNSs) by integrating the perspectives of the uses and
gratifications theory, perceived interactivity and network externalities.
Design/methodology/approach Data collected from 255 Facebook users in Taiwan were used to test the
proposed model. The partial least squares method was used to test the measurement mode l and the structural model.
Findings The findings reveal that emotional gratifications and social gratifications are the key predictors
of userscontinuance intention toward SNSs. Further, the results indicate that perceived network size,
perceived complementarity, machine interactivity and person interactivity influence information
gratifications significantly, while perceived complementarity, machine interactivity and person
interactivity exert positive effects on emotional gratifications. Finally, the results show that machine
interactivity and person interactivity impact social gratifications positively, whereas perceived network size
and perceived complementarity affect machine interactivity and person interactivity significantly.
Originality/value This study is one of the earliest research inquiries to examine the effects of various
types of gratifications on continuance intention. It is also one of the earliest studies to identify the antecedents
of gratifications from social factors and technological attributes simultaneously.
Keywords Continuance intention, Social networking sites, Uses and gratifications theory,
Network externalities, Perceived interactivity
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Social networking sites (SNSs) (e.g. Facebook and Twitter) have attracted millions of
internet users to create their profiles and connect these profiles to othersprofiles and thus
build their personal network (Cheung and Lee, 2010; Ku et al., 2013). However, the
competition among SNSs is intense (Zhao and Lu, 2012), and thus users can easily switch
from one website to another one that provides similar services (Li et al., 2006). In fact,
researchers have found that users have reduced active usage of SNSs and even abandoned
SNSs (Huang et al., 2014; Ku et al., 2013). Because the success of information systems
depends on userscontinued usage (Bhattacherjee, 2001), it is important to understand what
may enhance usersintention to continue using SNSs.
In the existing literature, one frequently endorsed theoretical base for exploring the
determinants of userscontinuance intention toward SNSs is the uses and gratifications
(U&G) theory (Hsu et al., 2015; Huang et al., 2014; Ku et al., 2013). Researchers agreed that
fulfilling ones gratification needs is crucial in fostering userscontinuance intention
(Ku et al., 2013). However, few studies have been conducted to examine how various types of
gratifications affect continuance intention. To further investigate the links between different
types of gratifications and continuance, this study divides gratifications in three categories:
information gratifications, emotional gratifications and social gratifications, based on the
U&G theory (Chiang, 2013; Wei et al., 2015). Online Information Review
Vol. 42 No. 6, 2018
pp. 989-1006
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-03-2017-0088
Received 20 March 2017
Revised 4 July 2017
15 September 2017
Accepted 14 December 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
This research was funded by the grant of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan under
Contract No. NSC 102-2410-H-156-007.
989
Social
networking
sites
continuance
Furthermore, given that gratifications are the crucial factors affecting continuance
intention, some researchers have begun to investigate the antecedents of gratifications.
For example, Ku et al. (2013) and Wei and Lu (2014) suggested that social factors
(e.g. perceived critical mass, subjective norms and perceived number of users) may impact
usersgratifications. Nonetheless, there is still much to learn about the antecedent factors
determining gratifications from various perspectives. Prior research noted that SNSs are
social computing tools (Zhao and Lu, 2012), and the outcome of system usage derives from
the interactions between social and technical factors (Hong et al., 2013). Hence, it may be
appropriate to examine the predictors of gratifications from the aspects of social factors and
technological attributes. In fact, researchers have found that the utility derived from the use
of SNSs is related to social factors (i.e. the number of users and perceived complementarity)
(Lin and Bhattacherjee, 2008; Lin and Lu, 2011) and technological attributes (i.e. features of
interactivity) (Wei et al., 2015). However, few studies have been carried out to identify the
antecedents of gratifications from social factors and technological attributes
simultaneously. To fill this knowledge gap, this study considers network externalities
(perceived network size and perceived complementarity) as social factors and perceived
interactivity (machine interactivity and person interactivity) as technological attributes to
test their effects on perceived gratifications.
Overall, the purpose of this study is to address the following questions:
RQ1. Do perceived gratifications influence continuance intention?
RQ2. How do perceived interactivity and network externalities influence perceived
gratifications?
RQ3. To what extent do network externalities affect perceived interactivity?
The findings of this study may help both academicians and practitioners gain insights as to
how continuance intention toward SNSs may be promoted.
2. Theoretical background
2.1 U&G theory
The U&G theory is a psychological theory that attempts to explain why people select a specific
medium to fulfill their social and psychologicalneeds (Currás-Pérez et al., 2013; Ku et al., 2013;
Lee and Ma, 2012). According to the U&G theory, users are active and goal-oriented on their
chosen medium, and they select a medium to best fulfill their needs (Hsu et al., 2015; Ku et al.,
2013; Lee and Ma, 2012). In this regard, the U&G theory has been considered as one of the
effective paradigms for understanding the motivations bringing users to a specific medium
(Lee and Ma, 2012; Stafford et al., 2004), including SNSs (Lee and Ma, 2012).
In addition, the U&G theory has been employed to identify the factors affecting users
continuanceintention toward SNSs. For example,Ku et al. (2013) suggested that the fulfilment
of gratification-related needs isan important predictor of continuance intention towardSNSs.
The analytical results of Wei et al. (2015) revealed that informational needs and social needs
are the two criticalfactors motivating users to interactwith others, which, in turn,affect users
attitude toward SNSs and their stickiness intention toward these SNSs. On the other hand,
Chiang (2013) reported that users may continue using SNSs to satisfy three types of needs:
informativeness, social interactivity and playfulness. Based on the above arguments, this
study considers that information gratifications (fulfilment of information needs), emotional
gratifications (positive emotion or enjoyment) and social gratifications (fulfilment of social
needs) have the potential to affect userscontinuance intention.
Moreover, given the importance of gratifications with respect to continuance intention, it
is important to explore the factors that enhance usersgratifications needs. Although
Ku et al. (2013) and Wei and Lu (2014) have tested the influences of social factors
990
OIR
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