Which platform should I choose? Factors influencing consumers’ channel transfer intention from web-based to mobile library service
Abstract
Purpose
With more and more individuals relying on mobile devices to obtain information, many libraries launch mobile application to satisfy mobile users’ information need. The purpose of this paper is to figure out factors influencing consumers’ channel transfer intention of library service from web-based platform to mobile app.
Design/methodology/approach
A structural equation model is proposed based on categorization theory. In addition, situational contexts are taken into account to make research model more suitable for the real condition. Data collected from 319 samples are used for hypotheses examining.
Findings
The relationships between source and target (perceived differentiation including function differentiation and resource differentiation) positively affect perceived situation efficiency, which in turn shapes intention to use mobile library application. Perceived mobile library quality positively influences perceived differentiation, perceived situation efficiency and mobile library adoption intention. In summary, perceived situation efficiency is the main factor.
Practical implications
Both quality and situational factors should be taken seriously, and mobile device producers and mobile app developers should cooperate on improving the quality of mobile app. Meanwhile, it is critical to examine the relationship between web based and mobile library service in the initial or early stage of mobile library development.
Originality/value
By focussing on the impacts of the relationship between web and mobile library service and evaluation of mobile library on the adoption intention, this paper not only provides a theoretical understanding of mobile library adoption behavior but also offers practical insights to library managers and app developers for promoting such a process.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the editors and the referees for their constructive comments that led to this improved version. The authors were supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 71203166), the MOE project of Humanities and Social Science (Grant 09YJC870022) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant 2015 Wuhan University project of Humanities and Social Science).
Citation
Zhang, M., Shen, X., Zhu, M. and Yang, J. (2016), "Which platform should I choose? Factors influencing consumers’ channel transfer intention from web-based to mobile library service", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 2-20. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-06-2015-0065
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited