Search results

Smartphones have become a critical medium by which people remain in contact with family, friends, and colleagues. A variety of factors have contributed to the rapid prevalence of smartphones. The most influential factor is definitely the mobile platform or mobile operating system (OS). The purpose of this paper is to employ a theoretical framework based on an information systems success model and a theory values to examine the factors that affect smartphone users’ switching mobile OSs. Habit is regarded as a moderating variable to construct an integrated research model which helps researchers unveil the puzzle of users’ switching mobile OSs.

The proposed model was empirically evaluated using survey data collected from 424 users on their perceptions of smartphones. A structural equation modeling was used to assess the relationships of the research model.

The results of the study have shown that users consider the perceived switching value and satisfaction arising from their behaviors when deciding whether to switch to another mobile OS. Quality characteristics, including information quality, system quality, and service quality, are the key factors determining people’s perceived switching value and satisfaction. The participants of the study were grouped by degree of habit. The effect on satisfaction was not significant in the high-habit subgroup. Nevertheless, it has been found that the influence of the perceived switching value was stronger in the low-habit subgroup than in the high-habit subgroup.

This study contributes to a theoretical understanding of factors that explain users’ intention to switch mobile OSs.

Motivated by situational strength theory and multi-level theory, the purpose of this paper is to propose a cross-level model to examines whether virtual community citizenship behaviors (VCCBs) are affected by consumers’ individual differences on reciprocity, other consumers’ collective citizenship behaviors at community-level (members citizenship behaviors, MCBs), and their interaction effects.

The research model is tested with a sample of 340 consumers collected from the 34 virtual communities of consumptions (VCCs). Because consumers are embedded in communities, the authors employ the hierarchical linear modeling for data analyses.

The findings reveal positive effects of individual’s prosocial values and community-level MCBs, and a negative effect of exchange ideology, on VCCBs. There is a significant cross-level moderation effect of MCBs such that MCBs reduce the negative influence of exchange ideology on VCCBs.

This research suggests that participation in VCCs could be simultaneously driven by the dispositions to help and to get fair reciprocity, while such effects are constrained by others’ citizenship behaviors within the VCC. Future research should identify other contextual factors that could confine or amplify the personality-behavior links in the context of VCCs.

Managers who intend to build a VCC of high co-creation should establish mechanisms that could facilitate norm of VCCBs. Also, it is crucial to take into account the participants’ dispositions on reciprocity in recruiting community members and developing member portfolio.

This is one of the first studies to offer insights regarding the role of community-level citizenship behavior as a strong situation to mitigating the influences of individuals’ reciprocity-based dispositions.