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Exploring the continuance intention of social networking websites: an empirical research

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Abstract

Despite the increasing popularity of social networking websites, very little is known about users’ extrinsic and intrinsic motivations that influence their continued use of these websites. The long-term development of social networking websites depends on their users’ continuance of use. To examine the extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, this study integrates the technology acceptance model, the theory of planned behavior, the expectation disconfirmation model, and flow theory to construct a research model which investigates the factors that motivate users to continue to use social networking websites. The research model was tested empirically within the context of Facebook and 482 samples of data were analyzed using a structural equation modeling approach. The analysis showed that the proposed theoretical model provided a deep understanding of user continuance behavior towards social networking websites. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of International Business Administration, Chinese Culture University, 55, Hwa-Kang Road, Yang-Ming-Shan, Taipei, 11114, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Chia-Lin Hsu

  2. Department of Business Administration, National Taipei University, 151, University Road, San Shia District, New Taipei City, 23741, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Chih-Ching Yu

  3. Department of Business Administration, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 43, Keelung Road, Section 4, Taipei, 106, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Cou-Chen Wu

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  1. Chia-Lin Hsu
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Correspondence to Chia-Lin Hsu.

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Appendix: Scale items

Appendix: Scale items

Perceived ease-of-use (PEOU) [the first three items were adapted from Davis (1989)]

PEOU1: I find Facebook easy to use.

PEOU2: Learning to operate Facebook is easy for me.

PEOU3: It is easy for me to become skillful at using Facebook.

PEOU4: I find it easy to use Facebook to connect and share with the people in my life.

Perceived usefulness (PU) [adapted from Davis (1989)]

PU1: I find Facebook useful in my life.

PU2: Using Facebook enables me to more easily/quickly communicate with others.

PU3: Using Facebook increases the efficiency of communication between myself and others.

PU4: If I use Facebook, my ability to communicate conveniently with others will be increased.

Disconfirmation (DIS) [adapted from Bhattacherjee (2001)]

DIS1: My experience with using Facebook was better than I expected.

DIS2: The service level provided by Facebook was better than I expected.

DIS3: Overall, most of my expectations from using Facebook were confirmed.

Satisfaction (SAT) [adapted from Bhattacherjee (2001)]

SAT1: My overall experience of Facebook use was that I was very satisfied.

SAT2: My overall experience of Facebook use was that I was very pleased.

SAT3: My overall experience of Facebook use was that I was very contented.

SAT4: My overall experience of Facebook use was that I was absolutely delighted.

Subjective norm (SN) [adapted from Taylor and Todd (1995)]

SN1: People who are important to me think that I should use Facebook.

SN2: People who influence me think that I should use Facebook.

Perceived behavioral control (PBC) [adapted from Taylor and Todd (1995)]

PBC1: Using Facebook is entirely within my control.

PBC2: I have the knowledge and ability to use Facebook.

PBC3: I am able to skillfully use Facebook.

Flow (FL) [adapted from Novak et al. (2003)]

FL1: When I was browsing this website (Facebook), I felt very captivated.

FL2: When I was navigating this website (Facebook), time seemed to pass very quickly.

FL3: When I was visiting this website (Facebook), nothing seemed to matter to me.

Attitude (ATT) [adapted from Taylor and Todd (1995)]

ATT1: Using Facebook is a good idea.

ATT2: I like using Facebook.

ATT3: Using Facebook is a wise idea.

Continuance intention (INT) [adapted from Bhattacherjee (2001)]

INT1: I intend to continue to use Facebook rather than discontinue its use.

INT2: My intentions are to continue to use Facebook than other online social networks.

INT3: If I could, I would like to continue to use Facebook as much as possible.

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Hsu, CL., Yu, CC. & Wu, CC. Exploring the continuance intention of social networking websites: an empirical research. Inf Syst E-Bus Manage 12, 139–163 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-013-0214-3

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