A Study on the Millennials Usage Behavior of Social Network Services: Effects of Motivation, Density, and Centrality on Continuous Intention to Use

Abstract

Whether in terms of social media platforms, mobile pay apps or an increasing acceptance of RFID chips in humans, technology has transformed everyday life for consumers. Social networks have experienced enormous growth as online personal networking media. Social exchange theory (for motivation and social reward) and theories of collective action can be applied in order to understand how an individual’s behavior may exert effects on or receive influences from other users with regard to the continuance usage intention of social apps. First, this study aims to examine behavioral characteristics of the Millennials, and takes flow and social reward systematically so as to explore SNS users’ continuance based on SNS characteristics. Targeting Millennials SNS users, this study empirically examines users’ continuance intention at individual level and simulates users’ continuance behavior at group level, which are expected to be influential as a next generation of purchasing group, focusing on social network services (SNS) usage. Second, this study tries to suggest strategic implications by identifying key factors that dominate SNS users’ behavior in the process of experiencing SNS. For the empirical purpose, this study analyzes the relationship between SNS characteristics (motivation to use, density, and centrality) and usage behavior (flow, social reward, and continuous intention to use). As a result, each construct of motivation to use SNS, SNS density, and SNS centrality are positively linked with flow. Motivation to use SNS and SNS centrality are positively associated with social reward, however, SNS density does not have a significant effect on social reward. In addition, flow and social reward turn out to have positive linkage with continuous intention to use respectively. The findings of this study are expected to provide implications for researchers and operators in related fields to identify various factors that explain the SNS usages of the Millennials, especially the major factors that sustain SNS involvement and activities. This study can enrich both SNS continuance theory, and help SNS operators to manipulate resources effectively to attract and retain users.

Why Do People Return to Video Platforms? Millennials and Centennials on TikTok

“…Continuance motivation has a strong relationship with uses and gratifications theory because satisfaction is treated as an important antecedent of continued use of social media (Hsu et al, 2015;Wu et al, 2010). Linking in with this point, Wu et al (2010) show that gratifications have a significant role in continuance motivation, whereas Park et al (2021) identify social reward as an important motivational factor. Nevertheless, it is known that there are other constructs such as "presence" that do not have a relationship with continuance motivation (Wu et al, 2010).…”

The Students’ Flow Experience With the Continuous Intention of Using Online English Platforms

“…The sustainable use of online platforms in business processes is critical to generating commercial value. Consequently, sustainability concerns can be employed in creating considerations influencing the continuous use of online platforms ( Park et al, 2021 ). This research paper tends to find the correlation between flow experience and the continuous intention of students using online English learning platforms.…”

Research Jungle on Online Consumer Behaviour in the Context of Web 2.0: Traceability, Frontiers and Perspectives in the Post-Pandemic Era

“…Based on the extension of traditional consumer behavior theory, online consumer behavior presents new qualities [6,7]. In the context of the Internet, multi-dimensional communication [8] and multi-channel connection give a more profound connotation to consumer behavior.…”

“…The inherent complexity of this jungle is better revealed than in meta-analysis. (6) The significance of the literature analysis is to enlighten more scholars to explore, and this paper also focuses on the potential trend of this research direction and gives a hypothetical model of quantitative judgments that can be analyzed. In the subsequent research, we also hope to expand the study of online consumer behavior into a complete disciplinary system or discipline based on the evolution of consumerism, the complement of theory, and the strengthening of empirical evidence, and this upgrade of jungle framework research is also the focus of this paper.…”