Media richness, social presence and loyalty to mobile instant messaging
Industrial Management & Data Systems
ISSN: 0263-5577
Article publication date: 7 August 2019
Issue publication date: 7 August 2019
Abstract
Purpose
Mobile instant messaging (MIM) apps could provide rich and instant information in employees’ communication. However, how media richness impacts MIM user loyalty is unknown. The purpose of this paper is to adopt media richness and social presence theories as theoretical foundations to address this insufficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
Collecting 247 responses from an online survey, the authors use structural equation modelling for data analysis and hypothesis testing.
Findings
The authors found that immediate feedback and personal focus are the main aspects of media richness that are positively related to social presence, relatedness need satisfaction and user loyalty to MIM.
Originality/value
This is the first study using two pertinent theories to explain how aspects of media richness affect user loyalty to MIM. The present findings suggest that firms developing MIM apps focus on immediate feedback and personal focus as effective means to encourage user loyalty.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the anonymous referees for their many helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. Cheng was supported in part by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University under the Fung Yiu King‒Wing Hang Bank Endowed Professorship in Business Administration. Teng was supported by Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou (BMRP644).
Citation
Tseng, F.-C., Cheng, T.C.E., Yu, P.-L., Huang, T.-L. and Teng, C.-I. (2019), "Media richness, social presence and loyalty to mobile instant messaging", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 119 No. 6, pp. 1357-1373. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-09-2018-0415
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited