Mobile internet and consumer happiness: the role of risk

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of mobile internet (MI) use and risk factors on MI happiness.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey with 521 MI users was conducted to test the direct and moderating effects of risk factors on MI happiness.

Findings

The results provide evidence that there is a non-linear relationship between variety of use and MI happiness, and consumers become happier with increased frequency of use. The results also indicate that the privacy risk and task risk reduce MI happiness, and both types of risks moderate the inverted U-shaped relationship between variety of use and MI happiness.

Research limitations/implications

This study reconciles two opposing theories, stimulation vs displacement, on the impact of internet use on consumer well-being. The findings suggest that the stimulation effect of MI use is associated with an intermediate level of usage variety, while social displacement is more likely connected with higher- or lower-variety of use. Risk plays an important role in exploring the boundary conditions of both theories. The findings also have important implications to the debate over the role of privacy in consumer adoption of internet services or applications.

Originality/value

This study reconciles two opposing theories, stimulation vs displacement, on consumer happiness by elaborating the role of risk associated with MI use.

Citation

Zhan, G. and Zhou, Z. (2018), "Mobile internet and consumer happiness: the role of risk", Internet Research, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 785-803. https://doi.org/10.1108/IntR-11-2016-0340