An exploratory study of factors influencing user app abandonment on smartphones
Abstract
Purpose
Not all apps can be favored on a smartphone. Users are bound to abandon some if they lose value. Analyzing the reasons behind this phenomenon can help develop strategies for avoiding app abandonment, which is the focus of this study.
Design/methodology/approach
This study conducted in-depth open interviews with 47 respondents who had abandoned or deleted mobile apps before and used the qualitative research method grounded theory to analyze the interview content, followed by open coding, axial coding and selective coding.
Findings
Seven main reasons are summarized after the relationship between every statement and concept is found and constructed, namely functional value, information expectation, emotional value, platform service, user trust, cost, and social influence.
Originality/value
Based on these findings, this study provided suggestions for mobile app developers to help them effectively improve the user experience and retain their customers.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72104187), Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST (No. 2023QNRC001) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
Since submission of this article, the following author have updated their affiliation: Ziyi Wei is at the Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Citation
Liang, S., Wei, Z. and Zang, L. (2024), "An exploratory study of factors influencing user app abandonment on smartphones", Library Hi Tech, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-07-2022-0349
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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