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Recommended information adoption by university students in their study/research

Xianjin Zha (School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China)
Zeyu Lu (School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China)
Yalan Yan (School of Management, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China )

The Electronic Library

ISSN: 0264-0473

Article publication date: 29 May 2024

Issue publication date: 26 July 2024

177

Abstract

Purpose

For undergraduate and graduate students in universities, social media are playing an important role in their study/research because a large amount of academic information has been accumulated on social media. Indeed, social media are complementing university libraries. Given that intelligent recommender systems have been widely implemented on social media, this paper aims to examine the adoption mechanism of intelligently recommended information by university students in their study/research.

Design/methodology/approach

Building upon the updated information system success model and herding theory, this study developed a research model to examine the determinants of recommended information adoption in mobile applications for social media. Data were collected through an online questionnaire and analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modelling.

Findings

The results suggest that herding belief is a valid second-order construct, comprising two first-order dimensions of imitating others and discounting their own information. Information quality, system quality and service quality directly impact satisfaction with the intelligent recommender system. Furthermore, satisfaction with the intelligent recommender system and herding belief directly impact recommended information adoption by university students in their study/research.

Originality/value

This study draws on the updated information system success model and incorporates herding belief as an extended component to investigate recommended information adoption, providing a new lens for understanding recommended information adoption by university students in their study/research.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 72174148; 71921002]; the National Social Science Fund of China [grant number 23&ZD223]; and the Hubei Provincial Teaching Reform Research Project for Universities “Research on the Expansion and Implementation Path of Scientific Research Literacy for Information Management Graduate Students in the Digital Environment”.

Citation

Zha, X., Lu, Z. and Yan, Y. (2024), "Recommended information adoption by university students in their study/research", The Electronic Library, Vol. 42 No. 4, pp. 664-680. https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-12-2023-0312

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

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