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This study analyzed the relationship between mobile financial services (MFS) usage and customer satisfaction with MFS in Bangladesh, considering perception, purpose of use and technical challenges as the primary factors influencing customer satisfaction with MFS. The aim is to determine the factors most influencing the use of MFS.

Data were collected from 400 MFS users through a structured web survey using snowball sampling that is consistent with the nature of MFS users who are difficult to identify or locate. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data and evaluate the reliability and validity of the measurement model.

The results show that customers’ perceptions and satisfaction significantly impact their intention to use MFS. Specifically, customers’ perceptions strongly influence their satisfaction with MFS, and the purpose of use significantly predicts both perception and satisfaction. Technical problems and challenges were found to have no significant impact on satisfaction levels, but other factors were more critical. Furthermore, the integration of innovative technological solutions is crucial for fostering sustainability in MFS, as it enhances reliability and efficiency while minimizing environmental footprints.

The study was conducted in a single country, relied on self-reported data, and used a cross-sectional design, which limits the ability to draw causal inferences. Future research could explore the factors that influence customer satisfaction with MFS in different countries and regions and incorporate additional variables to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the drivers of customer satisfaction with MFS.

This study significantly contributes by extending the technology acceptance model (TAM) framework with the innovation resistance theory, offering a nuanced understanding of MFS adoption. The findings challenge conventional wisdom, highlighting the limited impact of technical problems on satisfaction and emphasizing the central role of user perceptions in shaping satisfaction and intention to use.

The integration of social media and e-commerce has resulted in a rising phenomenon among individual content providers (ICPs), who used to offer free content, to provide consumers with paid content, such as online courses, Q&As or consultations. Despite the prevalence of ICPs’ content monetization, empirical research has rarely studied its underlying mechanism. This paper examines how the characteristics of free content contributed by ICPs on social media platforms influence their paid content sales, focusing on the perspective of human brand.

The empirical setting is an online knowledge exchange platform, where users are allowed to provide free content (e.g. answers) on the social media platform and launch paid content (e.g. lectures) on the e-commerce platform. A machine learning technique is employed to construct measures for the characteristics of free content, and fixed-effects estimation is presented to confirm which factors have a significant influence on the sales of paid content.

The empirical results show that the quality, diversity and expertness of free content have a significant positive impact on the sales of the ICP-paid content, with the brand popularity of ICP playing a mediating role.

This study is the first attempt to demystify the relationship between content contribution and ICPs’ content monetization from the perspective of human brand. The findings validate the effectiveness of the “Selling by Contribution” strategy and provide valuable insights for ICPs and social media platforms.

With the increasing use of Internet and mobile handsets, mobile-based electronic payment apps (MEPAs) are becoming very popular around the world due to having various advantages. The intention of this exploratory study is to investigate the role/impact of selected factors in adopting three MEPAs of China: Wechat, Alipay and UnionPay based on the extended technology acceptance model (ETAM). After conducting a thorough and careful literature review, this study identified and divided seven such factors into three broad categories: (1) technological factors: perceived ease of use (PEU) and perceived usefulness (PU); (2) personal factors: perceived trust (PT), perceived privacy (PP) and perceived risk (PR); and (3) social factors: social influence (SI) and peer influence (PI) that were assumed to affect the intention to adopt MEPAs (IAMEPAs).

1,597 Chinese individuals were selected through purposive sampling technique who regularly used MEPAs at the time of collecting data. For collecting primary data from the selected respondents, a cross-sectional survey instrument was used. The study utilized IBM SPSS 25 for descriptive statistics and a second generation covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) technique through AMOS 25 for testing the hypothesized relationships.

From statistical analysis, it was identified that five factors: PEU, PU, PT, SI and PI have significant positive impact on the dependent variable, IAMEPAs while PR and PP have insignificant influence on IAMEPAs.

This is one of the studies ever conducted to discover the factors that can have impact on the adoption of MEPAs using ETAM. It is strongly expected that this exploratory study can motivate the scholars to commence additional investigations regarding this increasingly popular financial technology (Fin-Tech). In addition, it can be anticipated that the MEPA service providers can widen their service effectiveness according to the users’ opinion reflected in this study. Furthermore, policymakers involved with Fin-Tech can also formulate and implement effective policies and guidelines based on the empirical outcomes.

During the past few years, social media has faced the challenge of maintaining its user base. Reports show that the social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter experienced a decline in their users. Taking WhatsApp's recent change of its terms of use as the case of this study and using the push-pull-mooring model and a configurational perspective, this study aims to identify pathways for switching intentions.

Data were collected from 624 WhatsApp users recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and analyzed using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).

The findings identify seven configurations for high switching intentions and four configurations for low intentions to switch. Firm reputation and critical mass increase intention to switch, while low firm reputation and absence of attractive alternatives hinder switching.

This study extends extant literature on social media migration by identifying configurations that result in high and low switching intention among messaging applications.

The study identifies factors the technology service providers should consider to attract new users and retain existing users.

This study complements the extant literature on switching intention that explains the phenomenon based on a net-effect approach by offering an alternative view that focuses on the existence of multiple pathways to social media switching. It further advances the authors’ understanding of the relevant importance of switching factors.

This study aims to examine the mechanisms underlying social media commerce by investigating the interplay between platforms, people and information. Drawing upon trust transfer theory, the research model proposes that the platform’s information provision enhances the credibility of the information source, leading to increased information usefulness, adoption and sharing, ultimately influencing purchase intention.

The research design used in this study was a quantitative approach using a cross-sectional survey method. The study developed a research model based on trust transfer theory and hypothesized relationships between the platform’s information provision, information source credibility, information-related responses and purchase intention. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the collected data and test the research hypotheses.

The findings supported most of the hypotheses and provided valuable insights into the role of information credibility in shaping consumers’ purchase intentions. Specifically, the study revealed that the platform’s information provision enhances the credibility of the information source, leading to increased information usefulness, adoption and sharing. Furthermore, information usefulness and adoption mediate the relationship between information source credibility and purchase intention.

The limitations of this research include the use of convenience sampling, which may not represent the broader population, and the cross-sectional design, which does not provide an in-depth understanding of the adoption process. The reliance on self-reported data and the limited scope of investigation with only six constructs are additional limitations. Future studies should consider national random sampling, longitudinal designs, multiple data sources and explore negative effects and other potential mediating variables. Despite these limitations, this research contributes to the understanding of social media commerce mechanisms and provides valuable insights for practitioners in the field.

The findings of this study provide valuable insights for platform providers and marketers in the social media commerce environment. First, the study emphasizes the importance of effective messaging in improving information credibility. Platform providers should focus on delivering accurate and trustworthy information to enhance consumers’ perceptions of product quality and increase purchase intentions. Second, marketers can leverage the information-related factors identified in this study, such as information usefulness and adoption, to optimize their marketing efforts. By understanding how consumers perceive and interact with information on social media platforms, marketers can tailor their strategies to effectively engage and influence potential customers. Overall, these practical implications can enhance success in the competitive social media commerce landscape.

The social implications of this study are significant for social media commerce practitioners. The findings highlight the importance of effective messaging and information provision on social media platforms in improving information credibility, thereby enhancing purchase intention. By understanding the mechanisms that drive consumer behavior in the context of social media commerce, platform providers and marketers can optimize their marketing efforts. This includes focusing on delivering trustworthy and useful information, fostering information adoption and sharing among users and ultimately increasing the likelihood of successful transactions. These insights provide valuable guidance for practitioners to navigate the competitive landscape of social media commerce and enhance their chances of success.

The originality of this research lies in its application of trust transfer theory to investigate the mechanisms driving social media commerce. By examining the interplay between platform, people and information, the study specifically focuses on the role of the platform’s information provision in enhancing information credibility and its impact on information-related responses and purchase intentions. This study extends the understanding of the trust transfer mechanism between customers and sellers/brands in customer-to-customer social commerce by emphasizing the importance of effective messaging and information credibility in shaping consumer behavior. The empirical findings contribute to the understanding of information trust transfer and provide a unique perspective on the underlying mechanisms that drive social media commerce.

User discontinuance on short-video platform has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Short-video discontinuance refers to reduced use, controlled use or suspended use of the short-video platform. In this study, we examined factors associated with discontinuance behavior on short-video platform.

From the perspective of stressor–strain–outcome (SSO), we put forward a theoretical model integrating perceived information overload and perceived system feature overload (stressors), dissatisfaction (psychological strain), flow experience and regret to explain discontinuance behavior on short-video platform (behavioral outcome). We collected 482 survey data from Douyin users in China, and empirically examined the proposed research model via Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique.

Our results demonstrated that perceived system feature overload exerts a positive effect on perceived information overload. Perceived system feature overload has a stronger influence on dissatisfaction than perceived information overload. Regret increases user dissatisfaction, while flow experience decreases user dissatisfaction. We also discovered that dissatisfaction and regret have significant positive effects on discontinuance behavior. Interestingly, flow exerts no significant influence on discontinuance behavior.

This study enriches the body of knowledge on social media discontinuance by revealing the interaction and effects of flow experience, dissatisfaction and regret on discontinuance. This study also extends the understanding on the complex role of flow experience in leading to social media discontinuance. Additionally, this study deepens the research on the interaction between perceived system feature overload and perceived information overload as well as their different influences on negative emotion.

The current advancements in technologies and the internet industry provide users with many innovative digital devices for entertainment, communication and trade. However, simultaneous development and the rising sophistication of cybercrimes bring new challenges. Micro businesses use technology like how people use it at home, but face higher cyber risks during riskier transactions, with human error playing a significant role. Moreover, information security researchers have often studied individuals’ adherence to compliance behaviour in response to cyber threats. The study aims to examine the protection motivation theory (PMT)-based model to understand individuals’ tendency to adopt secure behaviours.

The study focuses on Australian micro businesses since they are more susceptible to cyberattacks due to the least security measures in place. Out of 877 questionnaires distributed online to Australian micro business owners through survey panel provider “Dynata,” 502 (N = 502) complete responses were included. Structural equational modelling was used to analyse the relationships among the variables.

The results indicate that all constructs of the protection motivation, except threat susceptibility, successfully predict the user protective behaviours. Also, increased cybersecurity costs negatively impact users’ safe cyber practices.

The study has critical implications for understanding micro business owners’ cyber security behaviours. The study contributes to the current knowledge of cyber security in micro businesses through the lens of PMT.

As the competition to retain current and attract new mobile payment app users intensifies, meeting users’ needs has become fundamental for mobile payment app service providers to stay competitive. This study aims to investigate the relationship between users’ needs, users’ attitude towards mobile payment apps and users’ continuance intention to use mobile payment apps.

Following an exploratory sequential mixed methods research design, this study first conducted three focus groups in the qualitative phase to investigate issues or concerns faced by current users of mobile payment apps. The study then conducted an online questionnaire survey in the quantitative phase to collect responses from users of mobile payment apps. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to analyse 110 valid responses.

Findings show that usefulness (modelled as a second-order reflective construct consisting of three first-order reflective constructs, i.e. ease of use, acceptability and responsiveness), traceability and security had a statistically significant relationship with attitude towards mobile payment apps (which in turn had a statistically significant relationship with continuance intention to use mobile payment apps). It was also found that attitude towards mobile payment mediated the relationships between usefulness, traceability and security; and continuance intention to use mobile payment apps.

The findings of this study can help mobile payment app service providers and developers design apps that offer the functions and features that their users need.

Although some recent studies have investigated the adoption of mobile payments in the Malaysian context, few of these studies examined current users’ continuance intention to use mobile payment apps.

Based on the cognition–affect–conation pattern, this study explores the factors that affect the intention to use facial recognition services (FRS). The study adopts the driving factor perspective to examine how network externalities influence FRS use intention through the mediating role of satisfaction and the barrier factor perspective to analyze how perceived privacy risk affects FRS use intention through the mediating role of privacy cynicism.

The data collected from 478 Chinese FRS users are analyzed via partial least squares-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The study produces the following results. (1) FRS use intention is motivated directly by the positive affective factor of satisfaction and the negative affective factor of privacy cynicism. (2) Satisfaction is affected by cognitive factors related to network externalities. Perceived complementarity and perceived compatibility, two indirect network externalities, positively affect satisfaction, whereas perceived critical mass, a direct network externality, does not significantly affect satisfaction. In addition, perceived privacy risk generates privacy cynicism. (3) Resistance to change positively moderates the relationship between privacy cynicism and intention to use FRS.

This study extends knowledge on people's use of FRS by exploring affect- and cognitive-based factors and finding that the affect-based factors (satisfaction and privacy cynicism) play fully mediating roles in the relationship between the cognitive-based factors and use intention. This study also expands the cognitive boundaries of FRS use by exploring the functional condition between affect-based factors and use intention, that is, the moderating role of resistance to use.

Customers increasingly use food delivery applications (FDAs) to place orders. Despite the popularity of FDAs, limited research has investigated the drivers of the continuance intention to use FDAs. This study aims to uncover the drivers of the continuance intention to use FDAs by integrating the “technology continuance theory” (TCT) with perceived task-technology fit, perceived value and perceived food safety.

Data were collected from 398 individuals in Thailand and evaluated using “partial least squares” (PLS) and “fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis” (fsQCA).

The PLS results supported the significance of all direct relationships, except the effects of perceived ease of use on attitude and perceived usefulness on continuance intention. Accordingly, perceived food safety positively moderated the impact of perceived ease of use on attitudes. The fsQCA uncovered seven solutions with various combinations of factors that predicted high continuance intention.

This study enables food delivery apps to develop effective strategies for retaining users and sustaining financial performance.

This research contributes to the literature by investigating the factors underlying the continuous use of FDAs with a new PLS-fsQCA technique and applying TCT in a new technological context, FDAs and enriching it by adding three variables: perceived task-technology fit, perceived value and perceived food safety.