The Mediating Effect of Perceived Value on the Relationship between Social Influence and Usage Intention in Social Networking Sites

社群網站使用者知覺價值對社會影響力與使用意願關係的中介效果之研究

顏永森(Yung-Shen Yen)

《資訊管理學報》 25卷2期 (2018/04) Pp. 121-148

摘要

Purpose-Social networking sites (SNS) have become a major medium for social interaction, and research on the intention to use SNS has gained much attention in the academic field. Although social influence and perceived value are two critical determinants influencing the intention to use SNS, few studies have examined the mediating effect of perceived value on the relationship between social influence and usage intention in SNS. Thus, to understand why people use SNS, this study attempts to explore this causal relationship. Design/methodology/approach-Structural equation modeling was conducted, and 445 experienced SNS users in Taiwan were surveyed. Moreover, Facebook was selected as the research target of SNS in the study. Findings-This study finds that although social influence is not directly associated with usage intention, it indirectly affects the intention to use SNS through perceived value, including functional value, emotional value and social value. Research limitations/implications-Based on the nature of SNS and the related literature, this study used functional value, emotional value, and social value as the elements of perceived value in SNS. Thus, this study focuses on an investigation of usage intention in SNS (i.e., Facebook). The findings of this study may apply to research regarding the adoption of SNS, but this may not be generalized in other research contexts. Practical implications-This paper provides several managerial implications. First, the findings of this study can help service providers understand that the impact of social influence on usage intention has its limitations when the users have considerable experience with the service. Second, this study further suggests that service providers may exert sufficient social influence to acquire new users to participate in SNS and extend users' perceived value in the service, thereby increasing their usage intention. Originality/value-This study advances the knowledge of the mediating effect of perceived value on the relationship between social influence and usage intention in the context of SNS.

關鍵字

social influence ； perceived value ； usage intention ； social networking sites

並列摘要

社群網站已經成為一種主要的社會互動媒體，有關如何使用社群網站的研究也受到學術界的重視。雖然社會影響力和知覺價值是影響社群網站使用意願的重要因素，然而，很少研究探討知覺價值對社會影響力與使用意願關係的中介效果。因此，為瞭解人們為何使用社群網站，本研究擬探討這個因果關係。我們採用結構方程模型來驗證假設，調查台灣445位有社群網站經驗的使用者。本研究發現，社會影響力對使用意願沒有直接的影響效果，但經由知覺價值，包含功能價值、情感價值、社交價值，則有間接的影響效果。本研究提供兩點管理涵意，第一，本研究發現可幫助業者瞭解社會影響力對使用意願的影響是有限制的，當使用者已經擁有相當的使用經驗。第二，本研究建議業者運用適當的社會影響力來吸引新的使用者加入社群網站，然後擴大其知覺價值來提升使用意願。因此，本研究提升了使用者在社群網站，知覺價值扮演中介角色的知識。

並列關鍵字

社會影響力 ； 知覺價值 ； 使用意願 ； 社群網站

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