Are hedonic or utilitarian values predicting continuance usage of SNS in online sharing environment with mediation role of e-satisfaction?

Abstract

Social networking sites (SNS) are classified as hedonic and utilitarian information systems. Over a period of time some SNS have been found discontinued. Studies found that SNS that are used extensively for entertainment purposes resulted in negative consequences in terms of increased stress and fatigue thus abandonment of its use. At the same time there are other SNS that have been found successful with active users. This necessitates a need to examine if the continuous use of SNS is driven by entertainment purpose alone. The current study uses theoretical IS continuance model to find key determinants of continuous use of SNS. Findings, contrary to previous studies, reveal that continuous use of SNS is largely influenced by utilitarian motives and e-satisfaction. Entertainment surprisingly was found insignificant towards use intentions. A mediation analysis further reveals that e-satisfaction partially mediates utilitarian value.