Serendipity with music streaming services: The mediating role of user and task characteristics

Abstract

An experimental study was conducted to test the feasibility of using the construct of “serendipity” to evaluate the performance of two music streaming services, Spotify and KKBOX. The impact of search tasks (goal-oriented vs. exploratory) and users’ psychological traits—the degree of “music involvement” and “openness to novelty”—on system performance was explored. Four dimensions of serendipity, “introducing the unexpected,” “accessibility,” “navigability,” and “enabling connection” were used as the performance criteria along with usability. The study employed a Latin square experimental design, in which 32 participants were asked to perform goal-oriented vs. exploratory tasks alternately with the two music streaming services. The main effects of music involvement were identified for three out of four serendipity dimensions. An interaction effect of tasks and systems on performance was also found. The implications of our results on the evaluation of music discovery tools were discussed.