The effects of Social Comparison on Intention to Use Mobile Messaging Services

Mobile messaging services continue gaining high demand and the adoption of mobile messaging has been academically investigated for decades. However, there is a lack of an understanding of how psychological perspective of social comparison–a central feature of human life for self-evaluation– affects individuals’ adoption of mobile messaging services. This study proposes a new model of individuals’ intentions to use a mobile messaging service under the influence of social comparison. The model is empirically tested using the structural equation modeling technique. The results show that social comparison has an effect on individuals' intentions to use the service through the influences of information seeking and perceived values (social, hedonic and utilitarian values). Social comparison significantly affects information seeking and social value, while perceived values affect individuals’ attitudes and intentions to use mobile messaging services. Further discussions on the analysis results and the implications for theory and practice are presented. This study fills the gap in technology adoption literature and provides guidance for service providers to enhance customers’ intentions to use their mobile services. The paper concludes with limitations of the study and direction of the future studies.