A study of mobile internet user's service quality perceptions from a user's utilitarian and hedonic value tendency perspectives

Although a few studies have focused on mobile value from the distinctive feature of a mobile technology perspective, limited attempts have been made from a mobile user’s value tendency perspective. In this study, building upon prior research on productivity-oriented and pleasure-oriented nature of systems, we categorize mobile values as having utilitarian and hedonic use. Based on these two values, we conceptualize types of tendency of mobile users’ application use namely utilitarian tendency and hedonic tendency. The goal of this study is to examine the relationships between mobile consumers’ value tendency and their perceptions of mobile Internet service quality in terms of three different mobile quality dimensions (i.e., connection quality, design quality, and information quality). In addition, drawing upon the “digital divide” literature, the relationships betweenmobile users’ personal dispositions (i.e., maturity and socio-economic status) and their mobile value tendency are also tested. The empirical results of the study, the interpretation of the results, research contributions, and limitations are discussed.