How Personality Affects Continuance Intention: An Empirical Investigation of Instant Messaging

The five-factor model (FFM) of personality has been widely used to predict cognitions, attitudes and behaviors in management and psychological research. However, FFM personality seldom appeared in the information system (IS) research field. This study incorporated FFM into the IS continuance model to explain how the personality traits influence individuals’ IS continuance intention. The data were collected from a public university in China via an online survey. The findings support that user satisfaction and perceived usefulness are key to continuance intention. The results also support that perceived enjoyment and perceived usefulness are positively associated with user satisfaction, and perceived enjoyment is the dominant variable in affecting user satisfaction with the technology use. Interestingly, only two personality traits of Big-five factors – conscientiousness and extraversion – were found to have direct effects on perceived enjoyment. The study provides an important basis for better understanding the effects of individuals’ personality characteristics on their technology continuance.