Drivers and Consequences of Frustration When Using Social Networking Services: A Quantitative Analysis of Facebook Users

In this study drivers and consequences of frustration, a negative emotion when using information technology (IT), are theorized and empirically evaluated in a social networking services (SNS) usage context. For example, when users are frustrated by using SNS they might stop using these services. As the number of users mainly determines the value of SNS this paper focuses on frustration while using SNS. It is assumed that both technology and social aspects of SNS usage determine whether users feel frustrated. Empirical evidence can be provided that perceived enjoyment, envy, information overload, and social overload are antecedents of the sentiment frustration. It is also argued that frustration while using SNS will lead to dissatisfaction and discontinued usage. Based on the empirical evidence for this cohesion the paper discusses its theoretical contribution in terms of that discontinuous usage behavior is a coping strategy applied by users to minimize the frustration sentiment.