感知价值对电子书阅读客户端用户满意度和忠诚度的影响研究

The Effects of Perceived Value on Users' Satisfaction and Loyalty Towards E-book Reading Applications

近年来,各种电子书阅读客户端日益成为用户重要的阅读工具,对人们的阅读习惯和阅读行为产生了重要影响,但针对这类客户端开展的用户使用和评价的研究成果却很少。本文在感知价值四维度模型的基础上,结合电子书阅读客户端的主题特性,将感知价值划分为社会价值、价格价值、内容价值、互动价值和界面设计价值。利用问卷调查法,考察这些不同维度的感知价值变量对用户电子书阅读客户端的满意度和忠诚度的影响。研究结果表明:(1)用户对电子书阅读客户端的满意度显著影响其忠诚度;(2)互动价值、界面设计价值和价格价值均显著影响满意度,但互动价值与满意度的关系是负向的;(3)内容价值不仅通过满意度正向显著影响忠诚度,而且也直接作用于忠诚度;(4)社会价值对满意度和忠诚度均不存在显著影响。

E-book applications, such as iReader and QQ Reader, have become main reading tools among users in recent years. Despite increasing research attention to digital reading and E-book applications, published literature on this topic primarily focused on the industry development and product features, while few studies addressed the issue of usage and evaluation by readers. The purpose of the present study is, based on the concept of perceived value within a user-centered perspective, to examine the key factors contributing to users＇ satisfaction and loyalty towards E-book applications. Drawing upon PERVAL, a four-dimension measuring scale widely used to assess users＇ perceptions of the value of a certain product/service, this study firstly divided the construct of perceived value into five sub- dimensions, which took the particularity of E-book applications into consideration. The five sub-dimensions were social value, price value, content value, interaction value, and interface design value respectively,among which the last three dimensions were from the original dimension of quality/performance value in PERVAL. A large-sample questionnaire survey was conducted in October, 2016, with the target population being adult users of E-book applications. Structural equation modeling was adopted to investigate the hypothesized relationships. Results indicated that users＇ loyalty was positively related to their satisfaction and that the different perceived value dimensions exerted different influences on users＇ satisfaction and loyalty. Specifically, the perceived interactive value had a significantly yet negative effect on users＇ satisfaction, and the perceived interface design value and price value had significantly positive effects on users＇ satisfaction. Meanwhile, the perceived content value not only significantly positively influenced users＇ satisfaction but also directly influenced users＇ loyalty in a significant way. Last but not least, the perceived social value could predict none of them. The above findings have both theoretical and practical implications. From the academic＇s point of view, the present study and its findings not only fill a gap in the current literature and add to the body of knowledge on the E-book applications, but also enlighten us to reflect on the compatibility of socialization and reading during the reading activity. From the industrial perspective, the results of this study can help the E-book applications developers and operators understand the factors influencing users＇ satisfaction and loyalty, which in turn allows them to be better prepared to attract new users and retain existing users. 3 figs. 2 tabs. 68 refs.