“满意”还是“锁定”:理解技术创新路径依赖下的消费者持续使用

“Satisfaction” or “Lock-in”: Understanding Consumer Continuance under the Path of Dependence of Technological Innovation

与当前以认知信念为核心来解释信息系统用户持续使用的观点不同,从网络消费者有限理性及网络经济效应的研究角度,指出:当技术创新造成路径依赖时,认知锁定会成为决定持续使用的关键。通过对443名有经验的在线技术平台使用者的调查结果分析,研究证实,当技术创新通过其技术优势及网络效应造成认知锁定后,认知锁定对消费者的持续使用意向以及近期使用行为都具有更强的正向影响。并且,它还对满意与持续使用意向间的正向关系具有负向调节作用,从而限制满意对持续使用的预测效力。研究表明,互联网企业在构建顾客满意的同时要更为关注技术创新的锁定效应,注重从3个构成来源(信息有用性、交易成本优势和网络外部性)层面创造认知锁定,激发技术创新型企业的发展活力。此外,管理者们还需要注意到认知锁定对消费者的一些潜在负面影响。

Prior research on information system(IS) continuance concluded that user satisfaction is the essential factor that determines IS continuance. However, this paper argues that cognitive lock-in becomes the pivotal determinant of continuance when technological innovations create path dependence. Based on the data collected from 443 experienced users of an online platform, the proposed model was empirically tested. The results confirmed that cognitive lock-in exerted a stronger positive effect on both continuance intention and recent usage than consumer satisfaction did when a lock-in was formed. Moreover, the cognitive lock-in negatively moderated the relationship between satisfaction and continuance intention and limited the ability of satisfaction to predict continuance intention. These results suggested that, to vitalize themselves, enterprises should focus more on the 3 sources of cognitive lock-in(i.e., information usefulness, transaction cost advantage, and network externality) when they work on customer satisfaction. Besides, this paper also discussed the potential negative influence of cognitive lock-in on consumers.