Telematics and Informatics 32 (2015) 949–960

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Telematics and Informatics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tele

The effects of service interactivity on the satisfaction and the

loyalty of smartphone users
Minkyoung Kim a, Younghoon Chang b, Myeong-Cheol Park a, Jongtae Lee c,⇑
a
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, N22, Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea
b
Department of Computing & Information Systems, Sunway University, No. 5, Jalan Universiti, Bandar Sunway, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
c
POSCO Research Institute, #514, Bongeunsa-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-878, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Despite the spectacular growth in the use of smartphones in recent years, still deeper
Received 5 February 2015 attention on the possibility of continuous development is needed. In this regard, it has
Received in revised form 29 April 2015 become important to encourage smartphone users to use the service continuously. To
Accepted 9 May 2015
notify the meaningful factors for the satisfaction and intention of the users in using smart-
Available online 16 May 2015
phones, this study focuses on interactivity and divides the factor into 5 sub-dimensions:
system quality, network quality, content quality, customer support, and compatibility.
Keywords:
This study finds several meaningful factors by conducting a survey research: content qual-
Interactivity
Satisfaction
ity is the most influential factor in shaping satisfaction, followed by compatibility, system
Continuance Intention quality, and customer support. This study also shows that satisfaction has a positive effect
Smartphone on the continuance intention and network quality has a positive effect on the continuance
intention. In terms of operating systems, it is found that the users may exhibit noticeable
differences in post adoption behavior. This study can be an important practical/academic
reference to provide important hints to strengthen the relationship between the service
providers and their customers.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Juniper Research has announced their top ten predictions for 2011 in the mobile and wireless field, mostly driven by the
consumer smartphone boom. The smartphone is one of the fastest-growing segments in telecommunications worldwide.
Likewise, in Korea, the total number of smartphones sold has exceeded 30 million as of March 2013. Nearly 60% of the mobile
telephony market is represented by smartphones. The total figure is currently expected to reach over 70 million by the end of
2013. The entire mobile market in Korea tends to heavily invest in the newest smartphones and there is fierce competition
among the three mobile operators.
As smartphone penetration increases each year, service quality has become a serious concern for the service providers. It
is not hard to find user complaints regarding call quality for some budget smartphones and wireless network services.
Furthermore, faced with a surging consumer demand for cheaper price plans for both data and voice, impending regulation
by the public sector will be a major concern to mobile operators. Korean operators thus face a nervous period where they are
attempting to manage consumer complaints regarding the service quality of smartphones against costs. Consequently, it is
important for the operators to enhance the smartphone user’s satisfaction and intentions to keep using the service

⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: light4u@nate.com (J. Lee).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2015.05.003
0736-5853/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
950 M. Kim et al. / Telematics and Informatics 32 (2015) 949–960

(continuance intention) and diverse previous studies on user’s behavior have defined and demonstrated the continuance
intention is an important factor to encourage the users to keep using the service (Davis, 1989; Venkatesh et al., 2003; Lee
et al., 2005).
The smartphone is much closer to becoming a nearly ubiquitous environment, and it has an enormous potential for
on-demand access to content anytime and anywhere access to anything. It is expected that the interactive medium of the
smartphone may allow for various interactions that would benefit both businesses and consumers. The issue of interactivity
appears to play an important role in building customer relationships, and it offers practical views on interactive advertising
and marketing communications practice in computer-mediated environments (Wu, 1999, 2005). Following the previous
researches on interactivity, some researchers accepted the concept of interactivity to develop the concept of
multi-dimensional interactivity (Kiousis, 1999, 2002; McMillan and Hwang, 2002; Yang et al., 2008), but little work has been
performed to explore the relationship between multiple interactivities, which affect continuance intention in using new
interactive media such as smartphones.
Also, there are interesting academic and practical debates on the Operating Systems (OS) of smartphones. The iPhone in
conjunction with Apple’s app store not only is causing quite a stir for Korean operators but is also redefining business models
across the chain from production to consumption for the entire mobile industry. Smartphones have a different ecosystem
that emphasizes openness as a shared value network, not downward flow, as in case of existing feature phones. The wireless
delivery of applications and content depends on the mobile platform. Also, various smart devices adopting the Android OS by
Google are increasingly extremely rapidly. Within these dynamic smartphone ecosystems including smartphone manufac-
turers, portal or OS vendors, app developers, and network service providers, there are tremendous competitions beyond the
wireless operator-oriented walled garden. Accordingly, this study attempts to understand customer satisfaction and the con-
tinuance intention of smartphone users in terms of their mobile operating systems.
The purpose of this paper is thus to examine precisely which factors may be essential in forming satisfaction and contin-
uance intention based on the concept of interactivity with a user-centered perspective. The remainder of this paper is orga-
nized as follows. The next section provides the theoretical background for smartphones and their attributes and for
interactivity. The next section develops related hypotheses and presents the theoretical framework for this study, which
is followed by a discussion of the method and measures of the survey in this study. Both the measurement model and
the research model are then empirically tested based on evidence from Korea’s smartphone users. The results and implica-
tions are discussed, and finally limitations and directions for future research are indicated.

2. Theoretical background

2.1. Smartphone characteristics

An important factor distinguishing smartphones from existing feature phones (contemporary basic phones without
advanced computing ability and internet connectivity) is that a smartphone allows the user to install and run more advanced
applications with PDA-like (and even computer-like) features, all through a fast wireless web connection. The increase in the
smartphone’s market penetration is generating an initial demand for mobile applications (‘apps’), and app stores are very
much a smartphone phenomenon.
As mentioned earlier, smartphones are dramatically reshaping competition in the mobile industry. The wireless delivery
of applications and content is dependent on what platform the smartphone uses. Currently, a number of users may consider
a smartphone not for the network it runs on or for what functions are built in but for the types of applications that will run
on it. Thus, the formerly separate mobile telecommunications service industry architecture and their constituent firms are
being forced into direct competition in the emerging mobile operating system race, looking at value capture and customer
lock-in strategies.
Scholars and management consultants have identified platform control as a key feature for business success in the ICT
industries. Recent studies have noticed that a platform is the outcome of a set of business behaviors and relationships
between actors in an ecosystem. Following those studies, a platform can be characterized as having high levels of interde-
pendence between actors (Gawer and Cusumano, 2002; Gawer, 2009). A wireless provider with established clear market
dominance can still decide what operating systems and what phone models to sell, but platform leadership strategies have
been degraded to the service providers in the emerging ecosystem.
There are primarily two types of smartphone platforms: an open versus a closed platform. The iPhone platform is closed,
and the entire ecosystem is controlled by one company, Apple. However, Android offers developers the ability to build rel-
atively free and innovative applications with an open development platform. In other words, Android platform can be
described to give a greater role to the developers, while the iPhone platform seems to be interested in the high-end market
and the high-loyalty participants (Kim and Chang, 2011).
This study attempts to understand the smartphone ecosystem in Korea, which is largely represented by two major plat-
form, Android and iOS. With the ongoing influx of new convergence technologies, many studies have focused on understand-
ing user adoption behaviors based on various theoretical discussions such as the diffusion of innovation theory, the users and
gratification theory, and the value-based adoption theory. Likewise, a number of studies have been performed primarily in
the area of finding determinants for acceptance and for the adoption of innovative smartphones in Korea (Park and Chen,
 M. Kim et al. / Telematics and Informatics 32 (2015) 949–960 951

2007; Kim, 2008; Bae and Jeong, 2008; Chen et al., 2009; Jeong and Jang, 2010; Lee et al., 2010). In the aftermath of smart-
phone diffusion, recent research has emphasized the post adoption behavior. These works have found that satisfaction pos-
itively affects continuance intention (Park and Shin, 2010; Oh and Bak, 2011). As a consequence, this paper will empirically
examine the positive relationships between a multidimensional view of interactivity and customer satisfaction/continuance
intention from a mobile operating systems perspective in the Korean smartphone market.

2.2. Interactivity

The theoretical consensus on the scope and definition of ‘‘interactivity’’ seems to be lack. This means, interactivity has
been employed as an assumed independent variable to describe the medium itself (Kayany et al., 1996), as a dependent vari-
able measuring people’s perception (Newhagen et al., 1995; Wu, 1999), and/or as a measure of the media’s potential ability
to let the user exert an influence on the content and/or form of the mediated communication (Jensen, 1998). Although these
concepts would obviously suggest differing opinions, interactivity conceptions have been commonly regarded as a critical
successful marketing factor in an online environment (Lee and Lin, 2005).
Previous studies showed the interactivity cannot be defined as a single dimension but as a complex mechanism covering
multiple processes, functions, and perceptions. Specifically, Heeter (1989) presented six-dimensions of interactivity: (1)
complexity of choice available, (2) effort that users must exert, (3) responsiveness to the user, (4) monitoring of information
use, (5) ease of adding information, and (6) facilitation of interpersonal communication. Downes and Mcmillan (2000) and
McMillan and Hwang (2002) demonstrated the four elements of interactivity dimensions focusing the conceptual point of
inter-communication: (1) direction of communications which encompasses the concept of responsiveness (e.g., nature of
feedback, response time), (2) user control (e.g., personalization, participation), (3) timing flexibility, which embraces timely
speed and (4) perceived purpose of communications. Kiousis (2002) and Lee et al. (2005) suggested three interactivity
dimensions: (1) communication technologies, (2) communication contexts and (3) people’s perceptions. Interestingly, those
three dimensions also have been defined as the user’s perceived quality on the service in the studies of Parasuraman et al.
(1985) and Parasuraman et al. (1988) which are based on ten conceptual dimensions: (1) tangibles, (2) reliability, (3) respon-
siveness, (4) communications, (5) credibility, (6) security, (7) competence, (8) courtesy, (9) understanding/knowing the cus-
tomer, and (10) access. In this regards, the interactivity can be accepted as a broader and more comprehensive factor
covering the conceptual dimensions of the service and communication quality. Based on these studies, Sureshchandar
et al. (2002) proposed the interactive feature of the service quality in three dimensions; (1) core service, (2) systematization
of service delivery, and (3) social responsibility. McMillan and Hwang (2002) focused three different types of interactivity:
smartphone users can interact with the smartphone itself (Human-to-Computer as systematization of service delivery), with
other smartphone users and with telecom service providers (Human-to-Human as social responsibility). They also noted that
smartphones may encourage the user to enjoy/use content with diverse applications in the mobile environment
(Human-to-Content as core service).

3. Conceptual framework and hypotheses

Based on the theoretical dimensions of service quality suggested by Sureshchandar et al. (2002), we accept a conceptual
model (Fig. 1) to describe interactivity not as single measure affecting the user’s satisfaction and intention following(? after
reviewing?) the studies of Malik (2012), Shipps and Phillips (2013), and Pai and Yeh (2014).
This study divides the systematization of service delivery into network quality and system quality because the delivery
quality can be affected by not only the performance of a smartphone but also the performance of a network in which a
smartphone is connected. Also this study divides the core service into two factors; whether a smartphone delivers consid-
erable content and whether the delivered content is acceptable and compatible. Accordingly, this study suggests the five fac-
tors of interactivity: network quality(systematization of service delivery), which refers to the user’s perception of the ability of a
network to offer real-time interaction; system quality(systematization of service delivery), which refers to the user’s perception
of the characteristics of an interactive smartphone; content quality(core service), which refers to the perceived utility of dig-
ital services added to a given smartphone medium; customer support(social responsibility), which refers to the perceived
timely feedback interaction between the user and the mobile service provider; and compatibility(core service), which refers
to the interactivity required for the personal task and business.
The primary goal of this study is to validate a model in which both customer satisfaction and continuance intention are
examined with respect to interactivity. More specifically, we are interested in determining if interactivity (including network
quality, system quality, content quality, customer support and compatibility) leads to customer satisfaction and continuance
intention in using smartphones.

3.1. Network quality

Network quality has been considered as one of the most important factors associated with the quality of the mobile com-
munications service and with user’s satisfaction (Kim et al., 2004; Kim and Kim, 1999; Kim and Yoon, 2004). Traditionally,
the importance of the communication technology has been highlighted to facilitate real-time interactions (Shannon and
952 M. Kim et al. / Telematics and Informatics 32 (2015) 949–960

Fig. 1. Research model.

Weaver, 1949; Kiousis, 2002). Additional scholarly attention has suggested that timing flexibility and feedback, as an attri-
bute of the channel through which communication occurs, should also be considered to be an important dimension of inter-
activity (McMillan and Hwang, 2002; Downes and McMillan, 2000). Several previous studies define network quality as one of
four key drivers (Danaher and Rust, 1996; Egena, 2013). Network quality in this study refers to the perceived quality of each
customer’s network based on the overall experience and the call quality of the chosen network. High-speed data networks
that offer a real time interactive experience might help to predict attitudes towards smartphones. Hypothesis 1 is thus pro-
posed as follows:

H1a. Network quality has a positive effect on customer satisfaction.

H1b. Network quality has a positive effect on continuance intention

3.2. System quality

A smartphone, with its own CPU, OS and various applications, can currently be compared to PCs. System quality, in this
study, refers to the customer perception of the smartphone’s physical abilities such as speed and the high-definition reso-
lution. These system characteristics have been a variable of great concern in much of the research in the field of human–com-
puter interaction. In the interactivity research stream, interactivity is determined by the technological structure of the
medium (Steuer, 1992; Shneiderman and Plaisant, 2005). For interactive media, Durlak (1987) noted that interactivity
becomes equated with the physical components of interactive system. Previous literatures have empirically improved a high
correlation between the user’s appreciation for the system and his/her utilization of its outputs (Power and Dickson, 1973;
Swansone, 1974). Also diverse studies such as Lee and Lin (2005), Lee et al. (2010), and Jeong and Jang (2010) have generated
considerable interests in system quality to affect the customer’s satisfaction and their intention – especially continuance
intention – to use. Therefore, we propose the following hypotheses:

H2a. System quality has a positive effect on customer satisfaction.

H2b. System quality has a positive effect on continuance intention.

3.3. Content quality

Content quality in this study refers to the customers’ demand for and perception of value, reliability, and the continuous
update of the content (McKinney et al., 2002) and the applications presented on smartphones to operationalize interactivity.
More advanced media technologies, including smartphones, that enable enhanced multimedia content will become new
opportunities for telecom service providers and content providers. However, because the studies of smartphone mobile
 M. Kim et al. / Telematics and Informatics 32 (2015) 949–960 953

content quality are still limited, this study attempts to modify a scale to measure mobile value-added services that are
appropriate for the smartphones’ content context. Among the studies from the telecom industry, value-added service pos-
itively influences customer satisfaction (Kim et al., 2004; Kim and Kim, 1999). Choi (2010) also emphasized the content,
including applications as a focal point of the smartphone competition. We thus hypothesized that perceived content quality
has a positive effect on customer satisfaction and continuance intention:

H3a. Content quality has a positive effect on customer satisfaction.

H3b. Content quality has a positive effect on the continuance intention.

3.4. Customer support

Customer support refers to the perceived interactivity of the regular customer support and the technical support from
the service providers used to resolve incoming queries. Within the present framework, customer support could be seen
as a dimension of interactivity that addresses the facilitation of interpersonal communication from the mobile carrier’s
standpoint. Among the studies of interactivity, interpersonal communication, which includes actions engaged with
the use of media, has been employed for judging interactive experiences (Heeter, 1989). In earlier studies on Korean
mobile telecommunication services, customer support has been measured from a service quality perspective (Kim and
Kim, 1999; Kim et al., 2004; Kim and Yoon, 2004; Youn et al., 2006). In a similar vein, the customers’ trust in their
existing providers may positively influence satisfaction and lead customers to maintain their subscription (Lee et al.,
2010). For wireless service providers, supporting smartphones is increasingly complicated and includes the problem of
device care, the variety of connectivity options, and other additional services. Therefore, we propose the following
hypotheses:

H4a. Higher levels of customer support are associated with higher levels of customer satisfaction.

H4b. Higher levels of customer support are associated with higher levels of continuance intention.

3.5. Compatibility

Rogers (1983) defines compatibility as ‘‘the degree to which the innovation fits with the existing values, past experiences,
and current needs of potential adopters.’’ As a dimension of interactivity, the characteristics of individual and interpersonal
communication in psychology have been an object of focus. Interactivity is a variable that fluctuates across individuals
(Kiousis, 2002). The compatibility construct has been a key factor associated with the adoption of IT innovations, and it
has also been used to measure user intention to adopt smartphones (Park and Chen, 2007; Chen et al., 2009). In general,
as compatibility increases, the attitude towards information systems usage should become more positive (Taylor and
Todd, 1995). Dorothy and Deepak, 1993) also explains that the compatibility of a system in terms of its fit with the current
equipment and the task requirements in the user’s environment had a positive, significant influence on satisfaction.
Following these previous studies, this study proposes the following hypotheses:

H5a. Compatibility has a significantly positive influence on customer satisfaction.

H5b. Compatibility has a significantly positive influence on continuance intention.

3.6. Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is typically defined as a post consumption reaction and judgment concerning a specific product or
service. Oliver (1980) stated that customer satisfaction is the result of an evaluative process that contrasts the pre-purchase
expectation with perceived performance during and after the consumption experience. As many researchers have concluded
(Jung and Lee, 1995; Oliver, 1997; Cronin et al., 2000; Yang et al., 2005), customer’s satisfaction on a service has long been
recognized as a critical concept that positively increases customer loyalty and influences continuance intention. Given the
vital role of customer satisfaction, it is not surprising that a variety of research has investigated the determinants of satis-
faction in the telecommunications service industry. Kim et al. (2004) concluded that customer support functions as an ante-
cedent of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty for Korean mobile telecommunication service. Recently, Lee et al.
(2010) verified the causal relationships between user satisfaction and the actual use of smartphones. We thus formulate
the following hypotheses:

H6. Higher levels of customer satisfaction are associated with higher levels of continuance intention.
954 M. Kim et al. / Telematics and Informatics 32 (2015) 949–960

4. The Empirical study

4.1. Data collection

We chose the survey method to test the hypotheses and collected data from a sample of current users of a smartphone
service. A pilot survey was conducted to revise and complement the measurement items of this study. The questionnaire was
distributed to undergraduate and graduate students at the KAIST campus by paper and via an online survey link. We
collected a total of 229 samples from the respondents who participated in our survey.
The following Table 1 summarizes the sample characteristics in terms of gender, age, operating system and service
provider. Among the samples collected, the majority were in their 20s.

4.2. Measurement

The instruments used to measure the constructs involved in this study are adopted from a comprehensive literature
review and developed to suit the context of smartphones. The specific items were scored on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging
from ‘strongly disagree’ (1) to ‘strongly agree’ (7). The key questionnaire items are provided in Appendix A. In addition, we
asked questions to obtain demographic characteristics, to obtain current usage patterns, and to identify the current mobile
platform.

5. Results and discussion

5.1. Results of the measurement model

SPSS was used for the descriptive statistical analysis, and the partial least squares (PLS) approach was used to estimate
both the measurement and the structural parameters in the structural equation model. We used SmartPLS version 2.0 M3 for
the analysis. We examined the reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity for the measurement instruments
used in this study. The reliability was assessed using composite scale reliability (CR), average variance extracted (AVE),
and Cronbach’s alpha. Table 2 exhibits the adequate convergent validity for all constructs. The composite reliability ranged
between 0.85 and 0.96, exceeding the required 0.7, and the AVE is greater than 0.5, an acceptable threshold for exploratory
research (Nunnally, 1978). Moreover, the Cronbach’s alpha is higher than the 0.7 cut-off value (Hair et al., 1998).
As for discriminant validity, the cross-factor loadings of the measures (see Appendix B) and a correlation matrix with the
square root of AVE were used. Table 3 shows that none of the intercorrelations of the constructs in this study exceeded the
square root of the AVE for the constructs. We confirm that each pair of constructs in this study was indeed distinct.

5.2. Results of the structural model

5.2.1. The full sample

The results of the path analysis for the full sample indicated that except for the direct effect of network quality on
continuance intention and the direct effect of customer support on continuance intention, system quality, content quality,
customer support, and compatibility had significant influences on satisfaction. Among the path coefficients towards
satisfaction, content quality showed the highest coefficient score, which might mean that the content quality affects the
user’s satisfaction most (b = 0.370). Also the effects of compatibility (b = 0.311), system quality (b = 0.175), and customer
support (b = 0.155) on satisfaction are turned out to be significant. Finally, continuance intention is positively and
significantly influenced by satisfaction (b = 0.469), network quality (b = 0.210), and customer support (b = 0.121), resulting
in an R2 for a continuance intention of 40.8%. The results are shown in Fig. 2.

Table 1
Sample characteristics.

Demographic category (N = 229) Frequency Percentage (%)

Gender Male 172 75.1
Female 57 24.9
Age 19–25 160 69.9
26–30 53 23.1
31–35 12 5.2
36–40 1 0.4
41–45 3 1.3
Operating system Apple iOS 106 46.3
Google Android 123 53.7
Service provider SK Telecom 82 35.8
KT 134 58.5
LG U+ 13 5.7
 M. Kim et al. / Telematics and Informatics 32 (2015) 949–960 955

Table 2
Construct reliability results.

Total Apple iOS Google Android

AVE CR C.a AVE CR C.a AVE CR C.a
Compatibility 0.74 0.90 0.82 0.69 0.87 0.77 0.79 0.92 0.87
Contents Quality 0.70 0.90 0.86 0.69 0.90 0.85 0.69 0.90 0.85
Customer Support 0.61 0.86 0.79 0.62 0.87 0.80 0.60 0.85 0.77
Network Quality 0.80 0.89 0.75 0.81 0.90 0.77 0.78 0.88 0.73
Continuance Intention 0.72 0.88 0.80 0.68 0.86 0.76 0.74 0.90 0.83
System Quality 0.68 0.87 0.77 0.69 0.87 0.78 0.66 0.85 0.74
Satisfaction 0.88 0.96 0.93 0.89 0.96 0.94 0.87 0.95 0.92

AVE: average variance extracted, CR: composite reliability, C.a: cronbach’s alpha

Table 3
Discriminant validity.

Compatibility Contents Customer Network Continuance System Satisfaction

Quality Support Quality Intention Quality
Compatibility (0.862)
Contents Quality 0.538 (0.837)
Customer Support 0.279 0.198 (0.781)
Network Quality 0.180 0.323 0.183 (0.893)
Continuance 0.304 0.445 0.308 0.378 (0.848)
Intention
System Quality 0.374 0.456 0.137 0.350 0.364 (0.828)
Satisfaction 0.617 0.645 0.338 0.256 0.571 0.478 (0.937)

The diagonal elements in parenthesis are square roots of the AVEs and the remaining elements are inter-construct correlations.

Fig. 2. Path analysis: the full sample (N = 229).

5.2.2. The split sample: Android users versus iOS users

To better understand the difference in post adoption behavior between open platform (Android) and closed platform (iOS)
users, this study also conducted a split sample path analysis. The full sample was divided into two groups based on the
mobile operating platform in the respondent’s smartphone. For the Android users (Fig. 3), the results showed a trend similar
956 M. Kim et al. / Telematics and Informatics 32 (2015) 949–960

Fig. 3. Path analysis for Android users (N = 123).

to the full sample. The research model explained 59.3% of the variance in customer satisfaction. The determinants of satis-
faction were primarily from content quality (b = 0.408), compatibility (b = 0.233), system quality (b = 0.193), and customer
support (b = 0/184). Furthermore, satisfaction was significant in shaping the Android users’ continuance intention. However,
network quality was insignificant for satisfaction; in fact, it directly affects continuance intention (b = 0.241).
The iOS users’ results are illustrated in Fig. 4. The level of satisfaction was significantly affected by compatibility
(b = 0.432) and content quality (b = 0.313), resulting in an R2 for satisfaction of 53.3%. Therefore, Apple might be critical

Fig. 4. Path analysis for iOS users (N = 106).

 M. Kim et al. / Telematics and Informatics 32 (2015) 949–960 957

and consequently place emphasis on these factors. The reason that system quality and customer support were not significant
is that Apple users might be more aware of technology in general, and they might continuously recognize that the system
quality of the iPhone is far superior. The antecedents of continuance intention were satisfaction (b = 0.425) and network
quality (b = 0.252), resulting in an R2 for continuance intention of 33.5%.
These results may support the suggestion of Gafni and Geri (2013) that the difference of mobile OS can be an important
factor affecting the perceived interactivity. Their study demonstrated that there can be operating-system-related differences
of the perceived comfortableness, complexity, and other values.

6. Discussions

6.1. Conclusions and implications

The primary purpose of this study was to validate the effect of multi-dimensional interactivity on satisfaction and con-
tinuance intention in the Korean smartphone ecosystem. Specifically, this study proposed that the influential interactivity
factors differ depending on the mobile platform. In the following, we summarize the conclusions and implications we found
in this study.
First, excepting network quality, every interactivity factor shows significant relationship only with customer satisfaction
not with continuance intention and customer satisfaction shows strong relationship with continuance intention. This result
may demonstrate the role of customer satisfaction as a mediator. In this regards, telecommunication companies should pro-
vide high-performance smartphones and smartphone applications more than their competitors may be the most or one of
the most important conditions.
Second, mobile carriers must maximize customer satisfaction to enhance customer continuance intention. In particular,
the empirical test analyzed the influence of system quality, content quality, customer support, and compatibility as the ante-
cedents of customer satisfaction across the entire participants and the Android users. Nonetheless, for the iOS users, only the
content quality and the compatibility had a significantly positive influence on customer satisfaction. The result might sug-
gest that the iOS users show a high level of loyalty and the loyalty might be developed by interactive personal utilities
described as the perceived content quality and the compatibility rather than the technology itself.
Third, the important finding of this study is the role of the network quality. Network quality could show a direct and pos-
itive effect on continuance intention not on satisfaction in this study. It might suggest that network quality should be treated
as the most considerable factor which means it is critical the telecom companies maintain and upgrade their systems.
Generally, mobile users would keep their long-term contracts for several years unless they have a serious problem – e.g.
a network slow down issues. In this regard, this study may suggest that the telecom companies should be aware of the
importance of the mobile network improvement to support the interactivity of consumers that influence their continuance
intention positively.
Fourth, this study could re-define the concept of the interactivity to include the technology, user support, and commu-
nication context aspects together. More deeply, this study may suggest its five dimensions of system quality, network qual-
ity, contents quality, customer support, and compatibility. This may support the previous study of Sureshchandar et al.
(2002) to suggest that interactivity should cover not only the perceived value of inter-communication but also quality of
the service itself.
Fifth, this study expanded the subject of interest, which is the marketing paradigm for the telecommunication service to
the mobile platform. This study proves that interactivity is a distinctive attribute for open platform users and that there is a
causal relationship between satisfaction and continuance for closed platform users. This result implies that mobile carriers
must cover the entire value chain in the long term, although the expanding smartphone market brought expansion with new
account profits and secured new momentum.

6.2. Limitations and suggestions for the future studies

However, this study still has several limitations to be concerned in the future studies.
First, although it can be considered that the sample in this study was appropriate considering the composition of users by
primary age group and their operating system, but a larger sample with more statistical power would allow for generaliza-
tion in future research. In this study, even though the entire number of the survey participants can be enough for the PLS
study according to Chin (1998), the sample might be biased toward people in the age between 20s and 30s because the sur-
vey was conducted in the early stage of smartphone penetration in Korea and the majority of the smartphone owner was the
younger age group. Because the recent trends show older generations are increasingly buying smartphones now, future stud-
ies could consider more concrete and meaningful evidences by analyzing tentative users of all age groups to gain new
contributions.
Second, cost, flow, and other factors that can affect customer satisfaction should be researched in a future study. Also the
monthly and/or non-periodic tariffs of the services, the perceived brand values, and the network effects by the customers
which have been adopted as meaningful factors affecting customer’s satisfaction were also controlled in this study.
958 M. Kim et al. / Telematics and Informatics 32 (2015) 949–960

Third, mediating effects of operating systems on satisfaction are also neglected in this study. Because the mediating
effects have been proven in diverse studies based on TAM including Malik (2012) as significant and meaningful, this study
only try to focus on the hidden behavioral differences between the two user groups(the iOS and the Android).
Fourth, this study may empirically suggest the perceived value of the service and the interactivity can appear differently
according to the mobile OS, but didn’t support any statistical result to describe the difference. A statistical methodology to
concrete the expected differences – e.g. chi-square test – can be considered in the related future studies.
Finally, the mobile OS is inclined to be expansively adapted to a multi-device platform such as a tablet PC and a smart TV
as well as the smartphone. Considering the role of the mobile operating system, it may be necessary to continuously expand
the researches on the platform-oriented smart devices and information appliances.

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the MSIP (Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning), Korea, under the CPRC
(Communication Policy Research Center) support program (IITP-2015-H8201-15-1003) supervised by the IITP (Institute
for Information & communications Technology Promotion).

Appendix A. Questionnaire items

Construct Item Measurement References

Compatibility CP1 Using smart phone application fits with the way I Taylor and Todd (1995), Chau and Hu
work (2001)
CP2 Using smart phone application fits with my
practice preferences
CP3 Using smart phone application fits with my service
needs
Satisfaction ST1 My choice to this smart phone is a wise one Cronin et al. (2000)
ST2 I think I did the right thing when I subscribed to
this smart phone service
ST3 Overall, my feeling to this smart phone service is
satisfactory
Continuance CI1 In the future, I will use smartphones and services Zeithaml et al. (1996), Cronin et al. (2000),
Intention provided by this telecom company again Wang et al. (2004)
CI2 In the future, I will recommend smart phones and
service provided by this telecom company to my
relatives and friends
CI3 In the future, I will continue to use the smart phone
and services provided by this telecom company
Content CQ1 This smart phone service provides appropriate Kuo (2003), Kim et al. (2004), Yang et al.
quality CQ2 This smart phone service provides important (2008)
content
CQ3 This smart phone service provides fashionable
content
CQ4 I can fully understand the content provided
Network NQ1 This telecom company provides clear and reliable Kim et al. (2004), Kuo et al. (2009)
Quality voice call
NQ2 Internet and voice call of the smart phone are
stable
System SQ1 The speed of smart phone is fast McKinney et al. (2002), Yang et al. (2008),
Quality SQ2 The vividness of smart phone’s screen and graphics Choi and Kim (2004), Kiousis (2002),
are excellent Bhattacherjee (2001)
SQ3 The performance of smart phone device is stable
Customer CS1 This telecom company provides diversified Chae et al. (2002), Kuo (2003), Kim et al.
Support value-added services (2004)
CS2 This telecom company provides multiple tariff
options
CS3 This telecom company provides good post-services
CS4 When any problem occurs, the telecom company
can instantly cope with it
 M. Kim et al. / Telematics and Informatics 32 (2015) 949–960 959

Appendix B. Cross-loading results (Total)

Network Compatibility Contents Customer Continuance System Satisfaction

quality quality support Intention quality
NQ1 0.894 0.120 0.268 0.197 0.343 0.312 0.222
NQ2 0.893 0.202 0.309 0.130 0.333 0.314 0.234
CP1 0.158 0.904 0.475 0.267 0.241 0.321 0.541
CP2 0.146 0.883 0.424 0.210 0.289 0.254 0.527
CP3 0.162 0.794 0.491 0.245 0.255 0.393 0.525
CQ1 0.282 0.436 0.873 0.207 0.420 0.408 0.551
CQ2 0.244 0.514 0.876 0.172 0.355 0.272 0.568
CQ3 0.197 0.419 0.830 0.129 0.314 0.340 0.429
CQ4 0.338 0.424 0.764 0.145 0.384 0.491 0.582
CS1 0.209 0.202 0.135 0.798 0.275 0.119 0.287
CS2 0.207 0.259 0.195 0.755 0.252 0.052 0.226
CS3 0.057 0.219 0.130 0.792 0.216 0.143 0.280
CS4 0.091 0.198 0.164 0.779 0.216 0.110 0.257
CI1 0.338 0.158 0.199 0.336 0.763 0.222 0.343
CI2 0.314 0.329 0.468 0.287 0.909 0.357 0.576
CI3 0.320 0.264 0.427 0.176 0.864 0.330 0.505
SQ1 0.326 0.330 0.427 0.081 0.317 0.878 0.403
SQ2 0.229 0.334 0.351 0.199 0.273 0.810 0.455
SQ3 0.321 0.259 0.352 0.050 0.317 0.793 0.318
ST1 0.238 0.521 0.608 0.317 0.558 0.474 0.940
ST2 0.231 0.623 0.568 0.295 0.497 0.376 0.930
ST3 0.248 0.592 0.633 0.335 0.548 0.489 0.940
NQ, network quality; CP, compatibility; CQ, contents quality; CS, customer support; CI, continuance intention; SQ, system quality; ST, customer satisfaction.

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