The effects of smartphone users’ core self-evaluations and stickiness on intentions to download free social media apps

AbstractThis research investigates the influence of core self-evaluations (CSE), stickiness, positive emotion and trust on smartphone users’ intentions to download free social media apps. An online questionnaire was used to collect data, and 477 valid questionnaires were collected. The outcomes show that CSE and the smartphone users’ stickiness significantly influence their positive emotion. Comparing with CSE, stickiness plays a key role in affecting users’ emotion. Smartphone users’ emotions are found to positively influence their trust, which in turn positively influences their intentions to download free social media apps. The findings provide insights into how an app developer can improve users’ emotions and their associated behaviours.