Following the Flow: Exploring the Impact of Mobile Technology Environment on User’s Virtual Experience and Behavioral Response

Although the increasing mobile technology applies in our daily lives, there remain questions that clearly illustrate the experience inspired by the mobile technology environment. It is theoretically and practically meaningful to systematically reveal how mobile technology generates users’ virtual experience and, subsequently, the behavioral response. To fill the gaps, drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response model, this paper regards flow as the core experience based on the features of the mobile users’ experience. The framework is that mobile technology will promote users’ virtual experience, and in turn, affect their behavioral response. This study uses online survey data from 452 respondents. We employ the structural equation model based on the partial least squares method and further mediation analysis by the Sobel test to validate the research hypotheses. Our results show that the mobile technology environment has a significantly positive effect on users’ purchase intention/return mediated by the virtual experience. However, the direct relationship between ubiquity and flow, as well as telepresence and intention to purchase/return, are not significant. Finally, a few theoretical and managerial contributions are also discussed.