Online learning during the COVID-19 era: the antecedents of continuance intention and communication channel satisfaction from learners’ perspective

ABSTRACTBuilding on the Flow theory and Stimulus-Organism-Response framework, this study investigates the impact of online platforms’ technological environment and communicator competence on learners’ continuance intentions and communication channel satisfaction mediated by virtual experience. Data collected from undergraduate and postgraduate students in North Cyprus and Lithuania were used to assess the proposed relationships utilizing structural equation modeling. The results indicated that the platforms’ technological environment has a significant impact on virtual experience while the communicator competence has a significant impact on learners’ virtual experience in the Lithuanian context only. Moreover, the findings revealed that virtual experience has a significant impact on learners’ continuance intention and communication channel satisfaction. Furthermore, the results indicated that virtual experience mediates the relationship between the technological environment and learners’ continuance intention and communication channel satisfaction in both contexts; however, virtual experience mediates the relationship between communicator competence and learners’ responses in the Lithuanian context only.KEYWORDS: Technological environmentcommunicator competencevirtual experiencecontinuance intentioncommunication channel satisfactiononline learning Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementThe data that support the findings of the study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Additional informationFundingThis research received no external funding.