Exploring the factors influencing smartphone applications usage: a mixed method study

The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons behind different compositions of smartphone applications chosen to be used by smartphone users. In other words, this research is designed to unveil why different users utilise different portfolios of smartphone applications. For this purpose, a semi grounded theory (GT) approach has been carried out. After the emergence of the core category, more observations and informal interviews have been organised for the sake of saturating the categories and their relationships. Then, structural equation modelling (SEM) has been used to test the relationships among categories using analysis of moment structure (AMOS) software. Findings indicate that the four constructs emerged from the GT phase are mobile connectivity stance (MCS), expectable use, social applications usage and functional applications usage. The results revealed that social application usage affects functional application usage and is affected directly by MCS. Expectable usage strongly affects both social and functional applications usage. MCS has an indirect impact on functional application usage.