Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between mobile shopping apps (applications) adoption and brand tribalism through moderating effect of user experiences. Brand tribes have been conceptualized as networks of heterogeneous users (in term of gender, age, income etc.) connected by a shared emotion toward a specific brand. The current study used a sample of 250 students who participated introductory courses of a large University in South Korea and the structural equation modeling with maximum likelihood method was applied to analyze the hypothesized model. Also, moderating effects of user experiences group (low vs. high) was analyzed by using AMOS multi-group methods. Results indicated that emotional attachment had a significant impact on reuse intention of mobile shopping apps, and irritation was negatively related to the reuse intention of apps. Also, attachment had significant effects on social structure and lineage of brand tribes, but not on sense of community. Entertainment and switching cost was directly related to brand tribes, including social structure, lineage, and sense of community. However, irritation had a significant impact on social structure of brand tribes, but not on lineage and sense of community. In particular, social structure of brand tribes had a strong influence on reuse intention of mobile shopping apps. The findings of this study suggest that app brand managers should consider hedonic benefits and switching barriers of apps for long-term relationships with the right mobile app customers.