Understanding customer satisfaction and loyalty: An empirical study of mobile instant messages in China

With the rapid development ofmobile technology and large usage rates ofmobile phones, mobile instant message (MIM) services have been widely adopted in China. Although previous studies on the adoption of mobile services are quite extensive, few focus on customer satisfaction and loyalty to MIM in China. In this study, we examine the determinants of customer satisfaction and loyalty. The findings confirm that trust, perceived service quality, perceived customer value, including functional value and emotional value, contribute to generating customer satisfactionwithMIM. The results also showthat trust, customer satisfaction and switching cost directly enhance customer loyalty. Additionally, this study finds that age, gender, and usage time have moderating effects. Finally, implications for the marketing of MIM are