Media richness, social presence and loyalty to mobile instant messaging

Purpose Mobile instant messaging (MIM) apps could provide rich and instant information in employees' communication. However, how media richness impacts MIM user loyalty is unknown. The purpose of this paper is to adopt media richness and social presence theories as theoretical foundations to address this insufficiency. Design/methodology/approach Collecting 247 responses from an online survey, the authors use structural equation modelling for data analysis and hypothesis testing. Findings The authors found that immediate feedback and personal focus are the main aspects of media richness that are positively related to social presence, relatedness need satisfaction and user loyalty to MIM. Originality/value This is the first study using two pertinent theories to explain how aspects of media richness affect user loyalty to MIM. The present findings suggest that firms developing MIM apps focus on immediate feedback and personal focus as effective means to encourage user loyalty.