A Study on the Emerging Role of Hedonic Value in Mobile e-Commerce: Focusing on a Moderated Mediation Effect of Hedonic Value

This study aims to investigate the role of hedonic value in the mobile commerce environment. Specifically, the study extends the perspective of previous studies that suggest a link between utilitarian values and hedonic values to examine the moderating and moderating mediation effects of hedonic values on the pathway between utilitarian values and customer satisfaction and shopping flow. This study sorts the consumption value into the utilitarian and hedonic values. To highlight the role of hedonic value, we investigated it as a moderator and a moderated mediation in the pathway between the utilitarian value(i.e. the economic and convenience values) to the consumer satisfaction and to shopping flow in the study model. To do this, a valid sample size of 243 participants from Beijing, China were collected, and tested using SPSS 26.0 statistical package and SPSS Process Macro programs. The study expiscated the positive influence in the pathways between the utilitarian value to consumer satisfaction, and the consumer satisfaction to shopping flow. The consumer satisfaction performs a valid role as a mediator between the utilitarian value and shopping flow. The hedonic value performs a valid role as a moderator between the utilitarian value to consumer satisfaction. Furthermore, it also plays a valid role as a moderated mediation in the pathway from the utilitarian value going through consumer satisfaction, and finally onto a shopping flow. Most of the studies related to consumer values in the e-commerce environment have examined the separate effects of utilitarian and hedonic values on outcome variables such as customer satisfaction. However, it has been suggested that both variables may be related to each other rather than individually affecting outcome variables. This study deepens the theory of consumer value in the sense that it identifies the influence structure of hedonic value in the mobile environment, where hedonic value plays a large role, with a precise methodology.