Decomposing perceived playfulness: A contextual examination of two social networking sites

Social networking sites (SNSs) are focused on providing playful services for users that will keep them engaged without losing their interest. Perceived playfulness is derived from the user's subjective evaluation of their interaction with technology and is represented through the subdimensions: concentration, enjoyment, and curiosity. Results show that there is a positive association between perceived playfulness and their attitude toward using the technology. However, the existing studies do not provide a clear direction about conceptualizing and measuring the subdimensions of perceived playfulness. The lack of conclusive evidence, despite the IS literature, shows the need for more empirical studies investigating the actual effect of the distinct subdimensions of perceived playfulness across various contexts. This study develops a context-specific model by decomposing playfulness to completely identify the extent to which specific dimensions are influencing the user's attitude and further clarify their relative importance. An empirical study was conducted with a total sample size of 551 participants, from two different types of SNSs, to test the context-specific model. The results showed that the relative importance of the subdimensions is significantly different between the two SNSs. The findings make the relationship between perceived playfulness and the user's attitude more context sensitive and provide a useful guide to formulating greater user experience in constructing SNS services.