Recommended information adoption by university students in their study/research

Abstract

Purpose For undergraduate and graduate students in universities, social media are playing an important role in their study/research because a large amount of academic information has been accumulated on social media. Indeed, social media are complementing university libraries. Given that intelligent recommender systems have been widely implemented on social media, this paper aims to examine the adoption mechanism of intelligently recommended information by university students in their study/research. Design/methodology/approach Building upon the updated information system success model and herding theory, this study developed a research model to examine the determinants of recommended information adoption in mobile applications for social media. Data were collected through an online questionnaire and analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings The results suggest that herding belief is a valid second-order construct, comprising two first-order dimensions of imitating others and discounting their own information. Information quality, system quality and service quality directly impact satisfaction with the intelligent recommender system. Furthermore, satisfaction with the intelligent recommender system and herding belief directly impact recommended information adoption by university students in their study/research. Originality/value This study draws on the updated information system success model and incorporates herding belief as an extended component to investigate recommended information adoption, providing a new lens for understanding recommended information adoption by university students in their study/research.