What Makes Consumers’ Intention to Purchase Paid Stickers in Personal Messenger? The Role of Personality and Motivational Factors

Abstract

Many messengers and social networking services (SNSs) use emojis and stickers as a means of communication. Stickers express individual emotions well, allowing long texts to be replaced with small pictures. As the use of stickers increased, stickers were commercialized on a few platforms and showed remarkable growth as people bought and used stickers with their favorite characters, products, or entertainers online. Depending on their personality, individuals have different motivations for using stickers that determine the usefulness and enjoyment of stickers, affecting their purchase decisions. In the present study, participants (n = 302) who were randomly recruited from a university completed an online questionnaire assessing the Big Five personality characteristics, motivations for using stickers, and the technology acceptance model (TAM). Results using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) revealed that each personality trait affected different motivations for using stickers. Moreover, motivations for using stickers also influenced different technology acceptance variables. Finally, perceived usefulness, enjoyment, and ease of use had a positive effect on the intention to purchase stickers. This study has implications in that it is an exploratory approach to the intention to purchase stickers, which has been investigated by few prior studies, and it sheds light on the relationship between personality, motivation, and TAM in purchasing stickers. It also suggests that personality and motivation factors can be considered in personalized recommendation services.