Determinants of mobile social media use, customer heterogeneity, and international microsegmentation

How to effectively examine the heterogeneous nature of consumer preferences across borders and cultures is a challenge for firms that use mobile social media. This study identifies the determinants of individuals’ mobile social media use behavior and profiles the resulting international microsegments. We propose a model that integrates different theoretical perspectives and sets of factors to explain mobile social media use behavior and test it on a sample of users in China and the United States via online surveys. We estimate a global model (GM) based on all respondents and three local models created by post hoc international microsegmentation. The three local models reveal the existence of three unobserved user segments: 'usage goal experts', 'determined pragmatists', and 'pressured hedonists'. Perceived usefulness is the most influential factor in the GM, while users in the three segments significantly differ in their behavioral patterns, cultural value orientations, and demographic characteristics. This study is the first to examine unobserved heterogeneity and international microsegmentation in the mobile social media domain. It provides insights into the factors explaining use behavior and international microsegmentation for scholars and marketers operating in the global marketplace.