Acknowledging that the way mobile communication is used is shaped by socially negotiated social norms, this study examined the factors that impact instant messaging (IM) communication at the person and situation levels using the experience sampling method (ESM). We measured how the characteristics at the person level (i.e., availability and responsiveness preferences), contextual factors (i.e., location and copresence of others), and message-related attributes (i.e., sender and chat type) impact users’ responsiveness in IM communication. The study empirically investigated a sample of 90 smartphone users who completed 820 ESM protocols regarding their use of the messenger service WhatsApp. The results of the multilevel analyses revealed that users’ responsiveness in IM communication is affected by person- and situation-level factors, but the latter factors were found to have a much stronger impact. The effect of specific influential factors is discussed in detail.
Al-SaggafY.MacCullochR. (2019). Phubbing and social relationships: Results from an Australian sample. Journal of Relationships Research, 10. https://doi.org/10.1017/jrr.2019.9
2.
BaronN. S.SegerstadY. H. (2010). Cross-cultural patterns in mobile-phone use: public space and reachability in Sweden, the USA and Japan. New Media & Society, 12(1), 13–34. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444809355111
3.
BatesD.MaechlerM.BolkerB.WalkerS. (2015). ‘lme4’: Linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4. Rpackage version 1.1-10, http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=lme4.
4.
BaumeisterR. F.LearyM. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497
5.
BayerJ. B.CampbellS. W.LingR. (2016). Connection cues: Activating the norms and habits of social connectedness. Communication Theory, 26(2), 128–149. https://doi.org/10.1111/comt.12090
6.
BealD. J. (2015). ESM 2.0: State of the art and future potential of experience sampling methods in organizational research. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2, 383–407. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032414-111335
7.
BlabstN.DiefenbachS. (2017). WhatsApp and wellbeing: A study on WhatsApp usage, communication quality and stress. In HallL.FlintT.O’HaraS.TurnerP. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 31st British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Conference (pp. 1–6). BCS Learning & Development Ltd. https://doi.org/10.14236/ewic/HCI2017.85
8.
CampbellS. W. (2006). Perceptions of mobile phones in college classrooms: Ringing, cheating, and classroom policies. Communication Education, 55(3), 280–294. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634520600748573
9.
CampbellS. W.LingR.BayerJ. B. (2013). The structural transformation of mobile communication: Implications for self and society. In OliverM. B.RaneyA. (Eds.), Media and social life (pp. 176–188). Routledge.
10.
CampbellS. W.ParkY. J. (2008). Social implications of mobile telephony: The rise of personal communication society. Sociology Compass, 2(2), 371–387. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00080.x
ChurchK.de OliveiraR. (2013). What’s up with WhatsApp? In RohsM.SchmidtA. (Eds.), MobileHCI’13: Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services: August 27–30, 2013, Munich, Germany (p. 352). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/2493190.2493225
13.
CialdiniR.TrostM.R. (1998). Social influence: Social norms, conformity, and compliance. In GilbertD.T.FiskeS.T.LindzeyG. (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology. Oxford University Press.
14.
CsikszentmihalyiM.LarsonR. (2014). Validity and reliability of the Experience-Sampling Method. In CsikszentmihalyiM. (Ed.), Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 35–54). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_3
15.
CuiD. (2016). Beyond “connected presence”: Multimedia mobile instant messaging in close relationship management. Mobile Media & Communication, 4(1), 19–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050157915583925
16.
DarleyJ. M.LataneB. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8(4), 377–383. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0025589
17.
DennisA.R.FullerR.M.ValacichJ.S. (2008). Media, tasks, and communication processes: a theory of media synchronicity. MIS Quarterly, 32(3), 575–600. https://doi.org/10.2307/25148857
18.
DinglerT.PielotM. (2015). I’ll be there for you. In Proceedings of the 17th ACM International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services Adjunct: Copenhagen, Denmark, August 24–27, 2015 (pp. 1–5). Association for Computing Machinery Inc. (ACM). https://doi.org/10.1145/2785830.2785840
19.
EndersC. K.TofighiD. (2007). Centering predictor variables in cross-sectional multilevel models: A new look at an old issue. Psychological Methods, 12(2), 121–138. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.12.2.121
20.
FerreiraD.GoncalvesJ.KostakosV.BarkhuusL.DeyA. K. (2014). Contextual experience sampling of mobile application micro-usage. In LeyG. (Ed.), Exeter Performance Studies. Proceedings of the 16th ACM International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services: September 23–26, 2014, Toronto, ON, Canada (pp. 91–100). Association for Computing Machinery Inc. (ACM). https://doi.org/10.1145/2628363.2628367
21.
GreenN. (2002). On the move: Technology, mobility, and the mediation of social time and space. The Information Society, 18(4), 281–292. https://doi.org/10.1080/01972240290075129
22.
HallJ.A.BaymN.K. (2012). Calling and texting (too much): Mobile maintenance expectations, (over)dependence, entrapment, and friendship satisfaction. New Media & Society14(2), 316–331. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444811415047
23.
HallJ. A.BaymN. K.MiltnerK. M. (2014). Put down that phone and talk to me: Understanding the roles of mobile phone norm adherence and similarity in relationships. Mobile Media & Communication, 2(2), 134–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050157913517684
HoyleR.DasS.KapadiaA.LeeA. J.VanieaK. (2017). Was my message read? In Explore, innovate, inspire: Chi 2017: May 6–11, Denver, CO, USA (pp. 3838–3842). Association for Computing Machinery Inc. (ACM). https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025925
26.
HoxJ. J. (2010). Multilevel analysis: Techniques and applications (2nd ed.). Routledge.
27.
KarapanosE.TeixeiraP.GouveiaR. (2016). Need fulfillment and experiences on social media: A case on Facebook and WhatsApp. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 888–897. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.10.015
28.
KarnowskiV.JanduraO. (2014). When lifestyle becomes behavior: A closer look at the situational context of mobile communication. Telematics and Informatics, 31(2), 184–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2013.11.001.
29.
Kneidinger-MüllerB. (2017). Mobile communication as invader in face-to-face interactions. An analysis of predictors for parallel communication habits. Computers in Human Behavior, 73, 328–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.03.055
30.
KochW.FreesB. (2017). ARD/ZDF-Onlinestudie 2017: Neun von zehn Deutschen online: Ergebnisse aus der Studienreihe „Medien und ihr Publikum“ (MiP) [ARD/ZDF online study 2017: Nine out of ten Germans online: Results from the study series “Media and their audience”]. Media Perspektiven, 9, 434–446.
LeeY.-K.ChangC.-T.LinY.ChengZ.-H. (2014). The dark side of smartphone usage: Psychological traits, compulsive behavior and technostress. Computers in Human Behavior, 31, 373–383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.047
33.
LeeH.-P.ChenK.-Y.LinC.-H.ChenC.-Y.ChungY.-L.ChangY.-J.SunC.-R. (2019). Does who matter? Studying the impact of relationship characteristics on receptivity to mobile IM messages. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, New York, NY, USA (pp. 1–12). Association for Computing Machinery Inc. (ACM). https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300756
LingR.LaiC.-H. (2016). Microcoordination 2.0: Social coordination in the Age of smartphones and messaging apps. Journal of Communication, 66(5), 834–856. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12251
MaiL. M.FreudenthalerR.SchneiderF. M.VordererP. (2015). “I know you’ve seen it!” Individual and social factors for users’ chatting behavior on Facebook. Computers in Human Behavior, 49, 296–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.01.074
38.
MascheroniG.VincentJ. (2016). Perpetual contact as a communicative affordance: Opportunities, constraints, and emotions. Mobile Media & Communication, 4(3), 310–326. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050157916639347
39.
MehrotraA.PejovicV.VermeulenJ.HendleyR.MusolesiM. (2016). My phone and me: Understanding people’s receptivity to mobile notifications. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’16) (pp. 1021–1032). https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858566
40.
MontagC.BłaszkiewiczK.SariyskaR.LachmannB.AndoneI.TrendafilovB.EibesM.MarkowetzA. (2015). Smartphone usage in the 21st century: Who is active on WhatsApp?BMC Research Notes, 8, article 331. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-015-1280-z
41.
PielotM.de OliveiraR.KwakH.OliverN. (2014). Didn’t you see my message? Predicting attentiveness to mobile instant messages. In CHI 2014: ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 3319–3328). https://doi.org/10.1145/2556288.2556973
42.
PrzybylskiA. K.MurayamaK.DeHaanC. R.GladwellV. (2013). Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(4), 1841–1848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.02.014
43.
ReisH. T.GableS. L.ManiaciM. R. (2014). Methods for studying everyday experience in its natural context. In ReisH. T.JuddC. M.ReisH. T.JuddC. M. (eds.), Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology (pp. 373–403). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511996481.019
44.
RettieR. (2009). SMS: exploiting the interactional characteristics of near-synchrony. Information, Communication & Society, 12(8), 1131-1148. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691180902786943
45.
RimalR. N.LapinskiM. K. (2015). A re-explication of social norms, ten years later. Communication Theory, 25(4), 393–409. https://doi.org/10.1111/comt.12080
46.
SchneiderF. M.HitzfeldS. (2019). I Ought to Put Down That Phone but I Phub Nevertheless: Examining the Predictors of Phubbing Behavior. Social Science Computer Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439319882365
47.
ShuterR.ChattopadhyayS. (2010). Emerging interpersonal norms of text messaging in India and the United States. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 39(2), 123–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/17475759.2010.526319
48.
TrieuP.BayerJ. B.EllisonN. B.SchoenebeckS.FalkE. (2017). Who likes to be reachable? Availability preferences, weak ties, and bridging social capital. Information, Communication & Society, 22(8), 1096–1111. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2017.1405060
49.
TylerJ.R.TangJ.C. (2003). When can I expect an email response? A study of rhythms in email usage. In KuuttiK.KarstenE.H.FitzpatrickG.DourishP.SchmidtK. (eds.) ECSCW 2003 (pp. 239-258). Springer.
50.
Vanden AbeeleM. M.P.AntheunisM. L.SchoutenA. P. (2016). The effect of mobile messaging during a conversation on impression formation and interaction quality. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 562–569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.04.005
51.
Vanden AbeeleM. M.P.HendricksonA. T.PollmannM. M.H.LingR. (2019). Phubbing behavior in conversations and its relation to perceived conversation intimacy and distraction: An exploratory observation study. Computers in Human Behavior, 100, 35–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.06.004
52.
VordererP.KohringM. (2013). Permanently online: A challenge for media and communication research. International Journal of Communication, 7, 188–196.
53.
VordererP.KrömerN.SchneiderF. M. (2016). Permanently online – permanently connected: Explorations into university students’ use of social media and mobile smart devices. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 694–703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.085
54.
WirthW.PapeT.von, & KarnowskiV. (2008). An integrative model of mobile phone appropriation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(3), 593–617. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2008.00412.x
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
