How Is Mobile User Behavior Different? A Hidden Markov Model of Cross-Mobile Application Usage Dynamics

Driven by the ubiquity and strong context dependence of mobile app use, Internet companies are in a race of cross-industry expansion to build a seamless ecosystem incorporating various contexts. This paper offers several insights on improving app use in the era of mobile Internet. In contrast to PC Internet, in addition to hedonic and utilitarian states, we uncover a novel social state that is prevalent but transient, indicating mobile users have a fundamental need for frequent light-social activities. Thus, one strategy to increase use is to enrich an app’s social components, specifically on light-social functionalities. In addition, our results show that app use interdependence is the strongest under the hedonic state. This indicates the strategic value of boosting current app use is the highest in the hedonic state, providing guidance to companies on better spending of their limited marketing resources. Furthermore, we show that these internal states are interdependent of each other and their dynamic is affected by contextual factors that are distinct in the mobile context. Thus, companies should put more weight on tailoring their engagement strategies under different contexts in the ear of mobile Internet than the traditional PC context. Mobile application use has become an essential activity in many people’s daily lives in the mobile Internet era. Driven by its ubiquity and strong context dependence, Internet companies are in a race of cross-industry expansion to build a seamless ecosystem incorporating various contexts. Amid such trends, a better understanding of cross-app uses and the impact of contexts becomes critical and imperative. Yet, research on cross-app uses in information systems and marketing is scarce. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap. We develop a hidden Markov model to study cross-app uses (choice and duration), capturing their interdependence and the impacts of contextual factors. We calibrate it using a consumer panel that contains real-time app use information. Our key findings are as follows. (1) In addition to the utilitarian and hedonic states behind consumer decisions identified in prior literature, we uncover a novel social state behind mobile user behavior. App use behavior exhibits large differences across three states. (2) Within-state app interdependence is strongest in the hedonic state, followed by the social and utilitarian states. (3) Social state is the most transient (i.e., mostly likely to switch away), followe