• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.289-308
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• 2014

Mobile instant messaging (MIM) has been widely used in modern society due to its portability, speed and ease of use. In addition to simple text-based messaging, mobile instant message has now expanded to include graphics, images, and video. Many instant message service providers attempt to differentiate their service by providing an unique emoticon. Therefore, understanding the factors that affecting the continuous usage of emoticon is essential to capture users' interest. There is relatively little study on emoticon in information systems field. Hence, this study attempts to explore the continuous usage of emoticon through exploring the property of emoticon and usage motivation of emoticon. Based on the results, this study attempts to demonstrate practical implication of marketing on understanding user interest to mobile instant messenger service provider.