Factors Impacting Chinese College Students Perceived Usefulness and Continuance Intention Toward an Online Learning Platform in Yibin China

This study investigates the factors influencing Chinese college students’ perceived usefulness and continuance intention regarding an online learning platform in Yibin, China. Based on the Expectation Confirmation Model (ECM) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), a conceptual framework was developed with five independent variables (Information Quality (IQ), System Quality (SQ), Perceived Ease of Use (PEU), Social Influence (SI), and Interactivity (INT)), one mediating variable - Perceived Usefulness (PU), and one dependent variable - Continuance Intention (CI)). A structured questionnaire was distributed to 500 senior undergraduate students from four majors at Sichuan University of Science & Engineering (Yibin campus). Empirical findings indicate that all five independent variables—IQ, SQ, PEU, SI, and INT—positively and significantly affect PU. Furthermore, both PU and PEU have significant direct impacts on CI. PU plays a key mediating role, linking system and social factors to usage behavior. These observations reaffirm prior scholarly work in technology adoption and on learning, supporting the premise that students’ judgments of content quality, platform usability, social environment, and interactive features critically shape their evaluation of usefulness, which in turn influences their CI to use online learning platforms. The findings offer practical insights for improving online learning platforms through enhanced quality, interactivity, and social engagement features.