Samenvatting

Mobile Instant Messaging apps, such as Signal and WhatsApp, are part of everyday communication in the Netherlands. Yet, technology-adoption literature mainly focuses on functional aspects like ease of use and usefulness, while the role of human values in switching intention is often overlooked. This study examines how openness, sovereignty, and transparency influence users’ intentions to switch MIM apps. It applies the Value-Based Adoption Model, extended with Social Exchange Theory, and analyzes a survey of 310 Dutch app users using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The model explains 33.8 % of variance in perceived value and 30.4 % in switching intention. Of the nine predictors, only switching benefits (positive), switching costs (negative), and sovereignty (positive, small effect) significantly influence perceived value. Ease of use, usefulness, inertia, uncertainty, openness, and transparency were not supported. The findings show a gap between what users say they value and what actually drives switching intention