Purpose: This study aims to explore whether content originality and user experience have positive effects on online news readers' satisfaction with the mobile apps service.

Design/methodology/approach: Data was collected via a Web-based survey. Data analysis of this study can be divided into two stages. In the first stage, a descriptive statistical analysis was conducted based on a sample of 612 respondents. In the second stage, the correlation among content originality, user experience and satisfaction was analyzed based on a sample of 377 mobile news apps users.

Findings: Results of the first stage showed that social media and mobile news apps were the most important tools for users to access news, and different types of media were playing complementary roles in information transmission. Users held a positive attitude toward their mobile news reading experience and they described news they read on mobile apps with such words as “interesting”, “instant”, “positive”, “profound”, and “ironic”. Results of the second stage confirmed our hypothesis that content originality and user experience both had positive impacts on user satisfaction.

Research limitations: The questionnaires were distributed entirely online, so the sample may not be representative of the general population being studied and thus undermine the reliability and generalization of the findings to some extent. Moreover, this study adopted only one method (survey) and more methods such as interviews can be used to improve the accuracy of the results.

Practical implications: The findings of this study can not only provide insights into a better understanding of users' mobile reading behavior, but also help mobile information service providers attract more users.

Originality/value: This is one of the first studies to explore the effects of content originality and user experience on online news readers’ satisfaction with the mobile apps service.

Purpose: This study aims to explore whether content originality and user experience have positive effects on online news readers' satisfaction with the mobile apps service.

Design/methodology/approach: Data was collected via a Web-based survey. Data analysis of this study can be divided into two stages. In the first stage, a descriptive statistical analysis was conducted based on a sample of 612 respondents. In the second stage, the correlation among content originality, user experience and satisfaction was analyzed based on a sample of 377 mobile news apps users.

Findings: Results of the first stage showed that social media and mobile news apps were the most important tools for users to access news, and different types of media were playing complementary roles in information transmission. Users held a positive attitude toward their mobile news reading experience and they described news they read on mobile apps with such words as “interesting”, “instant”, “positive”, “profound”, and “ironic”. Results of the second stage confirmed our hypothesis that content originality and user experience both had positive impacts on user satisfaction.

Research limitations: The questionnaires were distributed entirely online, so the sample may not be representative of the general population being studied and thus undermine the reliability and generalization of the findings to some extent. Moreover, this study adopted only one method (survey) and more methods such as interviews can be used to improve the accuracy of the results.

Practical implications: The findings of this study can not only provide insights into a better understanding of users' mobile reading behavior, but also help mobile information service providers attract more users.

Originality/value: This is one of the first studies to explore the effects of content originality and user experience on online news readers’ satisfaction with the mobile apps service.