The mediating effect of BIM application on the link between organizational support and BIM user satisfaction

Building information modeling (BIM) is considered to be the most promising technological innovation in the construction industry, and its widespread application is an inevitable trend. The satisfaction level of employees using BIM serves as a crucial indicator of the success of BIM implementation. Therefore, it is imperative to enhance users' satisfaction. While some researchers have explored the impact of organizational support, there has been a dearth of in-depth studies on the specific mechanisms underlying its influence. Previous research has identified both emotional and instrumental dimensions of organizational support, however, the specific mechanisms through which these two forms of support affect BIM user satisfaction have not been thoroughly explored. This study investigates the effects of organizational support on BIM user satisfaction in construction companies and proposes the mediating role of exploitative and exploratory applications in their relationship from the perspective of dual innovation theory. Drawing data from 151 valid questionnaires, regression analysis is conducted to examine the relationship between organizational support and user satisfaction. Additionally, the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) is established to verify the mediating role of explorative and exploitive applications. The findings show that: (1) instrumental support and emotional support both increase BIM user satisfaction; (2) both exploitative and exploratory applications mediate the effect of emotional support on BIM user satisfaction; (3) only exploratory application mediates between instrumental support and BIM user satisfaction. These findings explain the mechanism through which organizational support influences BIM user satisfaction and offer insight for managers to improve the satisfaction level.