This study aimed to understand the psychological processes underlying learners’ continuance intention to participate in massive open online courses (MOOCs). We proposed a research model incorporating three variables that are well-explored in the relevant literature, namely satisfaction, attitude and confirmation, and two rarely examined variables, namely perceived MOOC performance and habit. Two studies were conducted with Chinese MOOC learners using multiple data sources, specifically open online textual data, focus group interviews and questionnaire surveys. Our research revealed that perceptions of MOOC performance were represented by two attribute-level qualities, knowledge transmission quality and interaction quality. Interaction quality was not related to satisfaction with the learning experience, whereas a habit of choosing MOOCs as a learning mode was found to significantly increase continuance intention. The insights from this study can help guide MOOC instructors to improve the learner experience in this virtual environment, MOOC providers to maintain the sustainability of MOOCs and universities to prepare MOOCs for inclusion in blended classes.