Study on the Influence of the Value Conveying of Emoticons in Mobile Chat Tools on Users' Motivation and Intention: a Case Study of Middle-aged and Elderly Wechat Users

Abstract

In this study, Wechat, China's mainstream social software, was chosen as the media, and through the combination of online and offline surveys, this study conducted a questionnaire survey on WeChat emoticon users over 45 years old, so as to explore the impact of the value conveyed through WeChat emoticons on the motivation and intention of middle-aged and elderly users. First of all, this study conducted the research through the combination of literature research and interviews. Through online questionnaire distribution and offline face-to-face interviews, the researcher modified the items of the pre-test questionnaire, constructed 6 dimensions with 18 evaluation indicators, collected 326 valid questionnaires, and conducted data analysis through SPSS. By building a structural equation model, this study explored the factors affecting the usage intention of WeChat emoticons of middle-aged and elderly users. The results show that there is a significant positive correlation between the four variables. Based on the research findings, this study makes several suggestions to provide reference for the design of emoticons for middle-aged and elderly users in the future.