Why do We Share Information? Explaining Information Sharing Behavior through a New Conceptual Model between Sharer to Receiver within SNS

Abstract

Social networking services (SNS) is an indispensable method in order to obtain information of the Internet participants. The study identified three variables of social media communication, sharing culture, and online trust in terms of social capital theory (SCT) and reviewed intention& behavior variables in terms of theory of planned behavior (TPB). The data were collected from 330 samples of SNS user, and were involved, and the research model uses AMOS to make confirmatory factor analysis. The findings confirmed our hypothesis that social media communication, sharing culture, and online trust affect individuals’ behaviors to sharing information. This study emphasizes that not only social media communication but also sharing culture to SNS can stimulate information sharing. while previous research has predominately focused on personal cognition or social network, the study examines the integrated influence of communication, culture and trust on information sharing in SNS. In sum, by explicating the unique role of social capital, this paper aims at contributing to the continued development and success of SNS in general.