To share or not to Share? Credibility and Dissemination of Electric Vehicle-Related Information on WeChat: A Moderated Dual-Process Model

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) have been regarded as a promising solution to address the pressure to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation sector. Prior research has primarily focused on their adoption behavior (intention) per se. However, gaining and processing EV-related information as the foundation for adoption have been ignored in previous research. Social media such as WeChat are influential communication channels that play a significant role in promoting information dissemination and innovation diffusion. Data from a sample of 334 respondents were collected in China to investigate EV-related information credibility on WeChat and its impact on information dissemination through a moderated dual-process model. The empirical results show that information source-based trust and the habit of believing have a significantly positive impact on information content credibility, while recipient expertise negatively affects content credibility. Information content credibility, in turn, has a direct and positive impact on information dissemination on WeChat. Personal relevance negatively moderates the links from information source-based trust and the habit of believing in information content credibility while positively moderating the relationships between recipient expertise and content credibility and between content credibility and information dissemination. Considering the empirical results, we discuss the implications for promoting EV-related information dissemination and provide suggestions for future study.