How Social Network Characteristics Affect Users’ Trust and Purchase Intention

Abstract

These days, young college students cannot imagine life without social network service (SNS). They access and browse social network sites everyday to get information, find friends, enjoy entertainment, and express their opinion. Despite an extraordinary amount of time consumed on SNS by young adults, there have not been extensive researches and discussion of social networking services and their impact on purchase intention. The aim of this research is to discover how SNS characteristics affect SNS users' trust and purchase intention in Chinese SNS Weibo. Regression analysis from the SPSS 13.0 program was used to conduct the research. This research identified the social network characteristic (informativeness) that affects trust in Weibo. This article also suggests variables (trust and informativeness) that have an effect on the purchase intention on the Weibo. Thus, we hope this study will help practitioners and companies that can formulate appropriate marketing strategies on social network platforms when selling their products and service.