Main factors for joining new social networking sites

Abstract

The popularity of Social Networking Sites (SNS) such as Facebook or Twitter, along with their potential as marketing tools, is drawing the attention of entrepreneurs and developers to create their own SNS. Research about SNS users' behaviour is focused on users' participation, leaving a gap in relation to users' reasons for joining a new SNS. Thus, our work aims to contribute to the literature by investigating the main motivations that a SNS user has for joining a new SNS. Following the framework of the decomposed theory of planned behaviour (DTPB), a two-step structural equation model was implemented in order to answer the research question. Findings made it possible to explain 55% of the intention to join a new SNS. In order to explain the intention, the attitude towards the new network plays a key role, which in turn is directly influenced by perceived usefulness. Our findings invite SNS practitioners working on creating new social media websites or services to pay special attention to how to portray the new SNS in order to be appealing for the users. On the theoretical implications, the proposed model confirmed the need to include additional variables to the TPB in order to gain a better understanding of the phenomena studied. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.