Understanding the health information sharing behavior of social media users: An empirical study on WeChat

Abstract

Studies have focused on elucidating the sharing behavior of media users. However, few studies have specifically investigated users’ health information sharing behavior in the social media context, especially WeChat. This study proposes a theoretical research model that integrates social capital and user gratification with the theory of planned behavior to explore health information sharing behavior of WeChat users. Based on online survey data collected from 616 WeChat users, correlation analysis and structural equation modeling were sequentially performed. It was found that both social capital and gratification factors play important roles in influencing WeChat users’ health information sharing. Social interaction, acting both as social capital and gratification factor directly and indirectly generated positive effects on health information sharing intention. In conclusion, this study revealed the key determinants of health information sharing intention among WeChat users and examined the mediation effects to effectively understand users’ health information sharing behavior.