Understanding the Behavior of Sharing Information of Wechat Users: An Integrated Model

Abstract

In this paper we propose a holistic view on the behavior of sharing information of Wechat users. We posit not only factors that have been studied before (traditional social factors based on rational action theory) but also social network factors (i.e., trust and habit of users for their sharing information in Wechat) could influence the behavior of sharing information. This study attempts to contribute to the understanding of information sharing behavior in Wechat context. Literature Review Research of Relative Wechat. Since Wechat has invented for just more than 3 years, many studies have discussed the Wechat. For example, they focused on Wechat's advantages comparing with other traditional media, Weibo, M-talking and some similar tools, Wechat's propagation mode, the reason for the rise of Wechat, Wechat's marketing or propagation value, implementation means, new opportunities for "we media" brought by Wechat. Although their research perspectives are different from users' information sharing intention, some of the listed contents about Wechat's features can help us acquaint with Wechat's sharing attributes in an indirect way. For example, Zhang (2013) points out that the combination of Wechat and smart phones enlarges the function of Wechat get, and a large number of information and knowledge also disseminate extensively through the Wechat [1]. From the