Research On The Essential Factors Affecting Information Sharing Behavior Via Social Media Among Multicultural Individuals

The social media have played an outstanding role in bringing people closer having multicultural backgrounds and created the essence of “global village.” In this virtually inter-connected global village,it is important to examine the essential predictors impacting information sharing behavior of multicultural individuals with the help of social media platforms.Therefore,the present thesis aims to flourish deep understandings about the information sharing behavior of multicultural individuals through popular social media such as We Chat and Twitter.Hence,this thesis focuses on certain objectives such as(1)Investigation of essential factors affecting information sharing behavior of multicultural individuals through We Chat.(2)To explore the potential precursors affecting information sharing behavior of multicultural individuals via Twitter.(3)To compare the factors affecting both social media platforms in term of information sharing behavior among multicultural individuals.In the nutshell,this thesis will remain focused on the above mentioned objectives and answered the important research questions i.e.(1)What are the reasons behind multicultural individuals' selection of suitable social media(We Chat & Twitter)for information and content sharing?(2)How and why multicultural individuals are psychologically motivated to use We Chat frequently for information sharing and content exchange?(3)What are the essential factors and how they affect information sharing attitude and behavior of multicultural individuals via Twitter?(4)Comparison between We Chat and Twitter based on personal,motivational and network factors.The current study based upon,social cognitive theory(SCT),social network theory(SNT),theory of planned behavior(TPB)and Diffusion of innovation model(DOI).To attain the above mentioned objectives and to answer the research questions,this thesis employs both quantitative and qualitative approaches.To analysis quantitative data structural equation modeling(SEM)and multi-group analysis(MGA)and to examine qualitative data,content analysis method(CAM)were adopted.In chapter 2,the associated concepts and theoretical foundations were explained.All the theoretical concepts were taken from prior literature relevant to the topics of information sharing behavior via social media platforms by multicultural individuals.The existing features and state of information sharing behaviors via social media have been presented in detail comprising the progression and development of essential precursors that have influenced how multicultural individuals are motivated to share information within the social media.In Chapter 3 the author has examine essential factors such as individual-level factors(experiential and motivational)and network-level factors(perceived richness)which affect information sharing attitude-behavior of multicultural individuals via We Chat as social media platform.In first phase the author is intended to present descriptions about multicultural individual and information sharing by using We Chat.In second phase of the chapter the author has empirically evaluated experiential,motivation and network factors influencing information sharing attitude-behavior of multicultural individuals via We Chat.In Chapter 3 the theoretical model tests a combine effect of past sharing experience(PE),trust(TR),perceived benefit(PB),perceived richness(RI),& information sharing attitude(ATT),on information sharing behavior(BEH)by using We Chat.The data has been analyzed through SEM.The results specify,PE,TR and PB positively affect ATT which further influences information sharing behavior of multicultural individuals' on We Chat.Chapter 4 describes the important antecedents affecting information sharing behavior of multicultural individuals with the help of Twitter.The author has evaluated essential antecedents affecting multicultural individuals' information sharing attitudebehavior via Twitter.The author has examined a combine effect of perceived benefit(PB),perceived easiness of use(PEOU)and technology innovation(INNO)on Twitter information sharing attitude(ATT)which influences Information sharing behavior(BEH)through Twitter.Here mixed method approach has been used.Firstly,via online survey a set of quantity data was collected and examined with the help of SEM.Secondly,to get qualitative data,in-depth interviews were conducted and CAM was used to analysis the qualitative data set.All exogenous variables have a positive impact on the sharing of information via Twitter.Furthermore,PB,PEOU,INNO significantly affect ATT and BEH via Twitter.In chapter 5 the author has presented a comparison of essential factors affecting information sharing via We Chat and Twitter.This chapter compares We Chat and Twitter usage by multicultural individuals,and provides in-depth understandings about both media platforms,i.e.We Chat and Twitter in term of information sharing.Specifically,the author has compared both media platforms based on individual level factors(perceived benefit & perceived easiness of use)and network factors(technological innovation).The data has been collected from multicultural individuals(foregin students studying in a set of Chinese universities)with the help of online survey and used MGA method to compare both social media(We Chat and Twitter).Finally,this chapter has presented a detail discussions and implications for managers and strategists of both media platforms We Chat and Twitter,respectively.Chapter 6 explains the suggestions for the managers and strategists of the social media particularly for the We Chat and Twitter service providers.In this chapter,firstly the author has suggested that the social media managers need to remain focus on userfriendly tools.They need to update their services and offers time and again.Secondly,the author has highlighted that the social media platforms – We Chat and Twitter need to operate their services throughout the globe and try their best to become multicultural platforms.Thirdly,the author has proposed that the social media platforms must introduce strict check and evaluation on virtual anonymous activities.Fourthly,the author has suggested to strengthen the concept of social capital among the users of social media platform.Since scant studies focus on information sharing behavior of multicultural individuals – current thesis contributes to the IS literature work,particularly to the information sharing via social media in multicultural perspectives.The study implications are likely to be useful guidance for practitioners and scholars intent to evaluate Information sharing activity on social media,especially from a multicultural perspective...