A Study On The Motivation Of Social Reading Sharing Behavior

In recent years,with the popularity of social reading mode which emphasizes sharing and interaction with others in the process of reading,many mobile reading APPs in China have develop functions such as forming reading groups and taking public notes,turning traditional private reading into social reading.In mobile reading apps,the content shared by users not only provides the readers with the nutrients other than knowledge in the book,but also becomes the basis of the subsequent interaction between readers.Therefore,users` sharing behavior has important value in social reading.Based on the curiosity of social reading,and considering the small number of researches in this area,this study is based on Self-determination Theory(SDT),taking "WeChat Reading" APP as an example to explore the motivation of sharing thoughts and reviews in the reading process among users.And also,the impact of environmental factors on mobile reading APP on user sharing behavior motivation is explored from the perspective of satisfying users' competence needs,relatedness needs and autonomy needs.The results show that two types of autonomy motivation,that is intrinsic motivation and identified motivation in extrinsic motivation are the main power to promote the user's social reading sharing behavior,which means that the sharing behavior of mobile reading APP users has a higher degree of self-determination and stability.The sharer usually fully enjoys the pleasure brought by the sharing behavior itself or realizes and recognizes the value of the behavior.Among them,record collection and thinking and sorting value are mentioned frequently,and some interviewees agree with the value of triggering social interaction as well as enhancing and maintaining reputation.In terms of controlled motivation,some interviewees self-reported sharing experience triggered by introjected regulation,which was mainly manifested that individuals internalized the attention and affirmation of others as an important factor to enhance self confidence.The sharing behavior is controlled by the user himself but is highly influenced by external environment.Meanwhile,the external regulation with the least degree of autonomy has no obvious driving effect on users` social reading sharing behavior.This may be related to the very limited external rewards offered by the mobile reading app.In terms of influencing factors,the external environment on mobile reading APP mainly affects users`s motivation through the need of competence and relatedness.The social contextual factors that affect the user's autonomy needs are only reflected by several interviewees so thatmay require further measurement.Social contextual factors that affect user's competence are mainly characteristics of sharing task and external feedback.A sharing task of importance or with modest challenge has a positive impact on meeting the user's competence needs.Positive feedback from the outside world and the negative feedback with information also promote the user's sense of competency,but the verbal attack caused by the anonymity of Internet will passively affect the enthusiasm of users` sharing behavior.The factors that affect user's relatedness needs include the identity of others,social interaction and privacy concerns.The identity of others helps the sharer establish self-identity and group identity,so to meet the individual's belonging needs.On one hand,social interaction brings potential interaction objects to the sharer.On the other hand,it also influences the internalization of external motivation through the role model behavior or the emphasis and attention of others,and enhances the enthusiasm to share notes and reviews.On the contrary,concerns about privacy may affect users' trust in the environment and other users,damage their sense of belonging so that users may hinder self-disclosure on the platform in some ways.