Research On The Influence Of Inconsistent Information Of Circle In Mobile Social Network On Information-Seeking Behavior

With the rapid development of mobile Internet,information-seeking behavior research has gradually become a research hotspot in the field of consumer behavior,and has been widely concerned by scholars at home and abroad.Information seeking is an indispensable stage of the consumer decision-making process.It is the basis for consumers to make reasonable purchasing decisions and can provide an important reference for the formulation of consumer purchasing decisions.Therefore,it is of great significance to conduct in-depth research on consumer information-seeking behavior.Studies have shown that consumer information-seeking behavior is affected by factors such as information quality,information source credibility,perceived usefulness,etc.,but ignore the effect of information inconsistency on consumer information-seeking behavior.On the other hand,the intensification of corporate trust crisis has caused consumers to no longer rely on information pushed by companies,and instead they believe in the information provided by their social circles.Reviewing the research results of scholars in the past,the research on integrating network circles and consumer information-seeking behavior is still very limited..To this end,this study will start from the mobile social network environment,(1)trying to explore the influence of inconsistent information within the network circle on consumer information-seeking behavior and its mechanism,that is,the mediating role of ambivalent attitude;(2)digging deeper into possible boundary condition,that is,moderating role of the network circle type.The study consists of two experiments.The experiment 1 was designed into two groups,the purpose of experiment 1 is to test the main effect and mediating role of ambivalent attitude;Experiment 2 uses 2(inconsistent information of circle: high inconsistency/low inconsistency)x 2(network circle type: strong relationship/weak relationship)between-subjects design to verify the main effect again and explore moderating role of network circle types on the main effect and mediating effect.Results show that:(1)Inconsistent information of circle will positively affect consumer information-seeking behavior,and the ambivalent attitude plays a partial mediating role in this influencing process.(2)The network circle type will moderate the relationship between information inconsistency and consumer information-seeking behavior.When the inconsistent information comes from a strong relational circle,the positive influence of information inconsistency on consumer information-seeking behavior will be weakened.When the inconsistent information comes from a weak relationship circle,the positive influence of information inconsistency on consumer information-seeking behavior will be enhanced.(3)The network circle type will moderate the relationship between information inconsistency and ambivalent attitude.When the inconsistent information comes from a strong relationship circle,the positive influence of information inconsistency on the consumer’s ambivalent attitude will be weakened,thereby reducing the consumer’s information search;when the inconsistent information is from a weak relationship circle,the positive influence of information inconsistency on the consumer’s ambivalent attitude will be enhanced,thus promoting consumers to search for information.The conclusions of this study can reveal the influence of inconsistent information within the network circle on consumer information-seeking behavior and its mechanism,and enrich the research theory of information-seeking behavior and related fields in the circle.At the same time,this research can also enable enterprises to better understand consumer information-seeking behavior,and can correctly use the consumer circle in the mobile social network to carry out a series of marketing activities.