Motivational and Social Capital Factors Influencing the Success of Social Network Sites: Twitter Case

Information is considered as an all-encompassing element that weaves connections and facilitates continued use in social networking. This study provides a new perspective by delineating the nature of information in social networking into hedonic and utilitarian information quality as well as information providers’ characteristics such as their reputation and intentions (altruism). Extending DeLone and McLean’s model of information system success, this study devises a model of online social networking success, a new framework that incorporates motivation and social capital dimensions, which fittingly characterize the social networking context. We adapt the scales from previous research on information systems, marketing, and sociology and validate the model first through a pilot study based on a sample of 101 Twitter users in Korea. We then conduct the actual survey (a combination of online and offline surveys) by considering a sample of 249 Twitter users. The results indicate that the utilitarian quality of tweets and tweet providers’ intentions were significantly related to perceived trust, whereas the hedonic quality of tweets and tweet providers’ reputation were positively related to user satisfaction. Perceived trust and user satisfaction were significantly related to continued use intentions.