An investigation of information sharing and seeking behaviors in online investment communities

• Published in: Computers in human behavior Vol. 31; pp. 1 - 12
• Main Authors: Park, Jae Hong, Gu, Bin, Leung, Alvin Chung Man, Konana, Prabhudev
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-02-2014
• Subjects: Behavioral intentions; Communities; Computer simulation; Financing; Human behavior; Information seeking and sharing behaviors; Investment; Mathematical models; On-line systems; Online; Social networks; Social-psychological theory; Stock message boards; Weak-tie network; Weak-tie network; Behavioral intentions; Information seeking and sharing behaviors; Stock message boards; Social-psychological theory
• ISSN: 0747-5632; 1873-7692
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.002

•We construct a model to capture users’ information sharing and seeking behaviors simultaneously.•We investigate users’ information sharing and seeking behaviors in a weak-tie network (e.g., online stock message boards).•Perceived knowledge reduces intention to seek while reputation enhances intention to share.•Social and community factors significantly influence both intention to share and intention to seek.•Intention to seek is negatively related to information sharing behavior.
Social networks have attracted significant attention in academic research. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of research on simultaneous information seeking and sharing behaviors in online social networks. In this research, we investigate why and how weakly connected members participate in online investment communities. We propose a theoretical model to simultaneously analyze two types of user behavior – information seeking and information sharing. Based on a survey of 502 members of one of the largest online investment communities in South Korea, we validate our model. We find that sense of belonging, entertainment value, and perceived usefulness are significant antecedent factors of both intention to share and intention to seek, which subsequently lead to information sharing and information seeking behaviors. Also, reputation seeking enhances intention to share while perceived knowledge reduces intention to seek. Furthermore, intention to seek is positively related to information seeking behavior; however, negatively related to information sharing behavior, and intention to share is positively related to only information sharing behavior. Our research enriches extant literature on social networks by providing new insights to help understand user participation behaviors in online communities.