Why Users Share the News: Uncovering the Role of Motives, Attitudes, and Intention in Predicting News Sharing Behavior

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session I
  In Interactive Paper Session: Communication and Technology Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Social media have become an integral part of news consumption and distribution by enabling people to participate in the news flow. Due to easy-to-use posting tools, social media especially facilitate news sharing—a behavior that has the potential to increase political involvement and engagement. Drawing from the uses and gratifications theory (UGT) and the theory of reasoned action (TRA), this study investigated the effects of motives, attitudes and intentions on news sharing behavior among German social media users (n = 333). Findings show that news sharing attitude has a positive effect on intention, which in turn has a positive effect on behavior. While the motives information seeking and socializing exerted a direct influence on news sharing attitude, intention, and behavior, status seeking only directly influenced behavior. Besides, political interest was also a significant determinant of news sharing behavior. Implications for theorizing social media related behaviors are discussed.

Authors

• Anna Sophie Kuempel, LMU Munich

• Veronika Karnowski, LMU Munich

• Larissa Leonhard, LMU Munich