Article

Information Development
2018, Vol. 34(2) 139–147
Gratifications for using social media: ª The Author(s) 2016
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A comparative analysis of Sina Weibo DOI: 10.1177/0266666916679717
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and WeChat in China

Chunmei Gan
Sun Yat-sen University

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine the general and specific gratifications that drive users’ choice of
different social media. Sina Weibo and WeChat in China were selected for the current study. Two separate
empirical surveys were conducted and 368 valid data were collected from Chinese university students
experienced in using Sina Weibo or WeChat. Exploratory factor analysis, paired t test and independent-
samples t test were employed for data analysis. The results identify four general gratifications for using
different social media: hedonic gratification, affection gratification, information gratification and social grati-
fication. In addition, factor structure of information gratification is different for different social media.
Furthermore, the strength of each gratification differs to varying degrees across the use of different social
media. Information gratification plays the most salient role in using Sina Weibo, whereas affection gratification
is the most important motive for the use of WeChat. Also, the use of Sina Weibo can better fulfill individuals’
information and hedonic gratifications, while individuals prefer to use WeChat for achieving gratifications of
social and affection.

Keywords
uses and gratifications theory, social media, motivation, WeChat, microblogging, SinaWeibo

Submitted: 8 August, 2016; Accepted: 25 October, 2016.

Users may obtain the same gratifications from different social media, but how the
gratifications are achieved may be different.

Introduction continued to advance, studies report that one type of

The use of social media has become increasingly
widespread with high penetration rates and has had
significant influences on people’s daily lives (China
Internet Network Information Center 2016a, China
Internet Network Information Center 2016b). Social
media refers to “a group of Internet-based applica-
tions that build on the ideological and technological
foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation
and exchange of user generated content”, such as
social networking, microblogging, blogs and content
communities (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010: 61). It pro-
vides a useful and effective vehicle for information
creation, sharing and seeking as well as socialization
(Kietzmann et al. 2011). Although social media has
social media is not being replaced by another (Quan-
Haase and Young 2010; Raacke and Bonds-Raacke
2008). Rather, users may purposefully employ differ-
ent social media due to their media preference and
different needs (Lo and Leung 2009; Dimmick et al.
2000). According to a report issued by iResearch
(2014), 23.8% of individuals in China use only one
type of social media, and 41.8% of individuals use
two types simultaneously. This indicates that
Corresponding author:
Chunmei Gan, School of Information Management, Sun Yat-sen
University, Guangzhou, China.
Email: chunmei_gan@163.com
140
individual users tend to embrace a range of social
media, and each form may satisfy their unique needs
(Quan-Haase and Young 2010; Ku et al. 2013). In
addition, there is intense competition in the Chinese
social media market and individuals’ switching cost
from one service to another is quite low (China Inter-
net Network Information Center 2016b; Gan 2016).
Thus, it is valuable to examine motivators influencing
users’ choice of different social media.
In the literature, prior studies have employed differ-
ent theories to investigate the use of social media, such
as the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis 1989),
the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen 1991) and
Innovation Diffusion Theory (Rogers 1995). Although
these findings provide insights into the use of social
media, they cannot fully explain the complex nature of
individuals’ choices and behaviors (Ku et al. 2013). In
addition, extant research has mainly focused on indi-
viduals’ use of one type of social media (e.g., social
networking, instant messaging or microblogging), and
comparative analysis of the use of different social
media is limited. This study attempts to address these
issues. Drawing upon the uses and gratifications
(U&G) theory (Katz et al. 1974), this study investigates
the gratifications obtained from the use of social media.
Specifically, this study seeks answers to the following
research question:
Are there general or specific gratifications obtained
across the use of different social media?
In particular, considering the popularity and high
penetrating rates of Sina Weibo (‘新浪微博’ in Chinese)
and WeChat (‘微信’ in Chinese) in China, (China Inter-
net Network Information Center 2016a, China Internet
Network Information Center 2016b), they were selected
for this study. Thus, they could provide insights into the
best practices in this area and serve as an appropriate
context for exploring motivations behind the use of
social media (Zhang et al. 2014).
Sina Weibo is a microblogging and social network-
ing service that enables the creating and sharing of
information over the microblogging network. It has
similar features to Twitter, in that individuals can post
short messages about any topic with a limited number
of characters (e.g., 140 characters) (Liu, Cheung, and
Lee 2016). Also, individuals can follow others to
receive their updated messages and leave comments.
WeChat is an instant messaging and social network-
ing service that supports multiple communications
between two or more individuals. Similar to
Information Development 34(2)
WhatsApp, it enables real-time communication via,
e.g., text, voice and video messaging as well as loca-
tion sharing. Moreover, functions such as Moments
and public accounts provide users an innovative way
for socialization and obtaining information.
Compared to WeChat, individual users of Sina
Weibo could receive a variety of information and
up-to-date information via functions such as ‘hot
topics’. It covers topics such as domestic and foreign
news and entertainment, as well as industry informa-
tion. The specific feature of WeChat lies in the famil-
iarity of users; that is, most WeChat ‘friends’
recognize each other in reality.
Empirical data about the use of Sina Weibo and
WeChat were collected through survey question-
naires. In doing so, this study offers several contribu-
tions. First, it conducts a comparative study to
identify the gratifications obtained from the use of
different social media. This expands the scope of
research on gratifications for using social media with
reference to a comparison. Second, this study reveals
the commonalities and differences among the motives
to use Sina Weibo and WeChat. The findings on gen-
eral gratifications could be applied to deep under-
standing of the choice of other social media. Third,
this study highlights affection gratification as the most
vital motivation for the use of WeChat. This will
deepen our understanding of the motivation to use
specific social media. From a managerial perspective,
findings from this study suggest how to attract and
maintain users by satisfying the specific gratifications
they obtain from different social media.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows.
The theoretical background and literature review are
described in the next section. The following section
puts forward the research methods, including research
design and data collection. The findings are presented
in the next section, following up with a discussion in
the penultimate section. The last section summarizes
the implications and limitations of the study.
Theoretical background and literature
review
Originating in the research field of radio communica-
tion, the uses and gratifications (U&G) theory was
widely used and developed in mass communication
research. The U&G theory explains why individuals
actively choose specific media to gratify a variety of
needs (Katz et al. 1974). It identifies the social and
psychological needs that drive individuals’ use of
Gan: Gratifications for using social media 141

particular media (Katz et al. 1974). According to the Table 1. Gratifications obtained from the use of social
U&G theory, individuals are active in choosing media media.
to meet their specific needs. As Li et al. (2015) stated,
Social media Gratifications Study
individuals are aware of their needs, which arouse
motivators that affect their use of communication Instant Relationship maintenance, Ku et al. (2013)
media, thus leading to various outcomes, such as messaging information seeking,
affective and cognitive outcomes (Katz, Blumler, and amusement, style,
Gurevitch 1974; Weibull 1985). The U&G theory has sociability, and kill time
been applied to a variety of traditional media contexts Relationship maintenance Quan-Haase
to understand motivations for media use, such as and development and Young
(2010)
television (Rubin 1981), newspapers (Elliott and
Social Utilitarian gratifications of Xu et al. (2012)
Rosenberg 1987), and the telephone (Dimmick et al.
networking immediate access and
1994). With the development of the Internet, research- coordination, hedonic
ers have also applied the U&G theory to identify gratifications of affection
motivations underlying Internet use (Dimmick et al. and leisure
2000, Stafford et al. 2004). Entertainment, self- Alhabash et al.
Recently, a growing stream of research expands the expression, medium (2014)
U&G theory to the context of social media, attempting appeal, information
to explain motivations to use particular social media, sharing, self-
such as instant messaging (IM), social networking and documentation,
microblogging (Alhabash et al. 2014, Han et al. 2015, socialization, and
Coursaris et al. 2013, Raacke and Bonds-Raacke 2008, escapism
Microblogging Gratification of social Han et al.
Yoo et al. 2014). For example, Alhabash et al. (2014)
connection needs (2015)
found that entertainment, self-expression, medium
Hedonic gratification, Yoo et al.
appeal, information sharing, self-documentation, socia- utilitarian gratification (2014)
lization, and escapism significantly affect the use of and social appearance
Facebook. Xu et al. (2012) revealed that utilitarian values
gratifications of immediate access and coordination,
hedonic gratifications of affection and leisure predict that relationship maintenance, information seeking,
the use of social network services (SNS). Han et al. amusement, and style significantly influence the use
(2015) noted that gratification of social connection of SNS, IM, and e-mail; moreover, sociability has a
needs significantly affects Twitter users’ continued significant impact on the use of IM and SNS, whereas
usage intention. Raacke and Bonds-Raacke (2008) killing time significantly affects the use of IM. Table 1
found the following gratifications obtained from SNS: summarizes the findings of prior studies applying the
keep in touch with old/current friends, post/look at U&G theory to investigate gratifications obtained from
pictures, make new friends, locate old friends, learn the use of social media.
about events, post-social functions, feel connected, In summary, the U&G theory has developed to
share information, academic purposes and dating. identify how and why individuals use a particular
In addition, researchers have attempted to conduct communication medium. Based on the prior findings,
comparative analysis to identify the commonalities and the U&G theory has been empirically validated to
differences in the use of different social media (Ku reveal motives driving media use, and it fits within
et al. 2013, Ha et al. 2015, Lo and Leung 2009, the research context of social media. Thus, the U&G
Quan-Haase and Young 2010). The empirical study theory is adopted as the research framework in the
of Quan-Haase and Young (2010) showed that gratifi- current study to explore individuals’ use of Sina
cations obtained from Facebook include pastime, affec- Weibo and WeChat in China.
tion, fashion, share problems, sociability, and social
information; and the comparative analysis revealed that Research methods
Facebook is related to having fun and knowing about
the social activities occurring in one’s social network, Research design
whereas IM is about relationship maintenance and The purpose of the current study is to examine the
development. The findings of Ku et al. (2013) revealed factors affecting users’ choice of different social
142
media. Sina Weibo and WeChat in China are selected
for the study. Following the study of Ku et al. (2013),
a three-stage research design was conducted in the
study. First, as the U&G theory “requires an initial
pool of items to serve as the potential gratifications”
(Ku et al. 2013), a preliminary list of items was devel-
oped based on prior studies related to gratifications
for social media use. Items from Quan-Haase and
Young (2010), Ku et al. (2013) and Yoo et al.
(2014) were employed in the current study, because
their studies focused on the research contexts of social
networking, instant messaging and microblogging
and similar gratifications are expected to motivate the
use of Sina Weibo and WeChat. Twenty items were
formulated and used in the survey questionnaire as the
potential gratifications. Then, two questionnaires
were generated, which included the same 20 items,
with further modifications to fit the contexts of Sina
Weibo and WeChat. Twenty-five users with rich
social media usage experience were invited for a pilot
study to confirm the content validity of the question-
naires. Based on their comments and feedback, sen-
tences were rephrased and the questionnaires were
refined to improve the clarity and understandability.
The empirical data for the current study were
collected via survey questionnaires. After the data
collection, exploratory factor analysis was first used
to extract the structure of gratifications obtained
from Sina Weibo and WeChat. Then paired t test
and independent-samples t test were conducted to
compare the gratifications for using Sina Weibo
and WeChat.
Data collection
The data were collected through survey question-
naires. According to Ku et al. (2013), one question-
naire with repetition of items in Sina Weibo and
WeChat would be tedious for respondents to com-
plete, thus Sina Weibo and WeChat were surveyed
separately through two independent questionnaires.
The convenience sampling procedure was conducted
among university students at two universities in
Southern China. Because university students com-
prise the largest portion of social media users (Kantar
2015), the sample is appropriate. Questionnaires were
distributed in the university libraries. Students expe-
rienced in using Sina Weibo or WeChat were invited
to fill up the questionnaire, and small gifts were given
as a reward for their participation. Respondents were
asked to indicate their perceived level of agreement
Information Development 34(2)
for the 20 items describing gratifications obtained
from using Sina Weibo or WeChat. All items were
measured with a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from
‘strongly disagree (1)’ to ‘strongly agree (7).’
A total of 398 respondents completed the question-
naires (i.e. Sina Weibo: 201, WeChat: 197). All the
responses were scrutinized and those (30 responses)
with the same values for all questions were dropped.
As a result, the remaining 368 valid responses
(i.e. Sina Weibo: 183, WeChat: 185) were used for
further analysis. Table 2 shows the demographic
information of the samples.
Findings
Gratifications for the use of Sina Weibo and WeChat
Exploratory factor analysis was conducted, using
principal component analysis and Varimax rotation,
to identify the gratifications for using Sina Weibo and
WeChat. The factor loadings of each item were
required to be greater than 0.50, and the eigenvalue
was set to be larger than the generally recognized 1
cut-off (Hair et al. 2006). Finally, two of the 20 items
were dropped because they could not satisfy the
requirements and could not be included into the emer-
ging factors in Table 3.
Gratifications for the use of Sina Weibo. Four factors
were extracted based on the factor analysis. Factor
1, comprising seven items, was related to entertain-
ment, relaxing, killing time and having fun; and thus
was labeled ‘hedonic gratification’. The eigenvalue of
this factor is 6.376 and the value of Cronbach’s α is
0.910, explaining 37.503% of the total variance.
Factor 2, including five items, was related to showing
concern and encouragement, as well as expressing
friendship; and thus was labeled ‘affection gratifica-
tion’. This factor showed good eigenvalue (3.137)
and reliability with the value of Cronbach’s α 0.886,
explaining 18.452% of the total variance. Factor 3,
consisting of two items, was related to obtaining or
searching information; and thus was labeled ‘informa-
tion gratification’. This factor revealed good eigenva-
lue (1.420) and reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.887).
Factor 4, comprising three items, was related to con-
necting and interacting with others; and thus was
labeled ‘social gratification’. The eigenvalue of this
factor is 1.121 and the value of Cronbach’s α is 0.685.
Gratifications for the use of WeChat. The same four
factors were extracted to reflect WeChat users’
Gan: Gratifications for using social media 143

Table 2. Demographic information of respondents.

Sina Weibo (n¼183) WeChat (n¼185)

Percentage Percentage
Measure Items Frequency (%) Frequency (%)

Gender Male 78 42.6 80 43.2

Female 105 57.4 105 56.8
Age Less than 18 0 0.0 4 2.2
18-22 134 73.2 126 68.1
23-29 49 26.8 55 29.7
Usage frequency Almost online all the day 62 33.9 123 66.5
3-5 times for one day 41 22.4 37 20.0
Once or twice for one day 48 26.2 15 8.1
Twice or three times for one week 32 17.5 9 4.9
Twice or three times for one month 0 0.0 1 .5
Time period for the usage Less than 6 months 9 4.9 3 1.6
6 - 12 months 6 3.3 33 17.8
1 - 2 years 33 18.0 76 41.1
2 - 3 years 54 29.5 44 23.8
More than 3 years 81 44.3 29 15.7

Table 3. Factors extracted for Sina Weibo and WeChat.

Sina Weibo factors WeChat factors

I use Sina Weibo/WeChat…… F1 F2 F3 F4 F1 F2 F3 F4

F1: Hedonic gratification

because it relaxes me .874 .805
because it is entertaining for me .847 .807
to have fun .810 .809
because I enjoy it .803 .809
to get away from pressures .792 .774
to get away from what I am doing .728 .621
to kill time .634 .610
F2: Affection gratification
to thank people .852 .796
to show others that I am concerned about them .834 .844
to show others encouragement .824 .859
to let people know I care about them .773 .800
to help others .714 .770
F3: Information gratification
to obtain helpful information .855 .852
to obtain valuable information .826 .849
to find out new information .790
F4: Social gratification
to make new acquaintances .830 .835
to allow people to find me easily .715 .685
to enable me to find others with same interests .644 .601
Eigenvalue 6.376 3.137 1.420 1.121 8.332 1.845 1.755 1.030
Variance explained (%) 37.503 18.452 8.353 6.592 46.291 10.251 9.749 5.721
Cronbach’s α 0.910 0.886 0.887 0.685 0.911 0.922 0.872 0.711
144 Information Development 34(2)

Table 4. Mean comparison of gratifications for the use of Sina Weibo and WeChat (Paired t test).

Social gratification Hedonic gratification Affection

Gratifications for the use of Sina Weibo

Information gratification 5.3880 1 11.729*** 1.397 8.417***
Social gratification 4.3825 4 –10.522*** –4.217***
Hedonic gratification 5.2959 2 7.627***
Affection gratification 4.6929 3
Gratifications for the use of WeChat
Information gratification 5.1189 2 5.740*** 2.892** –0.328
Social gratification 4.6613 4 –3.008** –5.759
Hedonic gratification 4.8958 3 –3.700***
Affection gratification 5.1459 1
Note: **p<.01, ***p<.001

Table 5. Score comparison between Sina Weibo and WeChat (Independent-samples t test).

Sina Weibo (N¼183) WeChat (N¼185)

Factor Mean SD Mean SD T value

Information gratification 5.388 0.933 5.119 1.067 2.574**

Social gratification 4.383 1.014 4.661 1.170 –2.442*
Hedonic gratification 5.296 0.864 4.896 0.941 4.247***
Affection gratification 4.693 0.927 5.146 1.030 –4.437***
Note: *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

gratifications, i.e. hedonic gratification, affection grat-
ification, information gratification and social gratifi-
cation. The hedonic gratification factor consists of
seven items, of which the eigenvalue is 8.332 and the
Cronbach’s α value is 0.911, explaining 46.291% of
the total variance. The affection gratification factor
comprises five items, indicating good eigenvalue
(1.845) and reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.922). The
information gratification factor includes three items;
the eigenvalue of this factor is 1.755 and the value of
Cronbach’s α is 0.872. And the social gratification
factor comprises three items, showing good eigenva-
lue (1.030) and reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.711).
WeChat, affection gratification and information gratifi-
cation are the major gratifications obtained, followed
by hedonic gratification and social gratification.
Independent-samples t test was then employed to
reveal the strength of gratifications obtained from the
use of Sina Weibo and WeChat. Table 5 demonstrates
the mean of each gratification for the use of Sina
Weibo and WeChat applied by independent-samples t
test. The results show that individuals prefer to use
Sina Weibo for obtaining information gratification and
hedonic gratification, while the use of WeChat can
better fulfill their social and affection gratifications.

Comparative analysis of the gratifications
Paired t test was first conducted to determine how the
level of importance of gratifications varies between
Sina Weibo and WeChat. Table 4 shows the gratifica-
tion ranking in each type of social media with mean
comparison by paired t test. With respect to the use of
Sina Weibo, users mainly obtain information gratifica-
tion and hedonic gratification, followed by affection
gratification and social gratification. For the use of
Discussion
This study examines gratifications that motivate
users’ choice of different social media through com-
parative analysis. Results show that hedonic gratifica-
tion, affection gratification, information gratification
and social gratification are the four general gratifica-
tions in social media use. That is, the biggest similar-
ity in individuals’ motivations to use Sina Weibo and
WeChat is that users obtain the same types of gratifi-
cations. This is consistent with our prior exploratory
Gan: Gratifications for using social media
study through interviews (Gan and Wang 2015). With
the development and advancement of social media,
various social media, such as WeChat and Sina
Weibo, evolve into multi-functional information sys-
tems (Gan and Wang 2015), implying that their fea-
tures and services overlap. For example, both WeChat
and Sina Weibo provide the following functions:
Chatting, Share, Comment and Like. Furthermore, the
results reveal that the factor structure of information
gratification is different for the two social media. This
finding is consistent with the study of Gan and Wang
(2015). It indicates that although individuals could ful-
fill the same gratifications from different social media,
how the gratifications are achieved may be different.
However, the results also indicate that the strength
of each gratification differs to varying degrees across
the use of different social media. Information gratifi-
cation plays the most salient role in using Sina Weibo,
while affection gratification is the most important
motive for the use of WeChat.
Sina Weibo is considered to be a convenient plat-
form for broadcasting, sharing and exchanging a
variety of information (Liu et al. 2016). Users can
post information about any topic and others can read
and comment by following. More importantly, Sina
Weibo can support two modes of information seek-
ing: passive monitoring of events through following
RSS feeds of a selected group of users, and active
seeking of practically effective information by post-
ing messages and requests to individual users or a
network of users (Savolainen 1995). As Liu et al.
(2016) noted, it is the value of information dissemi-
nation that motivates individuals’ use of Sina Weibo
and makes them satisfied.
With respect to the use of WeChat, users pay more
attention to affection gratification. As WeChat was
originally designed for private socialization, those
WeChat ‘friends’ are usually recognized in the real
world, such as family, classmates, colleagues and
friends in reality. Also, user privacy can be well pro-
tected through controlling who joins their friends list,
viewing their information and managing how others
can find them online (Nay 2013). Thus, WeChat pro-
vides a better way for users to freely show their affec-
tions, e.g., expressing their encouragement and
concern toward others. Also, users can satisfy their
affection gratification though a variety of features that
WeChat offers, such as real-time voice intercom,
group chat in live chat sessions, video calls, and
Moments (a timeline where users can ‘like’ or ‘com-
ment’) (WeChat 2013).
145
Another difference among gratifications for using
Sina Weibo and WeChat is that hedonic gratification
plays a more important role in affecting the use of
Sina Weibo than that of WeChat. Sina Weibo offers
many options for users to, for example, kill time, have
fun and entertain themselves. For example, the feature
of ‘issue a topic with two ‘#’’ often refers to those
activities attracting users’ interests, and anyone inter-
ested in this topic can participate and follow it by
posting information with the same title. Also, users
can learn more about hot topics through the feature of
‘hot topics’, and just look around by ‘Sina Weibo
square’. A variety of such features provided by Sina
Weibo can better satisfy different users’ needs, creat-
ing entertainment and amusement, thus developing
hedonic gratification.
Implications and limitations
This study contributes to the existing literature in sev-
eral ways. First, as noted earlier, most previous studies
focused on one type of social media to explore factors
affecting social media use. In the current study, a com-
parative study was conducted to identify motives driv-
ing users’ choice of different social media. The results
provide empirical evidence for the assumption that dif-
ferent gratifications motivate individuals’ use of a
range of social media (Ku et al. 2013). This expands
the research scope on gratifications for using different
social media with reference to a comparison. Second,
the U&G theory was adopted to reveal the common-
alities and differences among gratifications to use dif-
ferent social media. Results indicate that four general
gratifications for the use of Sina Weibo and WeChat
were extracted and the strength of each gratification
varies across the use of Sina Weibo and WeChat. Con-
sidering that prior studies have revealed motives of
using one type of social media, the findings on general
gratifications could be applied to deepen understanding
of the choice of other social media. Third, this study
highlights affection gratification to be the most vital
motivation for the use of WeChat, which has been less
considered in prior studies. This deepens our understand-
ing of user behavior in social media. This also indicates
that, though traditional dimensions in the U&G frame-
work have been widely used for investigating the use of
various media, they may not be sufficient to explain use
of new types of social media (Liu et al. 2016).
The findings of this study also have implications
for managers and designers of social media on how to
attract and maintain users. The results reveal the
146
general and specific gratifications for different social
media. The general gratifications reflect the common
expectations that users obtain from social media (Ku
et al. 2013), while the specific gratifications are
unique in that only a particular social media can sat-
isfy them. This indicates that designers and managers
should not only provide the features necessary to ful-
fill users’ general gratifications, but also pay attention
to the design of unique features to satisfy specific
gratifications. For example, this study highlights the
relative importance of information gratification
obtained from the use of Sina Weibo. Thus, develo-
pers of Sina Weibo should provide more features to
facilitate information sharing, exchanging and disse-
mination, e.g., personalized recommendation based
on user interests and intimacy and more cooperation
with professional organizations on content creation
(Sina 2016). Also, the results indicate the strength
of each gratification for the use of different social
media. This implies that the developers of social
media should take the ranked gratifications into
account when designing features. For example, affec-
tion gratification was found to be the most important
motive for WeChat users. Therefore, WeChat devel-
opers should design a variety of ways for users to
conveniently express their affections (e.g., encourage-
ment and concerns). In addition to the ‘Like’ button,
adding more unique elements into interaction with
others, such as emoticons, could be beneficial.
There are a few limitations to this study that should be
acknowledged. First, the research sample was university
students. Although most social media users are young,
user behavior of older groups may be different. Conse-
quently, caution should be exercised when generalizing
the findings of this study to other demographic groups.
Users of different groups, such as elderly users, will be
considered in a future study. Second, the items of grati-
fications for using different social media were limited.
Other gratifications might also play important roles in
affecting users’ choice of different social media. Future
research could conduct a qualitative study, such as inter-
views, to reveal other possible motives.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by grants from the National Nat-
ural Science Foundation of China (71403301).
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About the author
Chunmei Gan is an associate professor at the School of
Information Management, Sun Yat-sen University. She has
conducted research on user adoption and post adoption
behaviour in the field of social media. She has so far pub-
lished two books (in Chinese) and has published in Scien-
tometrics, Industrial Management & Data Systems,
Information Development, International Journal of Innova-
tion Management, Journal of Library Science in China,
Journal of the China Society for Scientific and Technical
Information and several other top Chinese journals in the
field of information science and information systems. Her
papers have also been presented in international confer-
ences such as ECKM, PACIS and ISPIM. Contact: School
of Information Management, Sun Yat-sen University,
Guangzhou, China. Email: chunmei_gan@163.com