How Quality of Life Affects Intention to Use Social Networking Sites: Moderating Role of Self-Disclosure

Abstract

1. IntroductionWith consumers' increasing use, the Internet as a communication medium is growing rapidly, particularly in the booming development of applications for smart phones. People are becoming accustomed to sharing their daily life and experiences, talking about their interests and keeping in touch with family and friends online [Leung 2002; Morahan-Martin & Schumacher 2003]. Online social interaction has become the primary use for home computers in terms of time spent [Hamburger & Artzi 2003; Morahan-Martin & Schumacher 2003]. In the midst of all these social activities, people are managing relationships via the Internet with those they originally met in real life [Ledbetter et al. 2011; Park et al. 2009]. Marketers are eager to understand why consumers are keen to use the Internet as a prime venue for social interaction [Lai & To 2015]Microblogging is a shortened form of blogging that provides users with a brief means of exchanging messages quickly with short sentences. The major difference between the microblog and the traditional blog is that the microblog's content is typically shorter in the length of posted contents [Kaplan & Haenlein 2011]. Microblogging is largely adopted in interpersonal communication, commerce and political campaigns [Tumasjan et al. 2011]; indeed, it has ushered in a new epoch of human communication and online social activities [Lin & Lu 2011; Ryan & Xenos 2011; Turri et al. 2013]. Among microblogging services, Facebook is the most popular one. In 2008, Facebook launched its service in Taiwan. By December 2009, just one year after it debuted, its number of users had surpassed all other competitors [insightxplorer.com 2009] By the end of 2012, Facebook had 13 million registered Taiwan users with a market penetration of about 57%, a feat no other online company has ever accomplished [Internet World Stats 2012].Developing trends in modern work life, family life and society mean that more and more people live a life of alienation if they cannot find a way to obtain social relationships [Perlman 2004]. Loneliness is a unique clinical problem in the modern world [Russell et al. 1980; McWhirter 1990]. In the past, numerous researchers have suggested that loneliness, depression and anxiety are related to mental health. Recently, loneliness has been studied in relation to Internet usage behavior. Morahan-Martin and Schumacher [2003] proposed that lonely people are more likely to use the Internet to modulate negative moods. Rovai and Wigthing's [2005] study showed that establishing a strong sense of community among online students has the benefit of overcoming students' feelings of alienation. Cacioppo et al. [2006] suggested that loneliness and depressive symptomatology can have a synergistic effect to diminish well-being in middle-aged and older adults.Despite agreement that social networking services (SNSs) provide a versatile platform where people can get together online to share information, discrepancies exist in judging the relationship between the SNS and people's well-being. Numerous studies have suggested that SNSs like Facebook may make people feel lonelier or users may receive undesirable responses from other people [Forest & Wood 2012; Ledbetter et al. 2011; Park et al. 2009]. Other studies support that SNSs can reduce people's loneliness and well-being [DeAndrea et al., 2012; McAndrew & Jeong 2012; Weidman et al. 2012]. More research is needed to resolve this discrepancy.Hence, this research has two objectives. First, the proposed model extends existing models of TAM by incorporating concepts from quality of life theory, in which loneliness in real life and life dissatisfaction are presumed to be antecedents of users' intention to use an SNS. Second, self -disclosure and social support seeking are related to interpersonal relationship building, which is an important factor in social exchange theory [Greene et al. 2006; Mikulincer & Nachshon 1991]. …