Abstract:
This study proposes an integrated research model to validate the antecedents of
Facebook users’ information-seeking and information-sharing behaviors. We conducted
an online survey to investigate the effects of affective-/cognitive-based trust on social
capital, which subsequently influences information seeking and information sharing from
the perspective of uses and gratifications theory. This study collected 665 valid samples
and indicates that cognitive-/affective-based trust significantly and positively influences
social capital (e.g., structural, cognitive, and relational), which has a significant and
positive effect on information seeking and sharing. This study contributes to the
research on uses and gratifications theory in three ways. First, it indicates that trust
influences social capital (structural, cognitive, and relational). Second, it confirms the
effect of social capital on information seeking and sharing. Third, it validates the
mediating roles of social capital in the relationship between affective-/cognitive-based
trust and information seeking and sharing.
