The asymmetric effect of online social networking attribute‐level performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the asymmetric effect of negative and positive attribute‐level performance (i.e. effort expectancy, performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, flow experience, and satisfaction) of online social networking (OSN) on behavioral intention. Design/methodology/approach – An investigation of behavioral intention in OSN was conducted, with a total of 482 effective questionnaires collected. The psychometric properties of the measures were investigated and a dummy‐variable regression model was applied to estimate the regression coefficients. Findings – The results confirm that the importance of asymmetrical effect is not equivalent for different attributes. Negative performance on performance expectancy, effort expectancy, flow experience, and satisfaction had a larger effect on behavioral intention than positive performance. In contrast, positive performance on social influence and facilitating conditions had a larger effect on behavioral intention than negative performance. Originality/value – This paper adds to the extant literature by offering an empirical investigation of the asymmetric effect of OSN attribute‐level performance on behavioral intention. Furthermore, by focusing on the positive‐negative asymmetry effect, the proposed model also significantly increases the value of OSN through an understanding of behavioral intention and its antecedents.