Understanding music sharing behaviour on social network services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand music sharing behaviour on social networking services (SNS). This study suggests and examines a research model which focuses on the influences of user motivations, such as self‐expression, ingratiation, altruism, and interactivity, on music sharing behaviour in SNS through social motivation factors. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 153 Korean SNS (i.e. Cyworld, Naver Blog, Daum Blog, and Tistory) users, who have experience in purchasing music and legally sharing it on SNS. The partial least squares method was used to analyse the measurement and structural models. Findings – The study shows that interactivity, perceived ease of use, self‐expression, social presence, and social identity are significant positive predictors of music sharing intention on SNS. Research limitations/implications – This research is significant in light of recent interest in user activities in SNS. Better understanding of the music sharing behaviour on SNS can be prompted by reflecting cultural differences in selecting the SNS for validation with a larger sample size. Practical implications – The findings emphasise the importance of providing users with interactive, self‐expressive, and easily manageable services in order to increase their intention to share music through SNS. Service providers need to focus on improving the user experience of the systems. Originality/value – SNS based online music services have been increasing and are a new business model of music content distribution. However no academic research has examined music related services on SNS. This study is the first empirical study analysing music sharing behaviour on SNS.