Why people use Twitter: social conformity and social value perspectives

Purpose – Based on social conformity and social value perspectives, the authors aim to empirically examine the critical role of social influences on Twitter user behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – An integrative structural model is developed to explain how social influences, which are divided into social conformity and social values, work with other salient factors such as the utilitarian and hedonic values to affect the use of Twitter. The partial least square method was used to verify the proposed model with usable data from 204 adult Korean Twitter users. Findings – Social conformity positively affects the frequent use of Twitter and it is mediated through perceived values such as the hedonic, utilitarian and social appearance values associated with Twitter use. While social appearance negatively affected the trustworthiness of information shared on Twitter, the social capital effect on Twitter use was insignificant. Research limitations/implications – This study has some limitations for general applicability of the results: the samples include only adult users in Korea, and it is a cross-sectional study for a specific social networking service. This study theoretically disentangles the complicated nature of social influences by proposing two distinct constructs (social conformity and social values) and empirically verifying their significant roles in Twitter use. Practical implications – Practitioners should recognise that the hedonic value of Twitter is the key factor that affects both the quantity and quality of information shared on Twitter. In addition user motivations for pursuing social appearance in SNSs might cause a user to distort the information that they produce. Originality/value – This study provides unique implications related to the role of social conformity, social values and user behaviour on Twitter.