| dc.description.abstract | To help marketers understand how to effectively harness social media to create marketing effectiveness, this study aims to investigate factors determining users’ intentions to forward online content with social media. Drawing on insights from prior viral marketing and social media research, an integrative conceptual model is proposed for exploring the influences of three different aspects on forwarding intention, in terms of technological perceptions (perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, perceived anonymity of self, perceived anonymity of others), interpersonal needs (altruism, public individuation), and social influences (social identity). The research model aims to explore: (1) the impact of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, altruism, public individuation and social identity on the forwarding intention, and (2) the moderating effect of perceived anonymity of self on the relationship between public individuation and forwarding intention; the moderating effect of perceived anonymity of others on the relationship between social identity and forwarding intention. An online survey is conducted to collect 528 valid questionnaires. It is found that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and altruism have positive and significant influence on the forwarding intention. However, public individuation and social identity have insignificant impacts on the forwarding intention. Perceived anonymity of self and perceived anonymity of others have no moderating effect on the proposed relationships. This study concludes by discussing the analytic results and proposing theoretical and practical implications. | en_US |