Understanding social media users' engagement intention toward emergency information: the role of experience and information usefulness in a reciprocity framework
基于互惠理论和信息采纳模型，通过对325名中国社交媒体用户的问卷调查，发现用户寻求应急信息的经验通过感知信息有用性和负债感影响其参与意愿，为应急响应实践提供参考。
Purpose The aim of this study is to investigate how social media users' experience of seeking emergency information affects their engagement intention toward emergency information with a reciprocity framework integrated with information adoption model. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on reciprocity theory, indebtedness theory, and information adoption model, an integrative research model is developed. This study employs a questionnaire survey to collect data of 325 social media users in China. Structural equation modeling analyses are conducted to test the proposed theoretical model. Findings Social media users' experience of seeking emergency information has a strong effect on their perceived information usefulness and indebtedness, while perceived information usefulness further influences community norm, indebtedness, and engagement intention. The authors also found that perceived information usefulness mediates the relationships between experience of seeking emergency information and community norm/indebtedness. Originality/value This study offers a new perspective to explain social media users' engagement intention in the diffusion of emergency information. This study contributes to the literature by extending the theoretical framework of reciprocity and applying it to the context of emergency information diffusion. The findings of this study could benefit the practitioners who wish to leverage social media tools for emergency response purposes.