Modelling the factors that determine online news-sharing behaviour of social media users: The role of perceived message and online environmental characteristics

Abstract

This study modelled the online environment characteristics and message characteristics that predict news sharing among social media users. This study’s data were obtained from a cross-sectional national survey conducted in Nigeria. Qualtrics was used to recruit data from 1320 participants in Nigeria. The participants were recruited via a stratified quota sampling which reflected the country’s census statistics for gender and age. We found the message characteristics to predict news-sharing behaviour among social media users in Nigeria. By implication, the characteristics of a message encountered online influence the news-sharing behaviour of social media users. We also found that the online environment characteristics predict news-sharing behaviour, which implies that the external factor, that is, the relationship a user has with his network members, predicts sharing behaviour. Some theoretical and practical implications were provided to conclude the study.