Investigating information sharing behavior: the mediating roles of the desire to share information in virtual communities

Social networking sites are built and designed to provide online services and a platform for people to social interacts and exchange information. This study used the social capital theory as a foundation to explore the social interaction factors and individual factors such as shared value, community identification, and information privacy concerns, and examine the mediating role of the desire to give information between trust on websites/members and information sharing behaviour in the proposed model. This research sample consists of seven hundred and twenty-seven members who have used the Facebook fan page for at least 6 months. This study adopted structural equation modeling to test the research hypotheses. The results of this study show that shared value, community identification, and information privacy concern directly influence trust on websites and members. Trust on websites and members directly influenced the desire to get/give information. Desire to give information directly influences information sharing behaviour. The desire to give information plays important mediating roles between trust on websites/members and information sharing behaviour. Finally, we provide conclusions and managerial implications of the findings.