Contrasting the Motivations of Using Social Networking Sites between Western and Eastern Countries

Abstract

As social networking sites have become more popular, numerous studies have investigated users’ desired benefits and behaviors. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have systematically investigated the relations between desired benefits and goal values obtained from usage. Although social networking site use is a global phenomenon, few studies have compared the behaviors and desired benefits of users in different countries. This study attempts to address this gap through the following goals: (1) classify user motivations into value (high abstract level) and benefit (low abstract level) levels and systematically analyze the cognitive representation of relations among values, benefits, and attributes of social networking systems; (2) compare the differences between China, the United States and Taiwan and explain the differences found based on Eastern and Western perspectives.