Understanding Helping Intention and Its Antecedents among Instant Messaging Users

Purpose – Helping intention is an important value that holds the key to the continuous user growth of instant messaging (IM). The purpose of this study is to validate a research model that examines online helping intention from a perspective of online social capital.Design/methodology/approach – Empirical testing of this model, through a survey of employees from seven large companies, confirms some theoretical expectations of this study. Two of the seven companies are from general service industries and the other five companies are from high‐tech industries. Of the 500 questionnaires distributed to participants, 364 usable questionnaires were returned for an effective response rate of 72.8 per cent.Findings – Helping intention is influenced by reciprocity, shared narratives, centrality, and network ties, whereas commitment and shared codes and language are not significantly related to helping intention.Research limitations/implications – Based on the test results of this study, helping intention is affect...

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