Sharing the News: Effects of Informational Utility and Opinion Leadership on Online News Sharing

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Issue Date
2015-02-20Author
Bobkowski, Peter S.
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This study examined the joint effect of message and personality attributes on online news sharing. In two experiments (N = 270; N = 275) readers indicated their likelihood to share news representing two content domains and three informational utility dimensions. A moderated mediation path analysis was used. On average, news consumers shared news containing informational utility. Opinion leaders shared news irrespective of informational utility because they discerned informational utility in news that, objectively speaking, lacked such utility. In one experiment, opinion leaders also were more likely than non-leaders to share news perceived to contain informational utility.
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Citation
Bobkowski, P. S. (2015). Sharing the news: Effects of informational utility and opinion leadership on online news sharing. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 92(2), 320-345. doi:10.1177/1077699015573194
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