Social Sharing of Online Videos: Examining American Consumers’ Video Sharing Attitudes,Intent, and Behavior

The present study integrated the theory of planned behavior, technology acceptance model, and Palka et al.'s (2009) viral marketing model to examine U.S. consumers’ online video sharing attitudes, intent, and behavior. Two online surveys of 318 U.S. college students and 370 U.S. general consumers were conducted consecutively in April 2012 and May 2012 to strengthen the study's reliability and validity. Results show that perceived pleasure and cost served as important predictors of online video sharing attitudes among college students and general consumers. Their intent to share online videos was predicted by perceived pleasure and normative influences, attitudes, and social media use. The number of online videos they shared was determined by online video consumption, intenteh, normative influences, and social media use. Sharing of online videos is different from sharing other online content in that perceived utilities and behavioral control do not really matter. The findings carry important implications for academic researchers, online marketers, and video publishers.