How do uncertainty reduction strategies influence social networking site fan page visiting? Examining the role of uncertainty reduction strategies, loyalty and satisfaction in continuous visiting behavior

Nowadays, it is common for people to find product or service information from various information sources on social networking sites (SNS). Among many embedded communication tools in SNS, our study focuses on fan pages and page followers, highlighting their continuous visiting behavior to company fan pages in the context of Facebook. Based on uncertainty reduction theory, our study proposes a research model examining the relationship between uncertainty reduction strategies and continuous visiting behavior, mediated by the low level of uncertainty. In addition, we employ the perceived usefulness of postings on fan pages as a mediator between uncertainty and visiting behavior. Lastly, we adopt two moderating factors: SNS satisfaction and SNS loyalty. To test hypotheses, we analyzed survey data from 189 Facebook users who have subscribed to at least one fan page on Facebook using a partial least squares (PLS) method. We found that uncertainty reduction strategies are positively associated with a low level of uncertainty about information regarding products or services on fan pages. In addition, perceived usefulness of postings is significantly accounted for by the low level of uncertainty. Both the low level of uncertainty and usefulness of postings explain continuous visiting behavior jointly. Our research findings also revealed that SNS satisfaction and SNS loyalty have significant moderating effects on the relationships between the low level of uncertainty/perceived usefulness and continuous visiting behavior. Based on research findings, implications and limitations are discussed. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.