Mobile social networking sites for emotional support: Moderating effect of gender

Due to the rapid development of mobile technology and smart devices, mobile social networking has become an essential platform for people to receive and provide emotional support in their daily lives. This paper investigates the critical determinants for people to use mobile social networking sites (SNSs) for emotional support. Further, the study analyzes the moderating effect of gender when people use mobile SNSs for emotional support. The findings indicate that both perceived emotional support and social influence are significant factors motivating users to seek emotional support through mobile SNSs. Notably, mobile convenience has a significant impact on satisfaction when using mobile SNSs for emotional support, which explains the popularity of its use in emotional support. Importantly, gender differences exist in accepting mobile SNSs for emotional support. We conclude that gender plays a significant moderating role in the use of mobile social networking for emotional support. Females intend to use mobile SNSs for emotional support more from social influence; however, social influence significantly impacts choices by both males and females. Further, actual user satisfaction significantly impacts males’ use intention of mobile SNSs for emotional support.