Impacts of emotional factors of social network service posting on information users’ response
Authors:   Asia-Europe Perspective Association, Jang Hye-young , Shin Hyung-Deok 
Published: June 2018

This study investigated if emotional factors in the postings may have any effects on information users’responses to the postings within social network services. SNS activities in Korea is so rapidly increased that 7 out of 10 Korean people are using Faceook or Blogs for major communication tools. The popularity of smart media, such as smart phones, led firms to use on-time communication networks to transfer useful information that help the firms’ business. In addition, arts institutes, such as art museums, are changing their communication tools. By sharing the information of their art reserves and showing exhibition schedules, arts institutes can educate and attract visitors. In this process, information users’ response could be very important. Especially, culture and arts products have characteristics of ‘experience goods’ which means people cannot know the value of the product they buy before they actually consume. This character brings uncertainty on the value and quality of the culture and art products. This uncertainty, however, can be decreased by use of digital technology. Digital technology provides real time two-way communication tools among multiple information users who want to share information on any products. Social Network Service can be used for these activities. Since people can acquire enough information on experience goods from multiple sources before they actually consume, uncertainty on the quality of the goods could be effectively decreased. This can encourage people to consume culture and art product. In addition, digital technology provides easy way to consume culture and art products. For example, people can easily search and make reservation for what they want to enjoy in a short time. To stimulate consumption, it would be important to catch interests and responses of potential customers. Prior studies in the field of pure arts showed that emotional factors in literature or visual arts move the readers’ or observers’mind to coincide with the arts with emotional factors. We empirically tested if this phenomenon would happen when observers or information users watch not pure arts but SNS postings which carry information with specific intention. As a result, we found that the existence of rhythm, which is for emotional factor in lines, is positively and significantly associated with information user’s response. In addition, the existence of low-toned color, which is for emotional factor in visuals, is also positively and significantly associated with information users’ response, measured by the number of pushing ‘like’ button on the posting. When two variables, rhythm and low-tone color, are included in the model together, the effect of low-tone color disappeared, which implies that sound effect would be stronger than visual effect in transferring emotional factors via SNS postings. This study has implications for profit or non-profit organizations which try to communicate with customers or other stakeholders via SNS postings that emotional factors may have important impacts on the information users’ behaviors.