How Content Quality Drives User Engagement and Effective Communication on Social Media: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach
Year: 2026
Type: book-chapter
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This study investigates the mechanisms through which social media content quality drives user engagement and effective communication, examining the mediating role of user engagement and the moderating role of perceived ease of use.Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was applied to survey data collected from 612 social media users in Mainland China.The results reveal that content quality directly influences both user engagement (β = 0.423, p < .001)and effective communication (β = 0.317, p < .001),with user engagement partially mediating 65.3% of the total effect.Perceived ease of use significantly moderates the relationship between content quality and user engagement (β = 0.215, p < .001),strengthening the effect under high ease-of-use conditions.The structural model demonstrates excellent fit (CFI = 0.982, RMSEA = 0.048, SRMR = 0.031), explaining 76.3% of variance in effective communication.
Institution: Taylor's University
Language: English
Subfield: Marketing
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7205014107