Understanding Wechat users' motivations, attitudes and intention of reading promotional material

Smartphone has become a necessary adjunct to people’s daily life. Mobile apps such as instant messaging and payment wallet are commonly used on smartphones. In China, WeChat is the most popular social application due to its multipurpose platform such as online advertisements and payments, etc. WeChat is expected to become more popular since it has just been launched in Europe in 2017. The purpose of this study is to evaluate psychological motivations that can affect WeChat users’ intention to read WeChat promotional material. The results indicate that personalization, entertainment, incentives and perceived usefulness positively influence users’ attitudes towards WeChat promotional materials. In addition, their subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and their attitudes significantly affect their behavioral intention of reading WeChat promotional material.