Time orientation and engagement with social networking sites: A cross-cultural study in Austria, China and Uruguay

This paper examines the role of time orientation in predicting users' participation patterns in social networking sites (SNS). A series of structural paths leading from time orientation to users' intention to interact and finally to actual engagement with SNS is compared across three countries: Austria, China and Uruguay. After assuring measurement invariance for the constructs of the study, differences in structural paths across counties are assessed. Findings show that future orientation has a positive effect on a user's intentions to actively generate content and passively monitor SNS. These relationships are invariant across countries. Present orientation positively influences intention to actively interact in Austria and Uruguay. Finally, the relationship between users' active intention and engagement is strongest for Austria, scoring high on the individualism dimension, as compared to China and Uruguay.