Investigation of Users’ Information Adoption Intention in Short Video Applications: A Perspective on Flow Experience

Short video applications have gained increasing prominence as pivotal channels for information acquisition and knowledge dissemination, capturing the attention of scholars. Despite the increasing interest in this area, a general investigation of the factors that facilitate users’ information adoption on TikTok remains insufficient. We combine the flow experience and information adoption theory to construct a novel theoretical model for investigating the antecedents of information adoption intentions within the realm of short video applications. A total of 386 data were collected from TikTok’s users and analyzed using the partial least squares (PLS) approach. The analysis of the data revealed that technology affordance (i.e., accuracy, serendipity, and perceived ease of use) and information quality influence users’ information adoption intentions via flow experience. Users’ interest-type epistemic curiosity can moderate the effect of serendipity on information adoption intentions. This study investigates the interactive effects of individuals, technology, and information on flow and information adoption intentions, offering implications for platform administrators, content creators, and government agencies to understand users’ information adoption.