Motivations, attitudes, and uses of WeChat groups in China during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022: a mixed-methods approach

Abstract WeChat Groups are a popular feature of WeChat, an essential app in China and among the Chinese diaspora. Guided by the uses and gratifications framework, the present research examined the uses of WeChat groups, motivations for such uses, and perceptions of information accuracy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 1 was an online survey of 400 residents in Shanghai in June 2022, shortly after the two-month Shanghai lockdown. Results showed strong motivations for information seeking, value expression/community, and the acquisition of life necessities. Emotion management, value expression, and life-necessity acquisition motivations were moderate or weak direct predictors of attitudes toward WeChat groups (e.g., usefulness and credibility) and of WeChat group use frequency. However, total effects showed that positive and negative emotions, information accuracy, and information seeking were fairly strong predictors of attitudes toward WeChat groups and use frequency. A textual analysis of the interactions in five WeChat groups (Study 2) provided detailed, complementary data. It revealed that WeChat groups supported many different uses (or functions) and that information seeking and sharing were precursors to other uses and gratifications.