An Acceptance Analysis of Firms’ Posts on Sina Weibo to Build Credibility

Chenghui Wu Peking University

Abstract

This study uses an online questionnaire survey to investigate Chinese social media users’ acceptance of firm-generated credibility-building posts (FGCPs) on Sina Weibo. The findings show that heuristic cues related to content (i.e., topics regarding competence, benevolence, and integrity) and source (i.e., firm nationality and industry types) along with the moderating role of topic, account, and platform familiarity cues significantly influence users’ acceptance level of such posts. After incorporating the insights gained from participants’ responses to open-ended questions in the questionnaire, this study concludes with practical recommendations for crafting effective FGCPs on social media platforms like Sina Weibo.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2026-04-01
DOI
10.1177/10506519251404893
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
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