Antecedents and Consequences of Information Cocoon Awareness in Short-Form Video APPs: An Information Ecology Perspective

As increasingly optimized recommendation technology and increasing average daily time spending on short-from video APPs, users may easily fall into the so-called “information cocoon”(IC). However, little is known about the antecedents and consequences of information cocoon in short-form video APPs. To fill the gap, drawing on the information ecology theory, we develop a model that identifies four predictors of IC awareness, and continuance usage intention as the consequence of IC awareness. An online survey was conducted to collect data from 206 respondents. Smart PLS 3.3 was used to analyze data. Findings reveal that subjective norm, perceived novelty of online recommendations, and alternative attraction are positively associated with IC awareness, while community participation is negatively associated with IC awareness. Besides, IC awareness positively affects users’ continuous usage intention. This study extends our knowledge on IC by providing empirical explanations of the combined effect of information people, information, information technology, and information environment.