This study looked into a dual motive of rumor transmission, driven by informational and sensational features of rumor statements. Prior research of rumor has focused on only the informational value of rumors. However, that utilitarian perspective does not explain why highly implausible but sensational rumors are shared. Based on the utilitarianism and hedonism of the consumption motives of products, this study proposed that informational rumors are transmitted for utilitarian gratifications while sensational but implausible rumors are transmitted for hedonic gratifications. Rumor believability and emotional arousal were proposed as mediating variables for the utilitarian motive process and for the hedonic motive process, respectively.Toward that end, an online experiment with college students was conducted in the Twitter context. A 2 (rumor informational value: high vs. low) x 2 (rumor sensational value: high vs. low) between-subjects design was employed. Rumor believability, emotional arousal, motives of rumor transmission, and the likelihood of rumor transmission, were measured after exposure to experimental stimuli. Results of structural equation model analyses suggest that, as predicted, informational rumors and sensational rumors are likely to be transmitted through different routes. Rumor informational value had a significant indirect effect on the utilitarian motives (i.e., fact-finding motive and information-providing motive) of rumor transmission through rumor believability. However, only the fact-finding motive was correlated with the likelihood of rumor transmission. As predicted, rumor sensational value predicted emotional arousal. However, unlike the prediction of this dissertation, emotional arousal did not predict the hedonic motive of rumor transmission, and the hedonic motive did not predict the likelihood of rumor transmission. Instead, emotional arousal directly impacted the likelihood of rumor transmission.By considering the role of emotional arousal and how psychological motives shape rumor transmission, this dissertation extended prior research on rumor in which the cognitive paradigm dominated. This dissertation provides deeper insight into rumor transmission, such as what becomes viral and why implausible rumors are shared. Theoretical and practical implications are further discussed.
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