The purpose of this study is to propose a conceptual equation model to first, investigate the relationships among consumer interaction behaviour, trust as well as purchase intention, and secondly, demonstrate the indirect effect of consumer interaction behaviour on purchase intention through consumer psychology (cognitive trust and emotional trust). A questionnaire was distributed to 331 virtual community members from the nine most frequently used SNS websites in China. These members have had interactive experience. Data were analyzed by applying the partial least squares method (PLS). The results show that interactive behaviour in the SNS environment can be described in six dimensions: interaction frequency, interestingness, decentration, responsiveness, situationality and reciprocal swap. Except for responsiveness and situationality, the other four dimensions all have positive effects on purchase intention through cognitive trust and emotional trust significantly. Responsiveness and situationality have a positive effect on the purchase intention through cognitive trust significantly, but do not have significant influence on purchase intention through emotional trust. Based on these findings, companies that aim to develop SNS website marketing strategies should find ways to conduct effective marketing campaigns based on the characteristics of interaction behaviour to enhance members’ product trust.
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