Providing a model for value creation in news media; Case study, Fars.me Webpage of Fars News Agency

With the epidemic of social media and the empowerment of users to partner with media organizations, the value creation has become an increasing trend in the media industry. News agencies are among organizations that are significantly influenced by users’ participation through social media, citizen journalism, and user-generated content, and benefit from users’ participation in a variety of ways, from news content to analysis and discussions. The current research identifies components and dimensions of value creation in news agencies and develops a strategic model by surveying 735 active users of "Fars.me" system belonging to the Fars News Agency. The research model is based on the motivation of users’ participation in value creation under the influenced of three types: relationship, economic and entertainment values, which result in attitudinal and behavioral loyalty by strengthening the brand. By executing a questionnaire and data collection from 12,330 users who have registered a subject in Fars.me at least once, then using a quantitative approach as well as SPSS, EXCEL, and SMART-PL software, completed questionnaires were analyzed and the proposed model was confirmed. Findings show that the participation of news network audience has had a positive effect on creating relational, entertainment and economic values, respectively, and by strengthening the brand value of the news agency, increases attitudinal and behavioral loyalty of the audience.