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1 – 10 of 75This study aims to explore which of four chosen factors (i.e. privacy concerns, FoMO, self-disclosure and time cost) induce a feeling of strain among Facebook users in terms of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore which of four chosen factors (i.e. privacy concerns, FoMO, self-disclosure and time cost) induce a feeling of strain among Facebook users in terms of social media fatigue (SMF), and if this occurs, whether it further influences such outcomes as discontinuance of usage (DoU) and interaction engagement decrement (IED).
Design/methodology/approach
Through an online structured questionnaire, empirical data were gathered to verify the research model, based on the stressor-strain-outcome (SSO) framework. The SEM technique was employed for assessing the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
The findings show that privacy concerns and time cost are strong antecedents of SMF and contribute significantly to its occurrence; while FoMO and self-disclosure do not exhibit any significant influence. Moreover, SMF positively and significantly affects DoU and IED.
Practical implications
This study enhances the existing body of knowledge on SMF and it can help: (1) individuals to be aware of risks and adjust their activities in balance with their well-being, and (2) social media (SM) managers to develop unique strategies to address the specific needs of SM users.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the limited literature on SMF by (1) introducing the concept of IED – as a consequence of SMF, and (2) creating measurement scales for IED.
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Aqdas Malik, Amandeep Dhir, Puneet Kaur and Aditya Johri
The current study aims to investigate if different measures related to online psychosocial well-being and online behavior correlate with social media fatigue.
Abstract
Purpose
The current study aims to investigate if different measures related to online psychosocial well-being and online behavior correlate with social media fatigue.
Design/methodology/approach
To understand the antecedents and consequences of social media fatigue, the stressor-strain-outcome (SSO) framework is applied. The study consists of two cross-sectional surveys that were organized with young-adult students. Study A was conducted with 1,398 WhatsApp users (aged 19 to 27 years), while Study B was organized with 472 WhatsApp users (aged 18 to 23 years).
Findings
Intensity of social media use was the strongest predictor of social media fatigue. Online social comparison and self-disclosure were also significant predictors of social media fatigue. The findings also suggest that social media fatigue further contributes to a decrease in academic performance.
Originality/value
This study builds upon the limited yet growing body of literature on a theme highly relevant for scholars, practitioners as well as social media users. The current study focuses on examining different causes of social media fatigue induced through the use of a highly popular mobile instant messaging app, WhatsApp. The SSO framework is applied to explore and establish empirical links between stressors and social media fatigue.
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Silvia Sanz-Blas, Daniela Buzova and María José Miquel-Romero
Today’s society interest in mobile photography drives consumers’ and brands’ growing usage of Instagram. This paper aims to address the consequences of excessive use of Instagram…
Abstract
Purpose
Today’s society interest in mobile photography drives consumers’ and brands’ growing usage of Instagram. This paper aims to address the consequences of excessive use of Instagram on the negative feeling of losing information when not connected and the emotional fatigue resulting from an overcharge with new information. The mediating role of addiction between Instagram overuse and the two outcomes is also analyzed.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from 342 active Instagram users were used to test the proposed model, applying the partial least square equation modeling method (SmartPLS 3).
Findings
Addiction partially mediates the impact of overuse on emotional fatigue and instastress. Addiction to Instagram was mainly due to respondents’ lack of control over the time spent on it resulting in incapability to reduce its usage.
Social implications
Social networking site managers, educators, families and public institutions should promote an adequate use of Instagram, making users (especially the young) aware of the potential threats of its excessive usage. The control on the amount of time devoted to Instagram is a key factor for detaining overuse and addiction, as well as avoiding the negative outcomes analyzed in this research.
Originality/value
The findings contribute to the extant knowledge on the negative side of the digitization of the individual, as little is known about it to the best of the authors’ knowledge.
Propósito
La presente investigación aborda las consecuencias del uso excesivo de Instagram relacionadas con el sentimiento negativo de pérdida de información, cuando no se está conectado, y la fatiga emocional derivada de la sobrecarga de información. El estudio también analiza el papel mediador de la adicción entre el uso excesivo de Instagram y ambas consecuencias.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Para testar el modelo propuesto se utilizó información de 342 usuarios activos de Instagram, aplicándose el método de ecuaciones estructurales por mínimos cuadrados parciales (SmartPLS 3).
Hallazgos
La adicción media parcialmente el impacto que el uso excesivo de Instagram tiene sobre (i) la fatiga emocional y (ii) el Instastress. La adicción a Instagram se deriva principalmente de la falta de control del tiempo invertido en su uso, lo que da como resultado su incapacidad para reducir dicho uso.
Implicaciones sociales
Los responsables de los medios sociales, los educadores, las familias y las instituciones públicas deberían promover un uso adecuado de Instagram, haciendo que los usuarios (especialmente los más jóvenes) sean conscientes de las amenazas potenciales de su uso excesivo. El control sobre la cantidad de tiempo dedicado a Instagram es un factor clave para detener el uso excesivo y la adicción, así como para evitar los resultados negativos analizados en esta investigación.
Originalidad/valor
Los resultados contribuyen a ampliar el conocimiento sobre el lado negativo de la digitalización del individuo, dada la escasa literatura al respecto.
Palabras claves
Adicción, Uso excesivo, Instastress, Fatiga emocional, Redes sociales, Instagram
Tipo de artículo
Artículo de investigación
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Claudia Maia, Guilherme Lunardi, Andre Longaray and Paulo Munhoz
The popularity of social networks has created business opportunities to the electronic commerce environment, being recently named as social commerce. The purpose of this paper is…
Abstract
Purpose
The popularity of social networks has created business opportunities to the electronic commerce environment, being recently named as social commerce. The purpose of this paper is to analyze – from the perspective of the consumer – the main factors and characteristics (personal or related to the products bought) that have influenced consumers to participate in social commerce buying, recommending, comparing and sharing information about products and services in online marketplace and communities.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is characterized as an exploratory descriptive research, operationalized through a survey, applied to 229 participants of the social network Facebook. The research involves a qualitative stage for identifying potential variables that influence the participation of consumers in social commerce, followed by a quantitative one, including data collection procedures, validation and data analysis.
Findings
The results show trust, perceived usefulness and information quality as the factors that most influence consumer participation in social commerce, being trust in the website the main predictor. Concerning the characteristics, the findings also show that more expensive products and products classified as computers and electronics use ratings, recommendations and comments online more intensively than books, travel, household appliances and fashion products.
Research limitations/implications
As limitations of the study, the authors highlight the small number of interviews conducted during the qualitative stage, which may have left out other relevant factors of the analysis on consumers’ participation in social commerce. Another limitation refers to the selection of the participants of the study; all members of the social network Facebook are identified by the contact net of the authors – though it has been tried to enlarge this contact list by requesting the respondents to share the questionnaire link with their acquaintances, we should be cautious about the generalization of the results.
Originality/value
The study proposes an instrument to identify factors and characteristics that are taken into consideration by the consumers when participating in social commerce. Such a tool can be replicated by firms included in this type of commerce, in order to evaluate the behavior and perception of their customers about their performance in the online environment. This study also highlights trust, information quality and perceived usefulness of the website as the most influencing factors of the consumers’ participation in social commerce. In addition, the authors identified that more expensive products and products classified as computers and electronics seem to use more intensively ratings, recommendations and comments online provided by other people. This fact supports the research literature that (positive or negative) online recommendations influence the consumers purchase behavior, reducing uncertainties about the products and increasing credibility and trust.
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Mahmud Hassan and Rumman Hassan
Waiting is associated with pain and stress that leads to frustration. However, consumer narratives may help cope with the stress associated with such waiting. This study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Waiting is associated with pain and stress that leads to frustration. However, consumer narratives may help cope with the stress associated with such waiting. This study aims to understand consumer waiting behaviours within online communities.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was gathered following a netnographic approach from a Facebook brand community (FBC) by downloading and archiving the threads related to members’ waiting behaviours. This resulted in 91 pages of data, with 438 individual comments and 179 distinct threads.
Findings
The data revealed that members of the sampled FBC exercised waiting behaviour. The authors confirm that waiting for a product is associated with both negative outcomes (frustration, boredom, etc.), but positive ones (create stronger ties with the brand and fellow members, etc.). Members of the FBC exhibited reduced consumer anxiety and stress during the waiting period.
Research limitations/implications
This study found 13 waiting behaviours within the FBC and supports the idea that new value-creating behaviours are noticed within the context of FBCs.
Originality/value
This study focuses on waiting within a goods-based context (waiting to be served has been examined predominantly within the service sector). The study explored the behaviours of consumers who use social media to complain about extended waiting periods to receive the product along with other consumer reactions to these waiting crowds to reduce the emotional pain associated with such delays.
Propósito
La espera se asocia con el dolor y el estrés, lo que lleva a la frustración. Sin embargo, el relato de otros consumidores puede ayudar a hacer frente al estrés asociado a dicha espera. Este trabajo busca entender el comportamiento de espera de los consumidores dentro de las comunidades online.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Los datos fueron recopilados siguiendo un enfoque netnográfico de una comunidad de marca en Facebook (CMF) mediante la descarga de mensajes; sólo los hilos relacionados con los comportamientos de espera de los miembros fueron descargados y archivados. Esto resultó en 91 páginas de datos con 438 comentarios individuales y 179 hilos distintos.
Hallazgos
Los datos revelan que en Facebook se dan comportamientos de espera. Confirmamos que la espera de un producto no sólo está asociada a resultados negativos (frustración, aburrimiento, etc.), sino también a resultados positivos (crear lazos más fuertes con la marca y los compañeros). Además, se comprueba que los miembros de la CMF reducen la ansiedad y el estrés del consumidor durante el período de espera.
Limitaciones/implicaciones de la investigación
Este trabajo encuentra 13 comportamientos de espera dentro de una CMF
Originalidad/valor
Este trabajo se centra en la espera dentro del contexto basado en los bienes (la espera para ser atendido ha sido examinada principalmente dentro del sector de servicios). Además, no sólo nos centramos en los consumidores que utilizan los medios sociales para quejarse de una espera más larga en la recepción del producto, sino también en la reacción de otros consumidores a estas esperas para reducir el dolor emocional asociado a dicho retraso.
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Mitra Khalafbeigi, Farzaneh Yazdani, Florence Genis, Ka Yan Hess and Samita Kirve
Female adults diagnosed with myalgia encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) often are marginalised because their condition is not fully recognised by medical…
Abstract
Purpose
Female adults diagnosed with myalgia encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) often are marginalised because their condition is not fully recognised by medical and health-care systems. The purpose of this small-scale study was to explore the lived experiences of adult females with ME/CFS in England in relation to contributing factors that impact their occupational participation.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study design using semi-structured interviews was used with nine female adult participants who were selected using a purposive sampling method. A Thematic Networks tool was used to analyse data.
Findings
Four organising themes were identified: impairment-, person-, environment- and society-related factors. Two global themes, invisibility and diagnosis stigma, were identified as the overarching issues that female adults with ME/CFS face in occupational participation.
Originality/value
Many of the issues that contribute to lack of participation by this population are associated with environmental factors which are secondary to their illness.
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Evangelos Mourelatos and Emmanouela Manganari
This study aims to explore the relationship between social commerce purchase intention and consumer psychological factors (i.e. resilience, vulnerability and personality traits…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the relationship between social commerce purchase intention and consumer psychological factors (i.e. resilience, vulnerability and personality traits) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on social cognitive theory (SCT), an econometrical behavioral model was developed to explore the key determinants of online purchase behavior of 303 students in Greece. The research data were collected with a two-wave online survey (pre- and during the pandemic) which was distributed randomly to students in Generation Z.
Findings
A series of regression analyses revealed a positive effect of openness and a negative impact of extraversion and neuroticism on internet, Instagram and Facebook purchases during the pandemic. Findings suggest that loneliness serves as a moderator, while resilience and vulnerability have a positive effect on social media purchase behavior.
Practical implications
This study provides insights and implications for social commerce marketers and sheds light on the determinants of online purchase intentions of young consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Originality/value
Elaborating on SCT, this study provides novel insights into young consumers’ internet use and online purchase behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e. longitudinal approach), by focusing on consumer vulnerability and resilience while also embedding personality traits and mental health aspects (i.e. loneliness levels during the pandemic).
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Eoin Whelan, Willie Golden and Monideepa Tarafdar
Social networking sites (SNS) are heavily used by university students for personal and academic purposes. Despite their benefits, using SNS can generate stress for many people…
Abstract
Purpose
Social networking sites (SNS) are heavily used by university students for personal and academic purposes. Despite their benefits, using SNS can generate stress for many people. SNS stressors have been associated with numerous maladaptive outcomes. The objective in this study is to investigate when and how SNS use damages student achievement and psychological wellbeing.
Design/methodology/approach
Combining the theoretical perspectives from technostress and the strength model of self-control, this study theoretically develops and empirically tests the pathways which explain how and when SNS stressors harm student achievement and psychological wellbeing. The authors test the research model through a two-wave survey of 220 SNS using university students.
Findings
The study extends existing research by showing that it is through the process of diminishing self-control over SNS use that SNS stressors inhibit achievement and wellbeing outcomes. The study also finds that the high use of SNS for academic purposes enhances the effect of SNS stressors on deficient SNS self-control.
Originality/value
This study further opens up the black box of the social media technostress phenomenon by documenting and validating novel processes (i.e. deficient self-control) and conditions (i.e. enhanced academic use) on which the negative impacts of SNS stressors depend.
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Anushree Tandon, Amandeep Dhir and Matti Mäntymäki
The association between social media and jealousy is an aspect of the dark side of social media that has garnered significant attention in the past decade. However, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The association between social media and jealousy is an aspect of the dark side of social media that has garnered significant attention in the past decade. However, the understanding of this association is fragmented and needs to be assimilated to provide scholars with an overview of the current boundaries of knowledge in this area. This systematic literature review (SLR) aims to fulfill this need.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors undertake an SLR to assimilate the current knowledge regarding the association between social media and jealousy, and they examine the phenomenon of social media-induced jealousy (SoMJ). Forty-five empirical studies are curated and analyzed using stringent protocols to elucidate the existing research profile and thematic research areas.
Findings
The research themes emerging from the SLR are (1) the need for a theoretical and methodological grounding of the concept, (2) the sociodemographic differences in SoMJ experiences, (3) the antecedents of SoMJ (individual, partner, rival and platform affordances) and (4) the positive and negative consequences of SoMJ. Conceptual and methodological improvements are needed to undertake a temporal and cross-cultural investigation of factors that may affect SoMJ and acceptable thresholds for social media behavior across different user cohorts. This study also identifies the need to expand current research boundaries by developing new methodologies and focusing on under-investigated variables.
Originality/value
The study may assist in the development of practical measures to raise awareness about the adverse consequences of SoMJ, such as intimate partner violence and cyberstalking.
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Mandakini Paruthi, Harsandaldeep Kaur, Jamid Ul Islam, Aaleya Rasool and George Thomas
This study aims to investigate the influence of brand relationship quality and consumer community identification on consumer engagement. This study also examines the mediating…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the influence of brand relationship quality and consumer community identification on consumer engagement. This study also examines the mediating role of consumer engagement between brand relationship quality and consumer community identification with brand love. Positive word of mouth is taken as an outcome variable.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the proposed relationships, data were collected from 580 social media-based brand community followers and analysed through structural equation modelling.
Findings
Results corroborate brand relationship quality and consumer community identification as critical drivers of consumer engagement on the online platforms. The results further reveal a positive association between consumer engagement and brand love which consequently foster positive word of mouth. The findings also corroborate the partial as well as full mediating role of consumer engagement on different proposed associations.
Originality/value
This study offers an in-depth insight of specific motivations to engage consumers in the virtual domain, make them adore their brands and spread a positive word. All of these outcomes are crucial in offering competitive advantages to firms. This study validates the relevance of consumer engagement interactions in contemporary firms’ relationship marketing strategies.
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