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This paper aims to show how social needs – the need for integration and need for distinctiveness – guide Finnish young adults’ mundane consumption behaviors.

The study draws on literature on the fundamental importance of social needs for people’s social well-being and the healthy development of the young. The research uses qualitative methods, leaning on an interpretive approach that regards social needs as subjectively experienced and socially constructed phenomena. The empirical data were sourced from 56 Finnish university students’ narratives on their daily consumption behaviors.

The findings present five categories: “Socializing through consumption”, “Consuming to affiliate”, “Uniqueness through consumption”, “Consuming to show off” and “Obedient consumption”, which are further linked to social needs.

The study opens up the ways social needs are connected to consumption behaviors, for example showing how quotidian consumption objects, such as branded clothes, may be used to satisfy social needs in a way that enables young adults to make independent and distinctive consumption choices. On the other hand, in regard to young consumers’ psychological and social well-being, the study finds that striving to satisfy social needs could also lead to destructive behaviors, such as alcohol consumption.

The current research highlights the unavoidable importance of social needs in young adults’ mundane consumption and how they strive to satisfy them. Thereby, it yields implications for social well-being by shedding light on the pressures and possibilities faced by young adults in their everyday life.

This study examined the relationship of consumer values, needs and purchase behavior in two Asian consumer markets, China and South Korea. Between self‐directed values and social affiliation values, self‐directed values were the underlying determinant of needs to be satisfied by apparel products. Among the three types of needs identified to be satisfied through apparel (i.e. experiential, social and functional needs), experiential needs were the most important needs that influenced apparel purchases of female consumers in both Asian markets. Consumers in both country markets exhibited brand loyal behavior in apparel purchases, fulfilling all three needs. However, actualization patterns of each need through brand loyal behavior differed between the two consumer samples. While for brand‐loyal Chinese consumers experiential image was the most important aspect of the branded apparel appeal to female consumers, social image with performance quality assurance was a more important feature of the branded apparel appeal to consumers in Korea. Implications for brand image management for international markets were discussed.

Too many health and social care services are failing to meet people's complex needs. In this paper, ‘complex needs’ is presented as a framework to help understand multiple interlocking needs that span health and social issues. The concept encompasses mental health problems, combined with substance misuse and/or disability, including learning disability, as well as social exclusion. The paper outlines a strategy for promoting the well‐being and inclusion of people with complex needs. At the heart of this strategy is a new kind of delivery model: connected care centres, a type of bespoke social care service, a model which has been endorsed by the Social Exclusion Unit (SEU). In addition, the paper describes how new responses from existing services can promote better support for people with complex needs, such as a reformed commissioning process and a new ‘navigational’ role for the social care worker.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamic process and the meaning of symbolic consumption according to the three symbolic needs (i.e. status needs, social needs, status and social needs) to understand how symbolic messages are conveyed when consumers choose a brand.

This paper develops three dynamic models, categorized according to the consumers’ needs. The conceptual framework consists of the six constructs: collectivism/individualism, brand reputation, self-congruence, brand affect, brand identification and brand loyalty. Twelve hypotheses were developed and tested. Data were collected from consumers who had experienced well-known global chain restaurant brands. The three models were tested using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.

Findings highlight the important mediating role of brand affect in symbolic consumption, which previously has not been revealed empirically. Moreover, it is found that self-congruence does not mediate the relationship between brand reputation, collectivism/individualism and brand affect, despite its prominence in previous symbolic consumption studies. In the status and social needs models, brand reputation mediates between collectivism/individualism and self-congruence, brand identification, brand affect and brand loyalty.

This is the first empirical paper to investigate symbolic consumption in the context of three types of models, according to symbolic needs, in the context of restaurant consumption. The study also identifies the major components of the consumer’s symbolic needs based on the attributes of symbolic consumption. Moreover, this study reveals that when both social needs and status needs are mixed, a hierarchy exists between consumers’ symbolic needs. Finally, the study makes an important contribution to the literature by applying the concept of brand affect to symbolic consumption research and exploring the relationships between the external motivational factors and the internal elements of symbolic consumption.

The purpose of this paper is to apply Maslow's hierarchy of needs to extend the expectation‐confirmation model of information systems continuance (ECM‐IS) to analyze users' continuance intention of social networking services (SNSs).

A survey is conducted on 202 users of social networking services in China.

Fulfillment of self‐actualization needs has a significant impact on continuance intention; however, the direct impact of fulfillment of social needs on continuance intention is not significant but fully mediated by satisfaction.

The first limitation is that the participants in the sample are undergraduates. Second, this study has used cross‐sectional survey data to empirically test the model. Third, the survey is conducted in a single country.

The results of this paper provide several marketing implications to better manage SNSs. First, SNS managers should enhance instant communication functions, develop a platform that is convenient for users to express themselves and provide more entertainment functions. Second, SNS managers should focus on users' expectations and experiences about website functions and adjust or update website functions accordingly.

This paper contributes to the research on continuance intention of social networking services from the perspective of Maslow's hierarchy of needs to capture motivations of continuance intention. The authors believe their conceptualizations of fulfillment of self‐actualization needs and fulfillment of social needs, as well as their substantial findings, would be useful to researchers and practitioners alike to better study and manage continuance intention of socially‐oriented online services.

With the rising concerns of compulsive use of social media, it is important to understand why users develop such unplanned and irrational behaviors. Leveraging the uses and gratification theory, the authors aim to explore the determinants of compulsive use of social media from the dual perspectives of individual needs (need to belong (NTB) and need for uniqueness) and peer-related factors (referent network size and perceived peer activeness). Due to the importance of self-construal in cognitive deliberation on peer influences, the moderating effects of self-construal were taken into consideration.

The authors empirically test their model by conducting an online survey with 459 WeChat users.

The results show that compulsive use of social media is predicated by both individual needs and influence from peers. Moreover, peer influence could be attenuated when individuals develop a high degree of independent self-construal.

The authors' study contributes to the research of compulsive behavior in the context of social media use by incorporating the dual effects of individual needs and social influence. The authors also offer managerial insights on eradicating the formation of compulsive behaviors.

The authors examine the dual effects of individual needs and peer influence in predicting compulsive use of social media and the moderating role of self-construal, which have been rarely investigated in this context.

The authors develop a conceptual model to examine how three basic psychological needs (i.e. needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness) affect employee social media use (i.e. work- and social-related use). The authors propose that the need for autonomy positively moderates the relationship between need for competence and work-related use, whereas it negatively moderates that between need for relatedness and social-related use.

To test the proposed model, 332 internal and 271 external social media users in the workplace were recruited.

The results indicate that needs for competence and autonomy and needs for relatedness and autonomy positively affect the work- and social-related use, respectively, of internal and external social media. Need for autonomy positively moderates the relationship between need for competence and work-related use of internal social media, and it negatively moderates that between need for relatedness and the social-related use of internal social media. Need for autonomy has no moderating effect on the relationship between need for competence and work-related use, whereas it negatively moderates the relationship between need for relatedness and the social-related use of external social media.

First, the authors’ findings offer significant empirical support for the different social media uses, namely work and social related. Second, this study highlights the importance of psychological needs of employees in determining the form of social media use. Third, this study empirically demonstrates the differences in psychological needs and social media use between two different social media contexts.

Addressing the housing needs of the displaced communities is an essential part of a recovery programme that has distinct links to livelihoods, health, education, security and social and family stability. The housing factor acts as a social centre for family and friends, a source of pride and cultural identity and a resource that commands both political and economic importance. Therefore, addressing the housing needs of the displaced communities should be seen as a mode to promote resilience and sustainable communities. Instead, the consideration of housing needs merely as a physical need results in many issues to the communities, including no access to livelihood, poor living condition, health problems, lack of financial independence, lack of social satisfaction and social cohesion, and sometimes even recreates and worsens the existing vulnerabilities of displaced communities. Within this context, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors to consider when addressing the housing needs of the displaced communities, promoting resilience and sustainable communities.

The research team of the project titled REbuildinG AfteR Displacement (REGARD) conducted 47 in-depth interviews in four partner countries (the UK, Sweden, Estonia and Sri Lanka) with officials, community representatives, social support networks, agency networks, etc. Apart from that, focus group discussions were conducted with the community members in Sri Lanka covering both conflict-induced and disaster-induced displacement.

The findings of this paper revealed that the housing factor has a significant role in rebuilding communities and determining the long-term satisfaction of displaced communities. Further, the results present eight essential factors to consider when addressing the housing needs of the displaced communities, promoting resilient and sustainable communities.

The findings are helpful for future planners, urban designers, architects and policymakers who work in the resettlement field. Planners, urban designers and architects can use these identified factors to cross-check their resettlement planning and designing strategies in addressing the housing needs of the displaced communities. Further, policymakers can mainstream these identified factors into the resettlement housing-related policies and regulations.

Addressing the housing needs of the displaced communities is an essential part of a recovery programme that has distinct links to livelihoods, health, education, security and social and family stability. The housing factor acts as a social centre for family and friends, a source of pride and cultural identity and a resource that commands both political and economic importance. Therefore, addressing the housing needs of the displaced communities should be seen as a mode to promote resilience and sustainable communities. Instead, the consideration of housing needs merely as a physical need results in many issues to the communities, including no access to livelihood, poor living condition, health problems, lack of financial independence, lack of social satisfaction and social cohesion, and sometimes even recreates and worsens the existing vulnerabilities of displaced communities. Within this context, this paper investigates the factors to consider when addressing the housing needs of the displaced communities, promoting resilience and sustainable communities.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the valuation of human needs within a given hierarchy. An important distinction is made between private utility and social relevance of needs.

The authors consider a generic hierarchy of needs in a world of similar agents. For the assumed pyramid, agents have to predict the current social value of a need that they will try to fulfill only at some future date. Several possibilities are explored about the way agents predict the social value of future needs.

It is found that if agents are unable to form an accurate forecast on the social value of a future need, distortions will eventually occur. Complex dynamics may emerge when agents try to learn future social values and use inaccurate learning algorithms.

The paper discusses how individuals measure the value of a need that is fulfilled in some future date. Results are dependent on the assumed learning algorithm. Different learning algorithms may lead to other kinds of long‐term implications.

The paper allows for a better understanding of how human needs can be valued.

It is highlighted that aggregate behavior on the evaluation of needs may be different from the behavior of an average agent.

In this paper, the notion of hierarchy of needs is combined with an assessment of how agents form expectations about future events. This furnishes a new paradigm of analysis that can be explored in related future work.

The purpose of this study is to compare the gratification sought and gratification obtained for cognitive needs from social media among information professionals in the limelight of uses and gratification theory. Cognitive needs are related to knowledge, acquiring information, comprehension etc., and gratification sought and gratification obtained are two distinct components of the uses and gratification theory.

For this quantitative research study, a self-administered survey questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants of the study. Sample of this study was 700 information professionals who are necessarily users of social media.

Finding of this study depicted that gratification obtained and gratification sought from social media for cognitive needs are different from each other, and information professionals need to revisit their social media use for cognitive needs.

The present study is limited to gratification sought and gratification obtained for cognitive needs among information professionals.

This study has determined that information professionals need to revisit their social media use for cognitive needs, as the obtained gratifications are different from gratification sought from social media.

Social media provides versatility of information in different forms and large numbers of information professionals are the users of social media around globe. Perceived use of social media for cognitive needs has been resulted into destructed gratifications. This study has brought the actual outcome of the use of social media to the audience so that they may rectify their social media use.

This study is a significant contribution for information professionals to review the gratifications sought and obtained from social media for cognitive needs. It has been established in this study that gratifications sought are significantly different from gratifications obtained from social media among information professionals.