Insta-identity: Dark personality traits as predictors of authentic self-presentation on Instagram

Navigating virtual selves: validation of the German version of the presentation of online self scale

The Presentation of Online Self Scale for Adults (POSSA), originally developed by Strimbu et al. is a well-regarded instrument for assessing online self-presentation. This study evaluated the factorial structure, reliability, and validity of the German adaptation of POSSA. A CFA analysis confirmed a satisfactory fit for the proposed three-factor model, as evidenced by a CFI of 0.919, a TLI of 0.902 and a RSMEA of 0.075. The subscales of the German POSSA demonstrated high internal consistency. Additionally, convergent validity was established through significant correlations with the Impostor-Profile 30 (IPP), affirming the interpretive accuracy of the subscale scores. Specifically, the Adaptable Self and Freedom of Self Online subscales positively correlated with IPP measures of Alienation and Other-Self-Divergence, whereas the Authentic Self subscale inversely correlated with these measures. Moreover, the German POSSA scores accounted for variance in the number of Instagram followers, surpassing the predictive power of self-esteem alone. Notably, the Adaptable Self factor was positively associated with the follower count, while the Freedom of Self Online factor displayed a negative association. Collectively, these findings underscore the DE-POSSA as a robust tool for assessing self-presentation behaviors in German-speaking populations and highlight its potential for cross-cultural research in online interpersonal interactions.

Gift-giving intentions in pan-entertainment live streaming: Based on social exchange theory

Pan-entertainment live streaming combines video with two-way communication and real-time viewer participation, allowing viewers to send virtual gifts to their favorite streamers. Drawing on social exchange theory, this study investigates the factors that influence viewers' gift-giving intentions in live streaming from the perspectives of both viewers and streamers. It also explores the moderating role of streamers' deceptive self-presentation. The theoretical framework is tested using AMOS and PROCESS Macro based on survey responses collected from 331 TikTok users in China. The results suggest that streamers' attractiveness, expertise, parasocial interaction, and the viewers' deceptive self-presentation significantly affect viewers' gift-giving intention, and that streamers' deceptive self-representation moderates the relationship between attractiveness, expertise, parasocial inter-action and the viewer's consumer intention. These findings contribute to social exchange theory by highlighting the importance of streamers' deceptive self-presentation in moderating the effects of attractiveness, expertise, parasocial interaction, and the viewer's deceptive self-presentation on the viewer's gift-giving intention.

Examining retweeting behavior on social networking sites from the perspective of self-presentation

On social networking sites, people can express themselves in a variety of ways such as creating personalized profiles, commenting on some topics, sharing their experiences and thoughts. Among these technology-enabled features, retweeting other-sourced tweet is a powerful way for users to present themselves. We examine users' retweeting behavior from the perspective of online identity and self-presentation. The empirical results based on a panel dataset crawled from Twitter reveal that, people are prone to retweet topics they are interested in and familiar with, in order to convey a consistent and clear online identity. In addition, we also examine which user groups exhibit a stronger propensity for a clear online identity, considering the practical value of these users to both social media platforms and marketers. By integrating self-presentation theory with social influence theory and social cognitive theory, we propose and confirm that users with higher value in online self-presentation efficacy and users who are more involved with the social media platform have a stronger than average propensity to maintain a consistent online identity, and thus are more likely to retweet familiar topics. These users are characterized by (1) owning a larger number of followers, (2) authoring longer and more original tweets than average, (3) being active in retweeting other-sourced posts. This study contributes to our understanding of SNS users' retweeting behavior and adds to the emerging line of research on online identity. It also provides insights on how microblogging service providers and enterprises can promote people's retweeting behavior.

Unpacking the Potential Influence of Life Satisfaction on Network Heterogeneity, Emotional Exhaustion and Mobile App Fatigue: A Stressor-Strain-Outcome Approach

The ramifications of mobile apps' detrimental aspect on users' life satisfaction have garnered increased attention from academics. To probe the underlying association between life satisfaction and mobile app fatigue, this article builds a research model based on a stressor-strain-outcome approach. In addition, the study investigates the relationships between different dimensions of network heterogeneity, emotional exhaustion, and mobile app fatigue among users. Furthermore, the study uncovers the moderating influence of upward comparison, self-presentation, and privacy invasion on the association between life satisfaction and emotional exhaustion in the mobile app context. The study collected data in mainland China using a cross-sectional approach and analyzed the data using structural equation modeling. The findings demonstrate that life satisfaction is positively associated with self-presentation and negatively associated with upward comparison. Moreover, privacy invasion and upward comparison are positively correlated with emotional exhaustion, whilst self-presentation exerts no correlation with emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, upward comparison could mediate the association between life satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. The results provide fresh light on the mechanisms through which the life satisfaction of mobile app users and network heterogeneity might lead to emotional exhaustion and mobile app fatigue, highlighting important theoretical and practical implications.

The influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors on e-WOM behaviour: The role of psychological impact during the time of COVID-19 crisis

This investigation unearths the trait antecedents of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational drivers and their consequences on attitude towards e-WOM of social mobile app users. Additionally, this study attempts to explore the moderating role of psychological impact on attitude towards e-WOM when COVID-19 is ravaging the world. Following the descriptive research method, the survey was carried out among convenience sample respondents of 627 social mobile app users. The outcome brought out that extraversion had a favourable influence on opinion leadership, customer engagement, and self-expression for sharing consumption related information during the pandemic. Likewise, materialism also had a strong effect on self-expression. Nonetheless, extraversion and materialism failed to affect self-presentation motives. And, self-presentation was observed influencing attitude towards e-WOM negatively. The outcome of the study demonstrates that individuals with high psychological impact have a strong motivation to involve in customer engagement to participate in e-WOM communication. Motivational drivers such as self-expression, opinion leadership, and customer engagement had a significant effect on attitude towards e-WOM for the whole sample analysis. This investigation contributes to existing literature of e-WOM behaviour and widens the scope of self-presentation theory, social exchange theory, theory of planned behaviour etc. Finally, this research also assists marketers and practitioners to take better decision-making on developing a social media advertising and campaign using the framework.