Topic: Who Do You Think You Are? Common and Differential Effects of Social Self-Identity on Social Media Usage

Speaker: Prof. Patrick Chau， University of Hong Kong

Host: Prof. CHEN Xi

Tim: 10:00-11:30 November 18th, 2016 (Friday)

Venue: Room 302

Abstract: Intense competition requires social media service providers to execute two major business strategies: exploiting current functions while simultaneously exploring incremental innovation. Realization of these strategies is related to two types of member behavior: reinforced use and varied use. Drawing on identity theories, we examine the common and differential effects of two levels of social self-identity – relational identity and social identity – on reinforced and varied use and the moderating role of inertia on their effects on social media usage. Our results reveal that, although both identities have similar effects on usage behavior, users with high social identities are more oriented toward variety-seeking, while those with strong relational identities are more oriented toward reinforcement. Inertia negatively moderates the impacts of social identity on social media use, but not the relationships between relational identity and social media use. Our findings provide insights on managing and promoting reinforced and varied use in social media.