Persuasive effects in social media: the case of envy

Abstract

In the age of social media, consumers are constantly exposed to idealistic images of others arousing social-related emotions such as envy. Yet, very little is known about the effects of envy on purchase intention. Our pilot study and experiment investigated the effects of Facebook envy on purchase intent involving female Facebook users, aged 18–25 years. The pilot study and experiment manipulated the envy subtypes (benign and malicious). A serial mediation model via two mediators to purchase intent was then tested. It tested the persuasion pathway via attitude towards the brand user (human-related social effect) and via the brand (brand-related effect). Results indicated that the human-related social effect was stronger than the brand-related effect. Further analysis into product types (body-related vs non-body-related) found that not all products induce invidious reactions. The effects were only present for the body-related products.

Keywords:

• Facebook
• social media
• envy
• brand attitude
• brand user
• purchase intent

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 We also tested the outer path of the serial mediation model of Figure 3. It yielded a significant result, suggesting the importance of these two mediating factors. Outer path: Envy types → attitude towards the brand user → attitude towards the brand → purchase intent (b = .089, BCCI_95% [.041, .149]).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Camille Singh

Camille Singh is a sessional academic at the Department of Marketing at Macquarie Business School, Sydney, Australia. Her research interests are in consumer behaviour and particularly in the area of social emotions.

Lawrence Ang

Lawrence Ang is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Macquarie Business School, Sydney, Australia. When not grading assignments, he spent his time on social media, getting envious of others. Lately, he discovered the art of social distancing.