L5: The psychology behind social media marketing

Question 1

The race model

Answer 1

1. Plan, 2. Reach, 3. Act, 4. Convert, 5. Engage … and re-automate

Question 2

Heruristic-Systematic Model (HSM)

Answer 2

· HSM offers a ‘two’ passageway of persuasion processing – similar to ELM

· People process by using either:
o Heuristics – simple decision rules or
o Systematic – by examining and elaborating the message

· If low motivation/ability → information from an expert is considered trustworthy – no significant elaboration of the message

If high motivation/ability → elaborating message by evaluating message content and establishing source credibility

Question 3

Integrated model

Answer 3

· Integrates elements of ELM and the HSM and adds two new parts:
o ‘experiential processing’ in addition to heuristic/peripheral and systematic/central processing (triggers sensations or feelings → mere exposure effect)

A judgement evaluation stage to complete the processing of information (on-going basis)

Question 4

Persuasion knowledge

Answer 4

· Consumers learn how to respond to persuasion attempts and adopt their behaviour over time (coping strategies)

· Central premise is that a persuasion attempt is recognised as persuasion – if not, persuasion knowledge is not activated

· Often seen as inherently negative – but can actually be positive (suspension of disbelief)

The target’s activation of persuasion knowledge relies on: previous experience, cognitive ability, motivation

Question 5

The Persuasion Knowledge Model

Answer 5

· Agent (the marketer)
o Topic knowledge (about the content of the message)
o Target knowledge (about the goals, attitudes, competencies of the target)
o Persuasion knowledge (cognitive resource to ‘construct and deliver’)

· Target (the consumer)
o Topic knowledge
o Agent knowledge (about how the agent will deliver a persuasion attempt)
Persuasion knowledge (to recognise, manage and cope with a persuasion episode)

Question 6

Positive factors for persuation: Credibility?

Answer 6

· Credibility:

· Perceived similarity (message or sender)

Para-social relationships: especially in the context of social media

Question 7

What is credibility?

Answer 7

Presumed based on previously formed heuristics, assumptions, stereotypes

Reputed based on received reports about the credibility of someone or something

Question 8

Case of TikTok

Answer 8

Consumers are turning to social media to discover products, spending money based on the recommendations of both high-profile influencers and casual creators
· Not just endorsement: psychological relationship with the face on the screen + underlying mechanisms of TikTok
· Source credibility: If creator is competent and credible + fit with product * Video creates a specific environment of “personal disclosure”
· Para-social relationships on TikTok can drive a fear of missing out, which spurs buying behaviour
“When you continue to fall more and more in love with these people, it stokes the fear of not capitalising on that relationship, or showing your devotion to that relationship.” (Penttinen, 2023

Question 9

Habits and social media: Is frequent use alligning with habitual use?

Answer 9

Frequent use = habitual use (Anderson & Wood, 2020, p. 3)

Question 10

Social Media Habit Formation (Andersen & Wood, 2020)

Answer 10

Intentions, friction, social media, use, context cues, rewards

Question 11

Social Media Habit Formation Mode: INTENTIONS

Answer 11

· Habits: automatic response mechanism that forms through repetition and provides benefits as well of costs for individuals users

· Given sufficient rewards, consumers form positive attitudes towards social media use along with favourable subjective norms and perceived use as frictionless – contribute to favourable use intentions

· … and the opposite if negative attitudes, unfavourable subjective norms, high friction

· Intention to receive rewarding outcomes

Question 12

Social Media Habit Formation Mode: FRICTION

Answer 12

· Delays and hurdles when accessing social media can reduce consumers’ experience of rewards
· Social media companies decrease friction by automating login, security verification, speeding load times, fewer clicks, short wait times
· Insufficient friction on social media can raise concerns about privacy
· If less friction: easier for beginning users to try and easier for returning users
Companies can increase friction to slow the spread of misinformation

Question 13

· Delays and hurdles when accessing social media can reduce consumers’ experience of rewards
· Social media companies decrease friction by automating login, security verification, speeding load times, fewer clicks, short wait times
· Insufficient friction on social media can raise concerns about privacy
· If less friction: easier for beginning users to try and easier for returning users
Companies can increase friction to slow the spread of misinformation

Question 14

Social Media Habit Formation Mode: CONTEXT CUES

Answer 14

· Cues in the performance context can activate habits:
· Site features (logo, layout, colours, sounds, notifications, no stopping cues/endpoints)
· Smartphone (medium for stacking onto existing habits)
· Events (special situations, places, times of day)
· Mood (e.g., boredom)
Habit memories provide a useful mental shortcut for behaviours likely to be rewarded

Question 15

Social Media Habit Formation Mode: REWARDS

Answer 15

· Consumers form habits to use a site due to the rewards they gain from doing so
· Individual consumers do not all experience the same rewards – depends on who you are and how media is used (passive/active)
· Once habits form and site use becomes automated, consumers’ motivation become less important
Habits tend to persist even when rewards shift or consumers’ motivations change (e.g., self-nudge by removing apps)

Question 16

Social Media Habit Formation Mode: REWARDS - Content?

Answer 16

· Others’ post through a scroll or incremental reveal of only a few posts at a time
· Scrolling increases users’ experience of the uncertainty of contentbased rewards, heightening the experiences of surprise and inconsistency with a site’s content
May encourage users to share content that violates expectations (emotional, hedonic or false information) – spreads the farthest and fastest on social media: spark conversation, capture attention and spread broadly through others’ shares

Question 17

Social Media Habit Formation Mode: REWARDS - Social?

Answer 17

· Social recognition such as likes, comments, shares, notifications, popularity (new followers, friends)
· The more you post, the more social recognition you usually get – withinsite social rewards are important for motivating site use
· Social comparison
· Downward comparisons might be incited by others’ personal crises, your own superiority etc.
Upward comparisons - common due to positivity bias by posters (only sharing the good stuff). Can have negative effects (selfesteem, body image etc.)

Question 18

The role of social norms

Answer 18

· Gravitational pull: social pressure, when friends are active
· Social rewards create reciprocity norms that magnify reward effects (mutual benefits)
· Immediacy of rewards is important: neural system release dopamine that helps to form habit associations between context and responses
Rewards that are temporally distant have little effect

Question 19

Intentions vs habits?

Answer 19

· Discontinuance intentions: regret, being overloaded, overwhelmed
· Initial start to reduce social media use – consumers weigh the financial, social and psychological costs of reducing commitment to a site
· When transition costs outweigh the benefits, people experience cognitive lock-in – have an explicit psychological commitment to the site due to the perceived sunk costs
· Quitting can be difficult due to the slow-to-change memory trace of habits
Self-control strategies (active more difficult than altering cues)