Judging a (Face)book by its Cover Study on Personality and Social Media in Consumerism

Honors Thesis by: Kamila Gornia Supervised by: Brian Siers, Ph.D. Roosevelt University

Abstract While use of social media is widespread, relatively little is known about how online personas overlap with actual personality. This study aims to address this gap in the literature by administering a survey that will ask student participants (via SONA) to complete personality measures, as well as some basic questions about their use of social media. Participants will be asked to friend a Facebook profile generated for the study, and the researcher will gather basic information about their use of social media (number of Facebook friends, number of photos, etc.). Then, the personality results can be correlated with how participants use social media to tell us more about the relationship between online behaviors and personality traits.

Keywords Social networking, personality, social media, Facebook, purchase behaviors, marketing, digital advertising, consumerism

1 Honors Thesis: Personality & Social Media By Kamila Gornia. Roosevelt University.

Why Study Social Media? Social media has had a huge impact on our society whether we realize it or not. Social networking sites have become a ubiquitous part of our daily lives. We spend more time online now than we ever have and the numbers are only increasing. As of March 2013, there are 1.06 billion monthly active users on Facebook. This means that nearly 16% of the entire human population spends their time on Facebook on regular basis. If you still arent convinced how prominent online social networking is, you might be surprised to learn that 1 out of 7 minutes spent online is spent on Facebook. (Digital Buzz, 2013) Not only are there a lot of people using social media, but social media makes up an important part of the online experience. Because of the widespread use of social media, marketers are directing more of their time and money use toward reaching these people. There are 50 million Facebook pages for businesses, fans, artists, products, and more. According to eMarketer (2012), 9 out of 10 businesses are already on social media. This is likely wise, as 80% of users in some surveys report that they prefer to connect with brands on Facebook (Media Bistro, 2013). Facebook users do not always see business and brand mentions on social media as intrusive, preferring them on this social network as opposed to some others. Because of these data, social media has become a crucial part of the marketing strategies for many organizations. A business having a Facebook page doesnt guarantee that they are realizing the maximum benefits from their marketing on social media. There is more that needs to be done for social media to yield results. It is necessary to spend some time on these social media outlets in order to see traffic spikes and creating consistent awareness and engagement with

the audience. However, you dont need to spend a whole lot of time on social media to make it work for you as a business. Once they started engaging on social media, 74% of brand ma nagers saw an increase in website traffic after investing just 6 hours per week on social media (IVN, 2013). The Present Study Though social media is already routinely used by businesses, researchers and marketers still have a lot to figure out in terms of how social media really works and how it compares to other forms of media and advertising. The whole concept of social media marketing is still pretty new and we dont really know too much about it yet. When people use social media, they generate an enormous amount of data about their preferences and personality. There has been some research on the extent that social media presents cues that lead to valid personality inferences. According to research conducted by Gosling, et al. (2011), the impressions of people based on their Facebook profiles can be an effective tool to assessing user personality. This result was especially evident for the extraversion trait. Gosling s study showed that extraversion predicted a higher frequency of Facebook use and engagement with the site as compared to introverts. This is consistent with the fact that extraverts seek out socialization and being online may provide another way for extraverts to express their nature. The general findings from this study focused on the fact that individuals are able to use observable Facebook profile information to make accurate assumptions about some basic personality traits of the user. However, the research also showed that observers tended to

neglect some other valid cues that also have a rela tion to a users personality. People are using different cues for determining personality in different contexts, based on the person and the situation. Online behaviors are related to the ads a person sees during their online experience. From the standpoint of marketers, it is in their interest to put their ads in front of individuals most likely to be interested in the ad. Given the potential usefulness of social media information as a mechanism to help marketers move beyond keyword targeting to narrowcast ad impressions, we were interested in addressing several research questions in this study. First, we were interested in learning about the general use of social media. How, when, and why do people use multiple social media outlets? Second, we wanted to learn about how consumers use social media to inform their purchase decisions. Finally, we wanted determine which social media behaviors are accurate reflections of personality traits. Many employers, potential dates, and marketers use social media profiles to make inferences about people based on the content they make public on their profiles. There are many ways in which people use social media to determine what kind of person someone might be. We were interested in learning what cues people use to make inferences about peopl es personality (extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, etc.) on social media. More importantly, we wanted to research whether these cues are actually accurate. Marketers are trying to sell products to very specific kinds of people. Usually they take demographics into consideration as they might be more readily apparent and/or available.

However, psychographics might be just as important. Marketers might use psychographics in their targeting strategy, but these are operationalized as the type of products an individual searches for or likes online . It would be beneficial for marketers to have additional insight into an individuals personality from online residue that their behaviors leave behind . Thisi s likely to improve the ability of advertisers to identify people that are most likely to be responsive to ads, and therefore can be used as a way to make the ad targeting more costefficient and more effective.

Methodology Participants and Procedure The participants (N=96) were 96 undergraduate students. All of the participants were above the age of 18 and they attended either Roosevelt University or Harper Community College in Illinois. The procedure for participants consisted of two parts. First, the participants were required to fill out an online survey. Second, they had to friend a Facebook account created specifically for the study. Facebook was specifically selected for this study because research suggests the site has the greatest impact on purchase behavior (Cohen, 2012). Each participants Facebook profile was then coded for a number of characteristics by two

researchers. Researchers had the same access to participant Facebook profiles as any of their other Facebook friends. Measures Provided by Participants Social Media Use. Participants responded to a number of items asking about use of different social media platforms, how they evaluate products on social media platforms, and reasons they engage multiple social media platforms. Five Factor Model (FFM Traits). Participants provided self-reports of their extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, neuroticism, and agreeableness using shortened versions (5 items all positively keyed items) of the IPIP scales (Goldberg et al., 2006). Need for Cognition. Need for cognition, or participants preference for deliberative decision making, was assessed using the 18-item short form of the Need for Cognition Scale (Cacciopo, Petty, & Kao, 1984). Narcissism and Histrionic Traits. The 22-item Histrionic and 27-item Narcissism scales from the Milan Clinical Multitaxal Inventory (MCMI-III) were used as well. Measures Provided by Researchers Participants Facebook profiles were coded by two researchers. Researchers gathered information on amounts of photos/albums, status updates, likes, check-ins, and so forth, that the users had made public to their friends.

The coders also provided overall ratings (1=low trait; 5=high trait) of their perceptions of participant standing on each of the FFM traits, as well as their levels of perceived narcissism. Results General Social Media Use We first looked at participants general social media use. A bout half of our sample viewed social media websites more than 7 times per day. While the number is rather high, we expected a sample of young college-age students to be active in the online realm. About 80% of sample are using social media multiple times per day (Figure 1). To be more exact, 39% of the sample could be considered heavy social media users they were using social media more than 10 times per day - while 40% of the sample are considered moderate social media users, where they used the websites 3 to 9 times per day. The remainder of the sample, 21%, were light users who used the websites 2 times per day or less. It is important to keep in mind that the prerequisite for study participation was that a person had to already have a Facebook page, so the results may be skewed because all of our participants were already involved in social media.

Figure 1: Social Media Usage

Heavy users (10 or more times per day)

21%

39%

Moderate users (3 to 9 times per day):

40%

Light users (2 times per day or less):

Once we established the frequency of social media usage, we looked at what other social media outlets people used in addition to Facebook. Twitter was the leading non-Facebook social media platform of choice in our sample (used by 45% of the sample). Instagram (39%), Pinterest (39%), and Google+ (21%) were also commonly used.

Figure 2: Use of multiple social media platforms in addition to Facebook 45%

39%

39%

21%

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

Google+

Only 16% of sample reported that Facebook was the only social media platform they use regularly. Based on these results, we can determine that participants dont view different social media outlets as functionally redundant majority reported using multiple outlets for different things. Facebook Use Figure 3 describes sample means and standard variations for all of the indices coded by researchers, including average numbers of friends, photos, check-ins, and likes.

Figure 3: Variable Facebook Friends Photos

Average Number 488 789 51% are photos of themselves 30% are photos that dont include people

SD 410

30%

22%

Photo Albums Status Updates per month Likes (of Pages) Time since creating the profile

22 19 373 4.5

18 26 623 -

The high standard deviations for many of these variables are notable, indicating there was a lot of variability in the sample. Social Media and Purchase Behaviors The majority (58%) of participants reported having purchased a product that they learned about on social media. Most of the products purchased based on its presence online included low-involvement products, such as books, clothing and accessories, food, and entertainment. Although not everyone might be purchasing products after reading about them online, a lot of people enjoy talking about these products online nonetheless. From our sample, 70% reported that they post about whether they like or dislike products online and 40% reported that their friends recommenda tions and feedback was helpful in identifying products of interest. When we asked what got people to pay attention to a product online (Figure 4), most of the people said that seeing a friend talk about a product (43%) got them to pay more attention to it than if they were to see an ad for it (9%). This proves that there is more to digital marketing than just posting ads online; this result underscores the importance of virality and the power of generating word-of-mouth about products. Figure 4: How do products get attention online?

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When lots of my friends are talking about it: 43%

When my friend posts a link to it on their timeline: 18%

Freebies or coupons offered for liking a page: 16%

Seeing my friend liked a page: 14% Seeing an ad for a product: 9%

In addition to these purchase related behaviors, unsurprisingly we also found that heavy social media users are much more likely to purchase a product (71%) they learned about on social media compared to light users (37%). Pinterest and Consumption. Participants who reported making the most purchase decisions based on social media were Pinterest users. As mentioned previously, Facebook is currently the number 1 driver of consumer purchase behaviors online. This Pinterest result could be related to the fact that Pinterest is a highly visual and product-driven website which encourages people to browse through images, many of which are images of products. The overwhelming presence of products sprinkled in throughout the website makes it easy for users to easy make purchases based on the images they are seeing. This Pinterest result also supports the conclusion that different social media platforms are used for different purposes. Marketers should understand the different ways consumers interact with different platforms in order to efficiently plan their marketing efforts.

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Online Dating. Dating and courtship behaviors are tightly bound to a variety of consumerrelated behaviors. We found that LinkedIn and Google+ users were statistically significantly more likely to online date than Twitter users. This result can likely be explained by need for cognition. In our research, we found that Twitter users generally scored lower in need for cognition. Because dating online may require research, and a deliberative (and potentially viewed as less emotionally driven) approach to determining the person youre about to date, Twitter users lower need for cognition may result in reduced preference for online dating. Social Media and Personality A variety of external viewers (friends, employers, potential mates, etc) use social media behaviors to make personality inferences about the owner of the profile. However, it is unclear: (a) what cues people use to make personality inferences, and (b) of the cues that they use, which actually relate to personality. First, we looked at cue utilization, or what cues people tend to look at on a profile while forming an opinion about an individuals personality. To do this, we looked at correlations between the raters personality trait ratings, and the scores they provided for different online behaviors. Take as an example a correlation between the number of Facebook friends and the raters extraversion rating for that individual. This correlation suggests the rater used number of friends to inform their extraversion rating. Results suggested profile viewers consistently used certain cues to make personality inferences about people from their Facebook profiles. Figure 5 to see the kinds of cues that were used to determine a certain trait about a users personality. For example, assessors tend

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to associate a high number of photos with extraverted people; to assess conscientiousness in a person; however, assessors tend to look at how little friends a user has, and so forth. Its interesting to see all the different cues people tend to look at in order to assess someones personality based on their Facebook profile. But are these cues actually accurate? Figure 5: Cues to assess personality based on Facebook profile Personality Trait Extraversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Openness to Experience Neuroticism Narcissism Cues (numerical) # of friends, photos, photo tags, status updates, check-ins None # of friends (neg.), status updates (neg.), about me filled out (neg.) # of photos, photo tags, albums, check-ins # of status updates, blocked fields # of friends, photos, photo tags, status updates

Figure 6: Accuracy (bolded) of cues to assess personality based on Facebook profile Personality Trait Extraversion Cues (numerical) # of friends, photos, photo tags, status updates, check-ins. Not previously listed: # of months as a member (neg.) Agreeableness None Not previously listed: # of friends, photos, photo tags, blocked fields, posted relationship status (neg.)

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Conscientiousness

# of friends (neg.), status updates (neg.), about me filled out (neg.) Not previously listed: posted relationship status (neg.)

Openness to Experience Neuroticism

# of photos, photo tags, albums, check-ins # of status updates, blocked fields Not previously listed: # of media-related page likes

Narcissism

# of friends, photos, photo tags, status updates Not previously listed: # of months as a member, check-ins, about me fields filled out.

There was a great deal of inconsistency between the cues that assessors used to make inferences and those that actually relate to personality. Figure 6 includes a list of which cues actually predicted a users personality. The cues which are bolded are the cues that are accurate in predicting a users personality. There are a couple of valid cues that were used by assessors to make inferences about personality. For example, assessors were accurate in predicting extraversion by looking at the number of friends a user had. However, many of the cues which can accurately gauge personality were not even listed on the previous chart dealing with assessor inferences. For example, agreeableness is a trait which was not predicted by any cues at all based on assessor reports, however when looking at self-report survey data, we found that there are numerous things that may predict how agreeable a user might be, such as

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their number of friends, number of photos, whether their relationship status was made private, etc. It is also important to note the number of cues which were used inaccurately in assessing personality. There were many cues that were used to make inferences about personality incorrectly. For example, assessors thought that a high number of photos and a high number of check-ins usually determine how extraverted a user is. In reality, these two cues do not predict extraversion accurately. In sum, online behaviors leave a residue of ones personality. Ho wever people tend to look at the wrong cues to make these personality inferences. We found that viewers used the proper cues to assess personality only about 1/3 rd of the time. These results suggest that those looking at Facebook for employment screening, making inferences about whom to date, or other applied purposes, are likely arrive at incorrect conclusions about personality. Researcher trait ratings correlated with self-report trait ratings for extraversion, openness, and neuroticism ( r = .22 to .29). Rater and self-report correlations of other traits were not statistically significant. Personality and Use of Social Media Platforms. Some other notable results regarding the correlation of personality and social media were interesting. In the research, we found that a high need for cognition was related to using LinkedIn, Twitter, and online dating sites; however it was also related to a lower overall use of social media. High openness to experience was related to using LinkedIn, but also related to using less Pinterest. High conscientiousness was related to using LinkedIn. High narcissism was related to higher overall use of social media General Conclusions and Practical Implications

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These results yielded several general conclusions. First, users dont view social media as just one thing. Rather they see different outlets as having different functional uses. There are new social networks attempting to be created all the time but unless that new social media platform has something unique to offer, it is unlikely to be successful. Second, our sample used social media to evaluate and discuss consumer products, however they were much more likely to use these platforms to discuss media, entertainment, and trendy products whose use and purchase dont require much thought. These kinds of products can also be ca lled low involvement products. This is a good example of the Elaboration Likelihood Model: we can determine that products that would direct product information toward the central route of persuasion are likely to be unsuccessful advertising on social media. If a product is a high involvement product one that requires more thought and research to be done before purchasing it is less likely to be successful advertising on social media. However, for low involvement products - like cheaper things that dont require much thought before purchasing because we tend to make the purchase decision almost automatically or instantly - we are more likely to use social proof when buying that kind of product. So marketing a lower involvement product on social media may be more effective than marketing for a high involvement product that way. Finally, these results suggest that social media behaviors can be used to assess personality. However, assessors beware: improper cues are often used to make these assessments, resulting in poor assessments of personality. These results have important implications for marketing practice. For example, s ocial media usage data can be used to

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improve ad targeting algorithms. Rather than just using keywords or web searches to target consumers, use valid personality indicators to screen out those most and/or least likely to respond to ads to minimize paid ad exposures to those unlikely to respond. Since a marketer or a business has to pay each time a person sees an ad, its good for them to figure out how to show the ads only to the people who are most likely to click on it. This way, marketers can use personality indicators to screen out people who are least likely to engage with an ad. Limitations of the Study Participants in this study were undergraduate college students. Given their

demographics, they were much more likely to be heavy social media users , and thus is not generalizable to the rest of the population. They were also more likely to have specific consumption patterns consistent with how the results indicate participants used social media to make informed purchase decisions (i.e. focusing on entertainment, clothing, etc.). Also, the results might not generalize to other demographics. It is possible and likely that other demographics had entirely different social media usage patterns as well as different relationships between personality cue accuracy and social media.

References:
Bennett, S. (2013). 100 amazing social media statistics, facts, and figures [infographic]. Media Bistro, 4 Jan 2013. Web. 29 March 2013. http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/100-social-mediastats_b33696

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Cohen, H. (2012). 47 social media facts (& what they mean for your marketing). Heidi Cohen, Actionable Marketing Expert. 19 Nov 2012. Web. 29 Mar 2013. http://heidicohen.com/47-social-mediafacts-what-they-mean-for-your-marketing/ Goldberg, L. R., Johnson, J. A., Eber, H. W., Hogan, R., Ashton, M. C., Cloninger, C. R., & Gough, H. C. (2006). The International Personality Item Pool and the future of public-domain personality measures. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 84-96. Gosling, S.D., Augustine, A.A., Vazire, S., Holtzman, N., Gaddis, S. (2011) Manifestations of personality in online social networks: self-reported facebook-related behaviors and observable profile infromation. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14, 1-7. Infographic: social media statistics for 2013. (2013) Digital Buzz Blog, 2013. http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/infographic-social-media-statistics-for-2013/ Susskind, J. (2013). 10 social media facts sure to Wow you. IVN, the Social Ballot. 21 March 2013. Web. 1 April 2013. http://ivn.us/social-ballot/2013/01/31/10-social-media-facts-sure-to-wow-you/

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