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The extended warming effect of social media: Examining whether the cognition of online audiences offline drives prosocial behavior in 'real life'

The extended warming effect of social media: Examining whether the cognition of online audiences offline drives prosocial behavior in 'real life'
The extended warming effect of social media: Examining whether the cognition of online audiences offline drives prosocial behavior in 'real life'

Online audiences (e.g. Facebook friends, Instagram followers) shape users' self-presentation online, but little is known about whether or not they impact users' actions in ‘reality’, so offline, when they are not engaged directly with a site interface. To bridge this gap, we provide the first investigation of the ‘extended warming effect’ of social media, a special form of a phenomenon in which saliency (cognition) of online audiences in offline encounters triggers impression management behavior in the pursuit of a more desirable online public image. Across two controlled experiments in the context of charity fundraising, we support the existence of the extended warming effect. We find that as online audiences become more salient, people show greater intentions of engaging in prosocial behavior offline (e.g. enhanced likelihood of making a donation). This effect is mediated by higher public self-awareness and extrinsic motivations. In addition, we find that the extended warming effect is amplified for more intense social media users. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

Charity, Impression management, Prosocial, Self-awareness, Social media, Warming effect
0747-5632
1-9
Lavertu, Laura
ea1a832c-6652-4d85-bd20-85a672a1455e
Marder, Ben
6c556d4a-af17-4625-b03b-fe84159fdf2d
Erz, Antonia
f0fa9fc3-2a65-4efb-94c9-e04b33554130
Angell, Robert
ca8389e4-2a83-43a8-b331-c262eda37674
Lavertu, Laura
ea1a832c-6652-4d85-bd20-85a672a1455e
Marder, Ben
6c556d4a-af17-4625-b03b-fe84159fdf2d
Erz, Antonia
f0fa9fc3-2a65-4efb-94c9-e04b33554130
Angell, Robert
ca8389e4-2a83-43a8-b331-c262eda37674

Lavertu, Laura, Marder, Ben, Erz, Antonia and Angell, Robert (2020) The extended warming effect of social media: Examining whether the cognition of online audiences offline drives prosocial behavior in 'real life'. Computers in Human Behavior, 110, 1-9, [106389]. (doi:10.1016/j.chb.2020.106389).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Online audiences (e.g. Facebook friends, Instagram followers) shape users' self-presentation online, but little is known about whether or not they impact users' actions in ‘reality’, so offline, when they are not engaged directly with a site interface. To bridge this gap, we provide the first investigation of the ‘extended warming effect’ of social media, a special form of a phenomenon in which saliency (cognition) of online audiences in offline encounters triggers impression management behavior in the pursuit of a more desirable online public image. Across two controlled experiments in the context of charity fundraising, we support the existence of the extended warming effect. We find that as online audiences become more salient, people show greater intentions of engaging in prosocial behavior offline (e.g. enhanced likelihood of making a donation). This effect is mediated by higher public self-awareness and extrinsic motivations. In addition, we find that the extended warming effect is amplified for more intense social media users. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

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CHB_Warming_revision_open_access - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 13 April 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 14 April 2020
Published date: 1 September 2020
Keywords: Charity, Impression management, Prosocial, Self-awareness, Social media, Warming effect

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 441745
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/441745
ISSN: 0747-5632
PURE UUID: 0a7817bd-6693-4c29-a5ba-f324eabf1bc5
ORCID for Robert Angell: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8554-2092

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 25 Jun 2020 16:48
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 05:33

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Contributors

Author: Laura Lavertu
Author: Ben Marder
Author: Antonia Erz
Author: Robert Angell ORCID iD

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