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Habits and the electronic herd: The psychology behind social media’s successes and failures
Author(s) -
Anderson Ian A.,
Wood Wendy
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
consumer psychology review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2476-1281
pISSN - 2476-1273
DOI - 10.1002/arcp.1063
Subject(s) - habit , automaticity , social media , psychology , advertising , social psychology , internet privacy , computer science , world wide web , business , cognition , neuroscience
If platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the engines of social media use, what is the gasoline? The answer can be found in the psychological dynamics behind consumer habit formation and performance. In fact, the financial success of different social media sites is closely tied to the daily‐use habits they create among users. We explain how the rewards of social media sites motivate user habit formation, how social media design provides cues that automatically activate habits and nudge continued use, and how strong habits hinder quitting social media. Demonstrating that use habits are tied to cues, we report a novel test of a 2008 change in Facebook design, showing that it impeded posting only of frequent, habitual users, suggesting that the change disrupted habit automaticity. Finally, we offer predictions about the future of social media sites, highlighting the features most likely to promote user habits.

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