Introduction
Prior research has found that psychopathology constructs such as depression and anxiety are associated with problematic use of Facebook (PFU). In the present study, we examined a structural equation model whereby depression, social anxiety and lower life satisfaction predicted PFU severity, while analyzing mediating variables including rumination, fear of missing out (FoMO), and frequency of Facebook use, as well as age and gender as covariates.
Method
Participants were 296 college students administered a web survey of instruments measuring these constructs.
Results
Modeling results demonstrate that FoMO and rumination were significantly related to PFU severity. Facebook use frequency was related to PFU severity. FoMO and rumination each mediated relations between social anxiety and PFU severity.
Conclusions
Results are discussed in the context of prior work on FoMO and excessive technology use, as well as several relevant theoretical frameworks.
Purpose
Previous research has found support for depression and anxiety severity in association with both increased and problematic smartphone use. However, little research has explored transdiagnostic psychopathology constructs as mediators that may account for these relationships. The purpose of this paper is to test rumination as a possible transdiagnostic (cross-sectional) mediator in these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors recruited 296 college students to complete relevant web survey measures, including the patient health questionnaire-9 (for depression severity), social interaction anxiety scale (for social anxiety severity), ruminative thought styles questionnaire, smartphone addiction scale-short version (to measure levels of problematic smartphone use), and a measure of smartphone use frequency.
Findings
The authors found support for a structural model whereby the severity of depression and social anxiety accounted for variance in rumination, which, in turn, correlated with problematic smartphone use levels. Rumination accounted for relations between both depression and social anxiety severity with levels of problematic use.
Originality/value
The authors discuss the role of rumination as a possible mechanism between anxiety- and depression-related psychopathology levels with problematic smartphone use severity. This study is unique in exploring rumination in the context of problematic smartphone use.
Purpose
This paper aims to report on a study that assessed Indian consumers’ response to green marketing communications, based on their GREEN consumption values. GREEN (Haws et al., 2014) refers to consumers’ tendency to express their environmental concern through their consumption behaviors. This study applies this construct in a marketing communications context.
Design/methodology/approach
Two conceptual models involving GREEN were developed, and data to test the models were collected in a survey conducted among a convenience sample of 284 Indian consumers.
Findings
The results show that GREEN can enhance understanding of consumers’ green attitudes and intentions. GREEN consumption values have an impact on how Indian consumers respond to advertising and public relations stimuli, as GREEN influences perceptions of green brand trust, attitudes toward green marketing communications and green brand support and purchase intentions.
Research limitations/implications
The research adds to the growing literature on green marketing in emerging economies and extends the application of the GREEN construct from the domain of consumer behavior to that of green marketing communications.
Practical implications
The results suggest that marketers should focus on developing green marketing communications strategy, rather than just green advertising strategies, and they can position their green products to appeal to consumers based on GREEN consumption values.
Originality/value
The study is the first to apply the GREEN construct in assessing consumer response to a brand’s green marketing communications; it also explores this issue in an emerging economy.
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