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This research represents the first systematic empirical examination of the motivation to spread word of mouth about consumption activities in order to self‐express, a phenomenon that has been observed in both the academic literature and the popular press. Consumption‐focused self‐expression is a motivation to engage in word‐of‐mouth communication that is distinct from other word‐of‐mouth motivations that have been discussed in the literature. This work defines consumption‐focused self‐expression word of mouth as communication about one's consumption activities for the purpose of expressing one's self‐concept and attracting attention to oneself. A scale to measure consumption‐focused self‐expression word of mouth is developed and shown to exhibit a consistent scale structure, acceptable reliability, and convergent, discriminant, nomological, and predictive validity. Scores on the consumption‐focused self‐expression word‐of‐mouth scale are shown to predict differences in the quantity and nature of consumers’ actual word‐of‐mouth communications via the social networking Web site Facebook.

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Social media interactions in the form of likes and comments have become a prevalent and expected form of feedback among consumers. However, as these forms of feedback represent social acceptance, content that fails to garner sufficient community reactions may have important implications for consumer behavior, a conjecture supported by an evolutionary psychology account. Three studies demonstrate that consumers use social media cues such as the number of likes that a post receives to shape their attitudes and intentions regarding the subject of that post, and this relationship is mediated by perceptions of social exclusion. Further, the presence of comments can help to attenuate the negative impact of too few likes on perceptions of social exclusion, enhancing consumers’ attitudes and intentions toward the subject of the post.