Rationale for “Liking” on Social Networking Sites

Abstract

The “ like” feature is popularly utilized by online social media users for different reasons including socializing, giving feedback and giving or seeking attention as well as for pure affection. The “ like” function is a gamified element of social networking sites used billions of times per day. Despite its widespread use in the social media space, little is known about the different factors that influence Facebook users’ “ like” continuation intention or the game mechanics of “ like.” To address this relevant issue, a cross-sectional survey was administered with 728 adolescent Facebook users (12–18 years old). This study utilized the theory of planned behavior to investigate the role of attitude (hedonic motivation, reciprocal benefit, and social presence), subjective norms (primary influence and secondary influence), and perceived behavioral control (self-efficacy and habit) in influencing the continuation intention of “ like” as well as the influence of self-efficacy and habit on the game mechanics of “ like.” This investigation addresses the urgent need to understand better the postadoption issues as well as the intentions to use specific features of social media. The results suggest that social presence, primary and secondary influence, self-efficacy, and habit significantly predicted Facebook “ like” continuation intention. Furthermore, self-efficacy and habit significantly predicted the game mechanics of “ like.” Different theoretical and practical implications of the study are presented and discussed in light of prior information systems literature.

High Academic Self-Efficacy and Dispositional Empathy in Future Teachers

“…In this sense, it is important to bear in mind that excessive browsing through social networks can limit the oral communication of young people [74]. However, encouragingly, it seems that although self-efficacy is associated with greater use of technology and social networks [22], it is not associated with greater exposure of personal images on social networks [76].…”

“…Gender and age also influence the degree of self-efficacy, since studies have demonstrated that there are differences in this at the academic, social, and sports levels [21]. In adolescents, self-efficacy and performance expectations are linked to greater use of technology and social networks [22]. In university students, self-efficacy is linked to all dimensions of psychological well-being such as self-acceptance, environment domain, purpose in life, personal growth, autonomy, and positive relationships [23], as well as a higher degree of employment [24] and to future job prospects [25].…”

Can “Liking” Behavior Lead to Usage Intention on Facebook? Uses and Gratification Theory Perspective

“…In the current environment of robust SNS research, U&G theory has extensively explored the reasons for individuals' use of different SNSs including Facebook [2,18], WeChat [7], Twitter [19], social virtual worlds [10], and social networking games [12,20] (see Table 1). Table 1 summarizes the major findings of studies on U&G theory in the SNS context.…”

“…It has been suggested that the theory of uses and gratifications (U&G) may be useful to predict the liking behavior of WeChat users [7]. Social presence, primary and secondary influence, habit and self-efficacy significantly affect Facebook "like" continuation [12]. While some research has explored SNS liking behavior in terms of U&G theory, subjective norm approaches have been overlooked in the SNS context.…”

Continued Use of Mobile Instant Messaging Apps: A New Perspective on Theories of Consumption, Flow, and Planned Behavior

“…The TPB is a popular social–psychological framework that has been widely used for understanding and explaining human behavior in the computer-mediated communication environment (Carter & Yeo, 2016; Cheung & To, 2016; Dhir, Khalil, Kaur & Rajala, 2018; Jiang et al, 2016; E. Kim, Lee, Sung, & Choi, 2016).…”