A1 Journal article (refereed)
The brighter side of materialism : Managing impressions on social media for higher social capital (2022)
Tuominen, J., Rantala, E., Reinikainen, H., Luoma-aho, V., & Wilska, T.-A. (2022). The brighter side of materialism : Managing impressions on social media for higher social capital. Poetics, 92, Article 101651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2022.101651
The research was funded by Strategic Research Council at the Research Council of Finland.
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Tuominen, Jesse; Rantala, Eero; Reinikainen, Hanna; Luoma-aho, Vilma; Wilska, Terhi-Anna
Journal or series: Poetics
ISSN: 0304-422X
eISSN: 1872-7514
Publication year: 2022
Volume: 92
Article number: 101651
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Publication country: Netherlands
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2022.101651
Publication open access: Openly available
Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/80164
Abstract
Individuals adjust their behavior on social media to varying extent, and commonly in their idealized way. Most studies have focused on the problems associated with materialism and social media use, yet their potential positive contributions remain less clear. In fact, impression management holds potential for both negative and positive: it has been linked with materialistic attitudes, but also increased amounts of self-reported social capital. This study examines how young people's materialistic values connect with status-seeking impression management on social media, and subsequently to social capital, within the same model. Eight hundred Finnish participants aged 15–19 participated in our structured phone survey. We applied structural equation modeling to examine the connections between materialism, impression management, and online social capital. Our findings show that materialism is positively related to impression management, while impression management is positively associated with online social capital. Additionally, we found positive indirect effects between materialism and both bridging and bonding social capital through impression management. In sum, more materialistic young people who engaged in higher impression management had higher amounts of social capital.
Keywords: young people; young adults; consumer behaviour; consumership; consumer culture; social status; social capital; social media
Free keywords: impression management; social capital; social media; materialism; young people; status-seeking
Contributing organizations
Related projects
- #Agents- Young People’s Agency in Social Media
- Wilska, Terhi-Anna
- Research Council of Finland
- Learning to be digital consumers. How to improve young people’s financial skills in a technologically driven consumer society? (DigiConsumers)
- Wilska, Terhi-Anna
- Research Council of Finland
Ministry reporting: Yes
Reporting Year: 2022
JUFO rating: 3