Abstract
On Instagram, individuals proactively seek Likes for posts, as the number of Likes received is a social currency, signalling popularity and status. However, digital status-seeking behaviours, such as Like-seeking, are also associated with negative outcomes including health-risk behaviours. Yet little is known about traits that drive Like-seeking. Proposing Like-seeking as a form of conspicuous consumption, we investigate materialism, vulnerable narcissism, and self-monitoring-traits associated with conspicuous consumption-as antecedents of Like-seeking on Instagram, distinguishing between normative Like-seeking and deceptive Like-seeking. We explore the mediating role of Instagram intensity in the relationship between these traits and the two forms of Like-seeking. Using a cross-sectional non-experimental design, data from a sample of 436 Instagram users in the United States were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Results show that the traits are directly associated with deceptive Like-seeking. Findings reveal new insights into users' Instagram intensity as a mediating variable between materialism and self-monitoring, and both Like-seeking behaviours.
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