They do! How the explicit motive-structure predicts user behavior in (business-) social network sites like Xing or LinkedIn

Abstract

Despite the massive influence of business related social network sites (SBNSs) like Xing or LinkedIn regarding our professional networking-behavior, little is known about how motivational components (especially considering the `Big Three Motives' affiliation, achievement and power motive) affect user behavior in SNSs. The study's findings indicate that the explicit conscious affiliation, achievement and power motive were related to different networking outcomes. While the explicit affiliation motive predicted the percentage of colleagues in the contact list, the total amount of SBNS contacts was predicted by the explicit power motive. Also, people with high explicit achievement motivation networked significantly more often with persons of lower hierarchical status unlike people with less achievement motivated characteristics. This presents us with new research results and closes an empirical gap in motive research.