THE CONTINUED USE OF A SOCIAL NETWORK AND THE MODERATING ROLE OF USERS' NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITIES

Abstract

Study Objective: to propose and test the impact of social influence, hedonic value, utilitarian value, flow experience, and sense of belonging on the continued use of a social network (Facebook), and verify the moderating role of users' narcissistic personalities. Methodology/approach: quantitative research was carried out with 360 social network users by implementing a survey. The results analysis was performed by means multivariate statistics, using the Structural Equation Modeling technique. Main results: among the main results, we highlight the validation of the proposed theoretical model with the confirmation of eight hypotheses and the moderating role of the narcissistic personality between social influence and the user's sense of belonging to the social network. Theoretical contributions: this study's theoretical contribution concerns the original proposed theoretical model, the set of constructs contemplated, and their intrinsic relationships, in addition to the evidence of the moderating role of the narcissistic personality in the relationship between social influence and the user sense of belonging to the social network. Relevance/originality: the contribution refers to the moderating role of the narcissistic personality in the relationship between social influence and the sense of belonging. The social network users' narcissistic state makes them feel the need to expose themselves more intensely in the search to improve their self-image and self-affirmation.