Online Social Behavior Reflects Discrepant Personality

7 Pages Posted: 8 May 2013

See all articles by Jin Bao

Jin Bao

Stevens Institute of Technology - School of Business

Date Written: February 22, 2013

Abstract

Online social media marketing is of strategic importance to companies producing consumer-based technical products. Existing (offline) marketing theory must be adapted to a new consumer reality enabled by technologies such as Twitter. In this context, my research addresses an important unknown, namely, how do consumers represent themselves online. I argue that online social behavior reflects a user’s “discrepant personality” and that online social behavior is more conscientious, agreeable, and emotionally stable than offline behavior. A second speculation is that the variance of extraversion level will be lower in online behavior than in offline behavior - in particular, an introvert will behave more like an extrovert while online, and vice versa. To test these propositions, five-factor personality models are evaluated in offline modes and online social behaviors are projected into linguistic variables. My study should contribute to theory and practice in the area of consumer and politics predictive analytics.

Keywords: Online Social Media Behavior, Personality Model, LIWC, E-Commerce

Suggested Citation

Bao, Jin, Online Social Behavior Reflects Discrepant Personality (February 22, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2261986 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2261986

Jin Bao (Contact Author)

Stevens Institute of Technology - School of Business ( email )

Hoboken, NJ 07030
United States

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