A Reference-Dependent Model of Posting on Social Media to Obtain Status from Likes

Scheduled for June 9, 2025, at 11:30 a.m., the seminar “A Reference-Dependent Model of Posting on Social Media to Obtain Status from Likes” will be held by Dr. Felix Jan. Nitsch, Incoming Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business.

All details are in the attached poster.

To follow remotely, please contact andrea.bazzani@santannapisa.it

Abstract

Why do people keeping posting on social media without being paid and often receiving only few likes? Conflicting with the standard view of likes as social rewards, we find that users of three social media sites post again faster the fewer likes their last post has received. We explain this pattern with a new behavioral model proposing that likes indicate digital status. Users compare their current with their expected status and post again if their current status is worse than their expected status. Hence, receiving few likes while expecting to receive more in the future increases engagement. In four additional studies, we experimentally check our model assumptions and test its predictions.