An investigation into the moderating effects of needs on Facebook usage for different personality types

Abstract

This report examines how different personality types affect Facebook usage and the underlying needs that moderate Facebook usage. Five hypotheses were formulated to

explain the relationship between Extroversion, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, Self-Expression and Social Identity, and Facebook usage frequency. A further set of five hypotheses attempts to explain which types of needs moderate Facebook usage for each personality type. The selected needs were Affective needs, Cognitive needs, Personal Integrative needs, Social Integrative needs and Tension-Release needs from

the Uses and Gratifications Theory.

To prove these hypotheses, a self-administered online questionnaire was designed. Simple linear regression results revealed that Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, Self-Expression and Social Identity have a significant relationship with Facebook usage. Additional results revealed that Openness to Experience is the most significant personality type in determining Facebook usage. No significant results were found regarding whether needs moderate Facebook usage amongst particular personality types. Cluster analysis showed that there are two meaningful clusters of respondents who use Facebook more often. However, several limitations existed which included small sample size, limited scope of constructs tested and the usage of a non-probability sampling method. Nevertheless, this study is useful in arming marketers with a deeper understanding on what kinds of needs people of different personality types use Facebook for and helping them to tailor their advertisements to more specific target

segments.

Future research efforts may be dedicated to exploring other personality types such as agreeableness and conscientiousness or other relevant factors such as age, gender and race to give a more comprehensive explanation of Facebook usage.