University of Wisconsin-Madison Yang Liu, PhD in Communication

Socio-metric attractiveness on Facebook: Network size, consistency and gender norm

Research & Lessons for Facebook Marketing

University of Wisconsin-Madison Yang Liu, PhD in Communication

• Why are some FB users more socially attractive?

• What factors affect people’s evaluation of a FB user’s social attractiveness?

• How to conduct successful FB “attraction” marketing?

• What factors deserve attention for individuals/small enterprises to conduct effective FB marketing?

Theoretical puzzle

Practical issue

University of Wisconsin-Madison Yang Liu, PhD in Communication

• Kleck, Reese, Ziegerer-Benken & Sundar, 2007: The larger one’s online network – large (261 friends), medium (82), low (15), -- the more positive impressions the user would generate.

• Tong, Van Der Heide, Langwell & Walther, 2008:“Very high” socio-metric friend counts - e.g., 900 – can be interpreted as evidence of disingenuous behavior rather than popularity.

Network size

Consistency • Kelly, 1967: The lack of consistency may cause discomfort and even mental distress, affecting evaluation and judgment.

Gender norm • Walther, Van Der Heide, Kim, Westerman, & Tong, 2008; Foschi, 1996:Sexual double standards for social evaluation of women and men

University of Wisconsin-Madison Yang Liu, PhD in Communication

Socio-metric attractiveness on Facebook (Yang Liu, et al., 2010)

Our Study

FB network size

Attractiveness

Consistency

Gender

?

?

University of Wisconsin-Madison Yang Liu, PhD in Communication

Socio-metric attractiveness on Facebook (Stam, Chao, Dong & Liu, 2010)

H1: When the number of friends is not “very high”, a FB user with a larger online network has higher perceived social attractiveness than that with a smaller network.

H2: The consistency of communication cues (network size vs. # of tagged photos) increases a FB user’s perceived social attractiveness.

RQ1: How does a user’s gender moderate the effect of online network size on perceived social attractiveness?

Our Study

University of Wisconsin-Madison Yang Liu, PhD in Communication

Experiment design

Profiles

Sample

Method Consistency: large network + high # of photos one is tagged in; small network + low # of photos one is tagged inInconsistency: large network + low # of photos one is tagged in; small network + high # of photos one is tagged in

8 mock FB profiles were created from 4 original profiles.• # of friends (high = 270 - 310; low = 13 - 20) • # of tagged photos (high = 250 - 300; low = 8 - 20)• Gender (male v. female)

187 FB users recruited via email listservs for undergraduate & graduate students at University of Missouri-Columbia; age 18-46; 59 male vs. 128 female

University of Wisconsin-Madison Yang Liu, PhD in Communication

Procedure Participants

Consistency

* Random assignment

Inconsistency

• High # of friends; high # of tagged photos; male

• Low # of friends; low # of tagged photos; female

• Low # of friends; low # of tagged photos; male

• High # of friends; high # of tagged photos; female

• Low # of friends; high # of tagged photos; female

• High # of friends; low # of tagged photos; male

• High # of friends; low # of tagged photos; female

• Low # of friends; high # of tagged photos; male

Questionnaire following each profile

* Counterbalancing

* Exposure to 4 profiles

* 12 items on attractiveness

University of Wisconsin-Madison Yang Liu, PhD in Communication

Results

Dimensions Items Friendship (=.780)

1. I like this profile.2. I would consider adding this person as a Facebook friend.3. If I met this person face-to-face, we would be friends.4. I am drawn to this person.

Character (=.803)

1. This person is personally offensive to me.2. This person tries too hard to be liked.3. I feel this person is genuine.4. This profile is not honest.5. This person seems trustworthy.

Identification(=.753)

1. This person is not like me.2. I don’t think this person would fit into my circle of friends. 3. I don’t think I would get along with this person.

12 questions on social attractiveness (McCroskey & McCain, 1974; Tong, et al., 2008) break down to 3 dimensions according to factor analysis.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Yang Liu, PhD in Communication

Results Positive effect of network size on attractiveness (friendship & character), but no effect of # of photos, according to mixed design ANOVA

Large network Small network3.14

3.16

3.18

3.2

3.22

3.24

3.26

3.28

3.3

3.32

3.3

3.2

Friendship

Friendship

Large network Small network0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

32.4

Character

Character

F= 7.000** F= 7.873**

University of Wisconsin-Madison Yang Liu, PhD in Communication

Results Mixed effects of network size on attractiveness (identification):The importance of consistency between network size & # of tagged photos

Small network Large network 2.45

2.5

2.55

2.6

2.65

2.7

2.75

2.8

2.85

2.9

2.95

2.8

2.62.6

2.9

Low number of tagged photos high number of tagged photos

F= 3.797*

Consistency

Inconsistency

Id

entifi

catio

n

University of Wisconsin-Madison Yang Liu, PhD in Communication

Results

Small network Large network2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.3

2.6

2.5

2.4

Female Male

Ch

arac

ter

Mixed effects of network size on attractiveness (character & identification)as moderated by gender

Small network Large network 2.6

2.7

2.8

2.9

3

3.1

3.2

2.8

3.1

2.9

2.8

Female Male

Iden

tifica

tion

F= 28.082 *** F= 20.469 ***

University of Wisconsin-Madison Yang Liu, PhD in Communication

Conclusion • Profiles with a high number of friends on Facebook are perceived as more popular and genuine.

• Inconsistency trumps social attractiveness (i.e., the consistency between large network and low interactive activeness in # of tagged photos).

• Inconsistency can make observer feel they have less in common with the user, resulting in a lower rating of attractiveness.

• People set different standards concerning socio-metric cues for men and women on Facebook, at least for social attractiveness.

• Female profiles with a high number of friends are more socially attractive than those with low number of friends. Yet men with a low number of friends are slightly more attractive than those with many friends.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Yang Liu, PhD in Communication

Practical Implication: Suggestion for Facebook Marketing

Consider your FB profile as a holistic context. Beware of the possibility of perceived inconsistency between different communication cues.

Make FB marketing decision with gender sensitivity.

Gender double standards persist online. While men may receive confirmation for negative cues, women may be belittled for similar cues.