Either you control social media or social media controls you: Understanding the impact of self‐control on excessive social media use from the dual‐system perspective

• Published date: 01 June 2022
• Author: Kseniia Zahrai,Ekant Veer,Paul William Ballantine,Huibert Peter Vries,Girish Prayag
• Date: 01 June 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12449

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Either you control social media or social media

controls you: Understanding the impact of

self-control on excessive social media use from

the dual-system perspective

Kseniia Zahrai|Ekant Veer|Paul William Ballantine|

Huibert Peter de Vries|Girish Prayag

Department of Management, Marketing

and Entrepreneurship, UC Business

School, University of Canterbury,

Christchurch, New Zealand

Correspondence

Dr Kseniia Zahrai, Department of

Management, Marketing and

Entrepreneurship, UC Business School,

University of Canterbury, Christchurch,

New Zealand.

Email: kseniia.zahrai@canterbury.ac.nz

[Correction added on May 14, 2022, after

first online publication: CAUL funding

statement has been added.]

Abstract

Drawing on dual-system theories, this study shows that

excessive social media users demonstrate a psychologi-

cal imbalance between the impulsive and reflective sys-

tems in their minds. We provide empirical evidence of

an inconsistency between conscious attitudes and the

actual behavior toward social media. The findings show

that excessive users are driven more by their implicit

attitudes rather than explicit beliefs in consuming

social media. Although a high level of self-control indi-

cates healthy social media use, the findings suggest that

self-control has no significant influence on excessive

users with a positive implicit attitude and high-

impulsive social media use. This duality of self-control

dispels beliefs about its ability to regulate excessive

online behaviors. Therefore, this study (1) theorizes

what constitutes excessive social media use, (2) outlines

how implicit measurements are incorporated in con-

sumer research, and (3) offers practical implications for

managing unhealthy online behaviors.

Received: 8 June 2020Revised: 5 February 2022Accepted: 15 February 2022

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12449

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distrib ution and

reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Consumer Affairs published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Council on Consumer

Interests.

806 J Consum Aff. 2022;56:806–848.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca

KEYWORDS

dual-system theories, excessive social media use, impulsive

social media use, mental well-being, self-control

1|INTRODUCTION

Social media use has altered the daily routines of almost half the world's population

(wearesocial.com, 2021). The average user spends 2 h 25 min on social media daily—more than

the average time for eating, reading, and physical activity in a given day (Statistic., 2018;

wearesocial.com, 2021). The rapid rise of social media has led to numerous definitions of the

concept, with early interpretations emphasizing Internet applications for creating and sharing

user-generated content (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010) to more recent definitions focusing on vir-

tual communities that provide advanced opportunities for social interactions (Kuss and

Griffiths, 2011). In this study, social media is defined as web-based social communities with

innovative tools for creating and sharing content that enforces social interaction between users

(Coulson, 2013; Griffiths et al., 2014; Kuss & Griffiths, 2017). We specifically examine the

impact of social media use on attitudes and behaviors by focusing on excessive users.

Research shows that excessive social media use undermines users' psychological well-being

resulting in negative outcomes such as ruined relationships, feelings of loneliness and depres-

sion, low self-esteem, and other behavioral problems (B

anyai et al., 2017; Blinka et al., 2015;

Frost & Rickwood, 2017; Verduyn et al., 2021). To determine “how much is too much,”scholars

have variously defined “excessiveness”from one to over 5h a day (Ross et al., 2009;

Thompson & Lougheed, 2012). However, increased time on social media is not necessarily asso-

ciated with more mental health problems (Coyne et al., 2020); thus, excessive time is a neces-

sary but not sufficient condition for negative outcomes (Caplan & High, 2006). Technology use

becomes excessive when it interferes with daily life and results in diminishing psychological

well-being (Morrison & Gore, 2010; Young, 1998). For example, despite inducing a negative

mood users still engage in social media regularly (Bennett et al., 2020; Macrynikola &

Miranda, 2019; Sagioglou & Greitemeyer, 2014), or they use it while driving, thus, risk their

lives (Turel & Qahri-Saremi, 2016). These examples unveil a gap between conscious attitudes

and actual behavior; little is known about the antecedents of this outcome. Researchers

(Delaney et al., 2018; Turel & Bechara, 2016) attribute it to impulsive use; however, Frost and

Rickwood (2017) highlight that most studies on social media rely on self-reports that may result

in biased findings.

In this study, we combine explicit with implicit measurements to conceptualize the underly-

ing mechanism of excessive social media use from the perspective of the ambivalence of

attitudes. To this end, this research explores the imbalance between conscious reflective and

non-conscious impulsive behavior among excessive social media users. This research goes

beyond self-reported behaviors and scales in previous studies to incorporate the implicit associa-

tion test (IAT) as a means of understanding users' underlying attachment to social media. We

show that excessive social media users are driven more by their implicit attitudes rather than

conscious beliefs and that self-regulation techniques are conditional. Based on the findings, we

propose practical implications for social media users and social media firms to manage

unhealthy behaviors in relation to social media use; and provide methodological contributions

on the use of IAT in marketing research studies.

ZAHRAI ET AL.807

2|THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

The study's design draws on the framework of transformative consumer research (TCR). TCR

places consumers at the center of the research and investigates consumer behavior for the good

of consumers (Mick et al., 2011). This conceptual approach aims to enhance consumer wisdom

by focusing on contemporary consumer behavior issues (Mick, 2006; Mick et al., 2011). Mick

and Schwartz (2012) interpret practical consumer wisdom as a combination of multiple factors

that are not limited to expertise, rational reasons and thoughtful decision making. When

reflecting on the betterment of marketing, Mick (2018) highlights that consumer wisdom incor-

porates balancing intrapersonal, interpersonal and extrapersonal factors; therefore, it needs to

be enhanced across all life domains. Thus, TCR ambassadors stress the importance of the realis-

tic context in marketing research and call it a social science that matters (Flyvbjerg, 2001). To

this end, TCR defines non-evident aspects of real-life situations and encourages a diverse para-

digmatic consumer-centric approach.

Though the primary TCR mission focuses efforts on making consumers' lives better

(Gutmann, 2012), there is no definite “formula”for research that leads to a guaranteed positive

social change. TCR investigation starts by identifying a consumer-centered problem, progresses

to a theoretical contribution and concludes with the effective dissemination of findings (Mick

et al., 2011; Ozanne et al., 2015). This study follows a similar approach by analyzing the pros

and cons of routinized social media use, investigating acknowledged theoretical frameworks

from the perspective of social media users and suggesting practical implications as possible

future actions. Being motivated by the TCR framework, we focus on excessive social media

users, rather than social media sites, and investigate consumer behavior for the good of the

users. This aim is complex and multifaceted, but we also feel it is important. In this study, we

ask if problematic social media use can be transformed into a healthy behavior. This concern is

particularly pertinent as a result of the global pandemic and further exacerbation of problematic

social media use (Gonz

alez-Padilla & Tortolero-Blanco, 2020). Yet, we know little about how

social media use can be built on the strengths of the TCR framework to address users' vulnera-

bilities and achieve TCR's goals of promoting a healthier lifestyle.

The fast development of new technologies explains a scarcity of consumer-centric TCR liter-

ature on digital activities, including social media. Meanwhile, one of the latest studies on addic-

tive social media use (Qahri-Saremi et al., 2021) highlights the dominance of variable-centered

over a person-centered approach. That study provides evidence of relationships between individ-

ual factors (e.g., personality traits) and excessive social media use, with few studies examining

the joint influence of both in understanding excessive social media use. A person-centered

approach provides a holistic understanding by incorporating both individual and context-

specific factors in assessing the type of problematic social media use that may be detrimental to

consumers. Research on user personalities is critical for policy makers because there are simi-

larities between excessive social media use and other addictive online behaviors (Griffiths

et al., 2014). To address this need, this study identifies the joint influence of implicit and explicit

attitudes on excessive social media users and the role that self-control plays in these relation-

ships. As such, the study provides strategies for mitigating unhealthy social media use at indi-

vidual and community levels. Thus, the study addresses the “next step”in user-centered

problematic social media use by exploring the nexus between non-conscious and consciously-

regulated factors.

An important TCR contribution of this study relates to the relational engagement process

adopted through the involvement of relevant stakeholders throughout the research, from

808 ZAHRAI ET AL.