The Power of Ephemerality : An explorative study on the influence of personality traits in the use of Snapchat and the potential of the app for the music business

Abstract: In recent years, there has been extended research on the Big Five and social media, especially Facebook. Snapchat, a fast-growing photo-sharing app, has however not been thoroughly researched yet. This paper aimed at closing this research gap and at investigating the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and Snapchat users and nonusers. Additionally, it researched the potential of the app to advertise new music published by music labels. The sample consisted of 124 self-selected Snapchat users and non-users (94 Snapchat users and 30 Snapchat non-users), between the ages of 18 and 55. Approximately 53% of the participants were from Sweden, 24% from Germany and the rest from other countries. Participants were asked to complete an online questionnaire comprising the Big Five Inventory and demographic questions. Snapchat users also completed a Snapchat usage questionnaire. Additionally, a short interview about Snapchat was held with a representative of a music label. The results showed that there are only minor differences between Snapchat users and non-users regarding the Big Five personality traits. However, male Snapchat users tend to be more open to new experiences. The usage of specific Snapchat features could be connected to more extraverted, neurotic and conscientious individuals. The overall interest for musicrelated content on Snapchat was rather low. Therefore, Snapchat can be used as a complementary marketing action to raise awareness, but cannot stand alone.