Behind The Numbers - The effects of likes and fitness data on consumers

Abstract: The number of users of social media and fitness applications have increased tremendously in recent years. Consumers of these apps are constantly presented with numerical expressions of others' performances; how many likes others get on their content, or how fast and far they run. So far, little research has looked at how consumers actually feel as a consequence of constantly being exposed to others' performances in the form of numbers. This thesis aims to examine any possible and unintended effects on consumers' well-being and behaviour, from seeing others' amounts of social media likes, and running pace. Taking support in the theory of social comparison, two experimental studies were conducted, where participants were exposed to stimuli that insinuated a better or worse performance than similar others, using the numerical constructs of Instagram Likes and Running Pace. The findings show that participants who were told they receive less likes than others, were more likely to choose hedonic over utilitarian products. Findings also show that participants who were told that their running pace is faster than other', reported higher self-esteem and life satisfaction, as well as lower feelings of stress. Self-esteem was further found to mediate the relationship to stress. Against these results, this thesis suggests that consumption behaviour can be affected from seeing other users' numbers of likes, and that users' well-being can be affected by seeing other users' running paces. The findings contribute to valuable insights for both consumers and practitioners, as well as the growing academic interest in the unintended effects that marketing can have on consumers.