Social Media in the Marketing Context

Chapter 5

Self-Construals

Abstract

Subject to contextual and situational influences, the independent and interdependent dimensions of the self, or self-construals, depict the individual level differences amongst individuals, which have been inevitably affected by the social media environment. This chapter starts by providing an understanding of what self-construals are, including the different characteristics of each. This is followed by an examination of the differences between the self-construals including need for uniqueness, communities, and hedonic and utilitarian motivations. Next, the self-construals are discussed in terms of how the new social media environment has affected the behavior of the individuals that embody the differing self-construals. ...