Impact of Personal Values on Political Consumption: The moderating role of interpersonal influence in social media

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the moderating effect of interpersonal influence in social media on the relationship between personal values and political consumption. Through a survey of 206 respondents, the results of linear regression analysis showed that the values of self-transcendence and openness to change are positively related to political consumption, whereas self-promotion has a negative relation. The results also showed that interpersonal influence in social media has a critical moderating effect since (i) amplifies political consumption of people with self-transcendence values and (ii) increases the political consumption of people with self-promotion values. This research expands the literature on consumer behavior by showing that personal values on political consumption depend on the individual's susceptibility to being influenced by social media.