“Vanity fair on Instagram”: The roles of vanity, materialism, social comparison, Instagram usage intensity, and market mavenism in social commerce

Abstract

The present article is an attempt to offer insights into interconnections among consumer personality, individual difference factors, Instagram usage behavior, and luxury fashion brand attitude in contemporary Web 2.0 technological environments. To this end, the study particularly focused on Instagram, a highly visual social media platform, mostly used in the form of a mobile app. Instagram fits the purpose of consumers’ vanity. Personality mechanisms, known to produce effects of personality traits on digital technology usage behaviors, that shape consumer behavior in the context of Instagram usage and luxury fashion brand consumption were examined. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among actual Instagram users recruited from M-Turk Prime Panel. A series of structural equation models (SEM) were estimated using Mplus 8. Two structural equation models are estimated: one with objective Instagram usage frequency, and the other with subjective Instagram usage intensity. Results show dynamic associations among Instagram users’ personality variables, individual difference factors, Instagram usage frequency/intensity, and luxury brand involvement. In light of the power of Instagram in luxury fashion branding, the current study proposes a variety of personality mechanisms and individual difference factors (vanity, materialism, social comparison orientation, obsessive-compulsive/impulsive buying tendency, and market mavenism) that shape Instagram users’ attitude toward and involvement with luxury fashion brands in Web 2.0 social commerce.