Bragging or humblebragging? The impact of travel bragging on viewer behavior

Purpose

Travel bragging, driven by impression management, is common on social media. However, straightforward bragging can create negative perceptions. To mitigate this, tourists often turn to humblebragging, but its effectiveness is unclear. This study aims to examine whether humblebragging elicits more positive responses from viewers than straightforward bragging.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on social comparison theory and compensation theory, this paper developed a moderated mediation model to explore the impact of bragging type (bragging vs humblebragging) on viewer behavior. The model was validated through two scenario-based experiments.

Findings

The results reveal the double-sword effect of humblebragging: Humblebragging elicits stronger benign and malicious envy than bragging. Benign envy mediates the relationship between bragging type and consumption intention, while malicious envy mediates between bragging type and avoidance/gossip. Perceived deservingness moderates the effect of bragging type on envy and the mediation processes. When viewers perceive the poster’s advantage as deserving, humblebragging elicits more benign envy than bragging. When perceived as undeserving, humblebragging leads to more malicious envy.

Originality/value

This study is innovative in validating the double-edged sword effect of humblebragging and identifying perceived deservingness as a boundary condition.