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Technology addiction is an increasingly severe problem. TikTok has become increasingly popular recently, and its addiction is also a major concern. This study aims to examine the antecedents and outcomes of TikTok addiction.

The authors collect 579 data from Chinese users using an online survey. The authors use structural equation modeling with partial least squares (PLS-SEM) to analyze data and test hypotheses.

The results illustrate that perceived enjoyment, social relationship, utilitarian need and social influence positively affect TikTok addiction. Both social anxiety and loneliness have positive effects on TikTok addiction. Moreover, parasocial relationships positively moderate the association between the antecedents of self-determination theory (SDT) (perceived enjoyment, social relationship, utilitarian needs, social influence, social anxiety and loneliness) and TikTok addiction. Meanwhile, TikTok addiction intensifies conflicts, including technology-family conflict, technology-person conflict and technology-work conflict. These conflicts reduce life satisfaction.

It offers practical implications for preventing and avoiding TikTok addiction to create a healthy environment.

This study is one of the few to provide a complete process of TikTok addiction. It systematically investigates the antecedents and outcomes of TikTok addiction.

Social media addiction and stress are global phenomena, but little is known about how Facebook (Gen Y) and TikTok (Gen Z) users in the US experience these issues. For marketers, understanding social media stress sources is essential for effective marketing. Grounded in several theories, this study aims to test a model of psychological motivations – the need to belong and fear of missing out (FOMO) – and two moderators – gender and social media self-control – of addiction and stress.

This study used an online survey to collect data from Facebook (n = 320 Gen Y) and TikTok (n = 230 Gen Z) users. Data analysis entailed statistical analysis: structural equation modeling, nonparametric tests and hierarchical multiple regression.

Results show the need to belong increases stress among Facebook and TikTok users and social media addiction among Facebook users. On both platforms, consumers’ FOMO increases both addiction and stress. Facebook and TikTok use increases addiction. However, while TikTok does not directly increase stress, Facebook addiction does. Two moderators were found for Facebook users: gender and social media self-control. First, the need to belong-addiction link is stronger for male Facebook users. Second, consumers with a low need to belong and FOMO are less addicted to Facebook with high (vs low) self-control.

Understanding the detrimental effects of social media on consumers’ mental health in the form of social media stress and addiction requires examining specific platforms like Facebook and TikTok. This study addresses three gaps in the literature on social media: (1) psychological factors, (2) the role of gender and self-control as moderators and (3) the association between Facebook and TikTok use and stress among Gen Y and Gen Z consumers.

The purpose of this study is to shed light on the determinants of TikTok cyberaddiction during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the resulting attitudinal and intentional reactions of users.

An online survey of 305 young TikTok users was conducted to test the research hypotheses. Data was analyzed through a partial least sqaures approach.

The results highlight the mediating role of cyberaddiction to TikTok in the relationship between psychological disorders (anxiety and loneliness) and attitude toward TikTok. Indeed, it was found that anxiety and loneliness contribute to TikTok cyberaddiction. The latter would have a positive effect on attitude toward TikTok, which decreases in the presence of fear of missing out (FOMO). It was also proven that attitude toward TikTok has a positive impact on attitude toward the brands promoted on this platform, resulting in an increase in purchasing intentions.

This study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is therefore interesting to replicate it to see if the research model can be still validated in the absence of an emergency situation. Testing the model on a larger target, including older TikTok users, could also lead to interesting findings.

Knowledge of the psychological factors behind cyberaddiction should not be seen as an opportunity to take advantage from addicted shoppers’ vulnerability. Managers should rather limit communication campaigns on TikTok during crisis periods, undertake retargeting actions by sparing vulnerable TikTok users and avoid stimulating anxiety and loneliness which can lead to cyberaddiction and compulsive purchases.

This study sheds light on the central role of cyberaddiction to TikTok in the relationship between psychological disorders and users’ reactions, during a pandemic. It focused on the moderating role of FOMO on the relationship between determinants of cyberaddiction and attitude toward TikTok. Escape theory and attachment theory were used and adapted to the context of social media.

El propósito de este estudio es arrojar luz sobre los determinantes de la ciberadicción a TikTok durante la pandemia de Covid-19, así como las reacciones actitudinales e intencionales resultantes de los usuarios.

Se realizó una encuesta en línea a 305 jóvenes usuarios de TikTok para probar las hipótesis de investigación. Los datos fueron analizados a través de un enfoque PLS.

Los resultados destacan el papel mediador de la ciberadicción a TikTok en la relación entre trastornos psicológicos (ansiedad y soledad) y la actitud hacia TikTok. De hecho, se encontró que la ansiedad y la soledad contribuyen a la ciberadicción a TikTok. Esta última tendría un efecto positivo en la actitud hacia TikTok, que disminuye en presencia del miedo a perderse algo (FOMO, por sus siglas en inglés). También se demostró que la actitud hacia TikTok tiene un impacto positivo en la actitud hacia las marcas promocionadas en esta plataforma, lo que resulta en un aumento en las intenciones de compra.

Este estudio arroja luz sobre el papel central de la ciberadicción a TikTok en la relación entre trastornos psicológicos y reacciones de los usuarios, durante una pandemia. Se centró en el papel moderador del FOMO en la relación entre determinantes de la ciberadicción y la actitud hacia TikTok. Se utilizaron y adaptaron la Teoría del Escape y la Teoría del Apego al contexto de las redes sociales.

Este estudio se llevó a cabo durante la pandemia de Covid-19. Por lo tanto, sería interesante replicarlo para ver si el modelo de investigación aún puede ser validado en ausencia de una situación de emergencia. Probar el modelo en un público objetivo más amplio, que incluya a usuarios mayores de TikTok, también podría conducir a hallazgos interesantes.

El conocimiento de los factores psicológicos detrás de la ciberadicción no debe verse como una oportunidad para aprovechar la vulnerabilidad de los compradores adictos. Los gerentes deberían más bien limitar las campañas de comunicación en TikTok durante los períodos de crisis, emprender acciones de retargeting evitando a los usuarios vulnerables de TikTok y evitar estimular la ansiedad y la soledad que pueden llevar a la ciberadicción y a compras compulsivas.

本研究旨在探索COVID-19大流行期间TikTok网络成瘾的决定因素, 以及用户的态度和意图反馈。

为了验证研究假设, 本研究对305位年轻的TikTok用户进行了在线调查, 并使用PLS方法对数据进行了分析。

研究结果凸显了在COVID-19大流行期间, TikTok网络成瘾与心理障碍（焦虑和孤独）之间的中介作用。实际上, 研究发现焦虑和孤独可能会促成TikTok网络成瘾的发展。而TikTok网络成瘾则可能在一定程度上改善对TikTok的态度, 减轻错失恐惧。研究还表明, 对TikTok的态度对该平台推广的品牌态度产生积极影响, 进而增加了购买意图。

这项研究详细探讨了COVID-19大流行期间TikTok网络成瘾的核心作用, 特别关注了心理障碍与用户反应之间的关系。重点分析了逃避理论和依恋理论在社交媒体环境下的应用, 并对错失恐惧在网络成瘾和对TikTok态度之间的调节作用进行了调查和分析。

这项研究是在COVID-19大流行期间进行的, 因此复制它以验证研究模型在紧急情况缺失的情况下是否仍然有效是很有趣的。将这个模型应用于更广泛的对象, 包括年长的TikTok用户, 可能会带来一些有趣的发现。

了解网络成瘾背后的心理因素是非常重要的, 但不应被视为利用沉迷购物者的脆弱性的机会。在危机期间, 管理者应该限制在TikTok上的传播活动, 以避免刺激焦虑和孤独, 保护那些脆弱的TikTok用户, 防止他们沉迷于平台并进行强迫性购物。

Short-form video advertisements have recently gained popularity and are widely used. However, creating attractive short video advertisements remains a challenge for sellers. Based on the visual-audio perspective and signaling theory, this study investigated the impacts of three visual features (number of shots, pixel-level image complexity and vertical versus horizontal formats) and two audio features (speech rate and average spectral centroid) on user engagement behavior.

We conducted a field study on TikTok. To test our various hypotheses, we used regression analysis on 2,511 videos containing product promotion information posted by 60 sellers between January 1, 2020 and November 20, 2021.

For visual variables, the number of shots and pixel-level image complexity were found to have nonlinear (inverted U-shaped) relationships with user engagement behavior. The vertical video form was found to have a positive effect on comments and shares. In the case of audio variables, speech rate was found to have a significant positive effect on shares but not on likes and comments. The average spectral centroid was found to have significant negative influences on likes and comments.

This study provides specific suggestions for sellers who create short-form videos to improve user engagement behavior.

This study contributes to the literature on short-form video advertising by extending the potential drivers of user engagement behavior. Additionally, from a methodological perspective, it contributes to the literature by using computer vision and speech-processing techniques to analyze user behavior in a video-related context, effectively overcoming the limitations of the widely adopted survey method.

Recently, short-form video apps, as a new form of social media, have attracted users and rapidly emerged by virtue of their personalized recommendation algorithms, interesting forms of live interaction, and diverse interactive functions, which may lead to excessive use. From the perspective of IT affordances, this study combines the cognitive-affective-behavioral model and perceived values theory to examine the formation mechanism of the excessive use of short-form video apps.

We surveyed a total of 351 users who have used Tiktok, a typical short-form video app, and used their questionnaires to test the research model.

Searching affordance has a positive impact on perceived information value and perceived entertainment value. Furthermore, meta-voicing, recommending, and livestreaming affordance have a positive impact on perceived information value, perceived entertainment value, and perceived social networking value, which also have a positive impact on negative affect anticipation. In addition, negative affect anticipation is significantly positively correlated with excessive use.

In terms of theory, this study introduces the theory of IT affordances and perceived values into the cognitive-affective-behavioral model, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time. Furthermore, it conducts situational research on the formation mechanism of excessive use of short-form video apps and makes up for the lack of studying of excessive use behavior from the perspective of technical factors.

The study aims to identify the factors that influence young consumers’ compulsive buying, particularly Gen Z consumers who exhibit fandom qualities such as sharing the same interests and being willing to collaborate with others. This study investigates the direct and indirect impact of brand love and brand addiction on the relationship between social media addiction and compulsive buying.

The study collected data from 338 Gen Z fandoms. The snowball sampling approach is used to determine and collect data from the sample. To test for hypotheses, the study used the PROCESS macro with bootstrapping techniques to explore the direct and indirect relationships, as well as the moderated serial mediation model in this study.

The study found that social media addiction influences compulsive buying via the hierarchical linkages between brand love and brand addiction. Trash talking functions as a stimulant, amplifying the effect of brand addiction on compulsive buying.

The data were collected from young Thai consumers; thus, the generalizability aspect of the research is limited and needs to be tested in different countries and cultures.

This research provides several key contributions to the understanding of compulsive buying behavior among Gen Z, particularly within the context of a developing country. By integrating the stimulus-organism-response framework and psychological theories, this study offers a nuanced understanding of how social media addiction influences emotional and behavioral outcomes. Previous studies have primarily focused on these variables in isolation. The study fills this gap by demonstrating the sequential pathway through which social media addiction translates into compulsive buying behavior via brand love and brand addiction.

As an unhealthy dependence on social media platforms, social media addiction (SMA) has become increasingly commonplace in the digital era. The purpose of this paper is to provide a general overview of SMA research and develop a theoretical model that explains how different types of factors contribute to SMA.

Considering the nascent nature of this research area, this study conducted a systematic review to synthesize the burgeoning literature examining influencing factors of SMA. Based on a comprehensive literature search and screening process, 84 articles were included in the final sample.

Analyses showed that antecedents of SMA can be classified into three conceptual levels: individual, environmental and platform. The authors further proposed a theoretical framework to explain the underlying mechanisms behind the relationships amongst different types of variables.

The contributions of this review are two-fold. First, it used a systematic and rigorous approach to summarize the empirical landscape of SMA research, providing theoretical insights and future research directions in this area. Second, the findings could help social media service providers and health professionals propose relevant intervention strategies to mitigate SMA.

Social media have been associated with social benefits and enhanced psychological well-being among non-disabled individuals; the purpose of this study is to examine whether social media may have similar benefits for young neurodivergent adults with autism, anxiety, or attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder who may experience communication differences. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this first-of-its kind study explores the nature of social media use and related psychological well-being among neurodivergent college undergraduates.

This qualitative study is part of a larger effort. The authors surveyed undergraduates with and without disabilities at U.S. higher education institutions on their social media use and psychological well-being. A total of 131 students responded, including 24 neurodivergent individuals, the results of which are reported elsewhere. Participants were 18–25 years old, of varied genders and racial/ethnic backgrounds; for neurodivergent adults, questions focused on social challenges. From the survey, a sample of five neurodivergent individuals was drawn for this small-scale, exploratory interview study.

This paper reports descriptive statistics from survey results to contextualize analysis of students’ social media use (e.g. purposes, practices, benefits and harms). Students used mainly Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to promote well-being primarily through engaging positive relationships and positive emotions. Students reported several benefits of using social media to develop their disability identity and few harms.

Understanding the impact of social media use on undergraduates with disabilities could help us not only improve services as teachers, counselors and other helping professionals who support young adults to leverage their everyday technologies-in-use but also address digital equity issues.

Social media platforms facilitate brand-consumer interactions by leveraging principles from nudging, value co-creation and social identity theories. This study aims to investigate how these interactions mask harmful practices and accelerate market access, perpetuating extreme consumerism. Specifically, the authors explore how value flow on social media, across distinct stakeholders, leads to value co-washing, revealing their collective unsustainable behaviours and related effects.

The authors use a mixed-methods approach, conducting content and sentiment analysis on nine TikTok videos featuring products from a leading Chinese company and analysing 19,816 user comments.

The value co-washing framework is developed across three building blocks: brands, creators and users. Findings uncover a paradigm shift in stakeholders’ dynamics, highlighting how social media collaborative engagements foster value co-washing. User involvement is categorized into three distinct clusters – brand lovers, saga creators and boycotters. The analysis identifies nine thematic patterns, including value co-creation, brand promotion, audience retention and calls for responsibility. Sentiment analysis reveals a dominance of neutral sentiments, reflecting a widespread unawareness and social adherence to value co-washing.

The proposed framework innovatively maps how distinct stakeholders contribute to extreme consumerism through value co-washing, providing foundational insights into the underlying mechanisms of consumer behaviour.

The discontinuous usage behavior of short video social media presents an ongoing challenge to platform development. The purpose of this study is to investigate the antecedents of intentions to short media discontinuous usage.

This study adopts a Cognition–Affection–Conation (CAC) framework to analyze short video social media discontinuous intention on the basis of cognitive dissonance theory (CDT) and self-efficacy theory. The empirical evaluation of the research model was conducted using SmartPLS 2.0 and was based on questionnaire data obtained from participants in China.

The results show information overload and user addiction have a significant positive association with cognitive dissonance, which is, in turn, found to significantly impact discontinuous usage intention. Self-efficacy moderates the relationships between information overload, user addiction, cognitive dissonance and discontinuous usage.

This study contributes to the understanding of the factors that influence short video discontinuous usage intention and it achieves this by engaging from a CDT perspective and by applying Self-Efficacy Theory. Theoretical implications for future short video platform research, as well as practical suggestions for short video platform operators and users, are also discussed.