My online self identifies with you, but my offline self skips you: the duality of online and offline personalities in identification with the endorser

Abstract

PurposeThe current study examines a novel model that examines how the online and offline or general personality of the same person predicts social identification with the endorser in a message and their subsequent online behaviors (e.g. ad-skipping) on social media, both differentially and simultaneously.Design/methodology/approachReal-time ad-skipping behaviors were tracked and analyzed across three online experiments.FindingsThe results supported the model explicating the dual and simultaneous influence of offline and online personalities on ad-skipping behaviors. Specifically, in response to a skippable video ad, online and offline personalities respectively increase and decrease viewers’ identification with the endorser. Consequently, the higher or lower the identification, the lower or higher the rate of ad-skipping behaviors.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study will benefit from a larger set of real-world data (i.e. big data) to enhance the generalizability of the findings, supporting the model.Practical implicationsWith the growing prevalence of the gap between online and offline self-identities driven by social media usage, this paper suggests that the ad message needs to address the dual influence of both online and offline identities on ad-skipping behaviors.Originality/valueThe current study tests a novel model that shows that the online and offline personalities of the same person concurrently influence one’s behavior on the Internet, rather than separately.