Factors Affecting Sustainable Purchase Intentions of SNS Emojis: Modeling the Impact of Self-Presentation

Abstract

To promote more sustainable consumption of Social Networking Service (SNS) emojis, it is necessary to understand the relationships between social psychological antecedents and SNS users’ intention to purchase emojis. This study aimed to investigate motivational factors affecting users’ intentions to purchase SNS emojis. We examined SNS users of Kakao Talk, the most widely used instant messaging service in South Korea, and investigated the relationships among five latent constructs: Self-presentation, symbolic values, playfulness, purchase intentions, and need for uniqueness. The results of this study indicate that self-presentation does not directly affect the intention to purchase emojis (β = 0.10, p > 0.05). Rather, self-presentation positively influences purchase intention through the mediating path of SNS users’ perceived symbolic value (β = 0.60, p < 0.001) and playfulness (β = 0.35, p < 0.001) to purchase intention (β = 0.29, p < 0.001; β = 0.37, p < 0.001). Further, symbolic value affects playfulness (β = 0.56, p < 0.001), which in turn leads to consumers’ intentions to purchase emojis. This study highlights that SNS users’ need for uniqueness functions as a moderator in the relationship between self-presentation and their intentions to purchase emojis.