Examining Maslow’s Hierarchy Need Theory in the Social Media Adoption

Abstract

Social behavior of customers receives a sideline in social media, and the focus appears to be persistent on lead, conversions, and engagement. The psychology of customers is a significant element in the study of social media adoption. Maslow's theory on the hierarchy of needs describes the urge for strong desires after the individual's lower level is satisfied. The study attempts to examine and map the linkages of the Maslow Hierarchy with Social Media Adoption. The study is quantitative and descriptive. The responses from the sample size of 287 were collected using structured a questionnaire. EFA was performed to identify and map the items relating to each level of the hierarchy. CFA was conducted to find the goodness of fit. The findings suggest that the theory of Maslow's fits well with the proposed social media adoption model. The results revealed that social media adoption follows Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. The study may be carried out for scale development for evaluating intentions and reasons for social media usage. The companies can make use of the suggested model in the study for launching their various marketing campaigns.