Measuring consumer susceptibility to informative and normative online social influences

We introduce Susceptibility to Online Social Influence (SOSI) as a disposition reflecting users’ tendencies to seek information from others to reduce uncertainty and to conform to the expectations of others on social media to gain approval, enhance self-image, or avoid social disapproval. Across nine studies with 3,075 participants from the US, China, Mexico, and the UK, we developed a robust, reliable scale to measure SOSI. Our research reveals that self-esteem is an antecedent to SOSI, while excessive social media use is a consequence. Furthermore, we identified social media user profiles based on SOSI’s dimensions. The informative dimension of SOSI also shapes how users respond to posts from different sources (e.g., known vs. unknown). Overall, the SOSI scale provides both a conceptual framework and a practical tool for examining how social influence shapes social media use. By offering a more accurate method for identifying user dispositions than traditional offline scales, SOSI scale enhances insights into behaviors unique to social media.