The Research of Motivations for Participating in Social Media

【Abstract】Purpose- To build customer loyalty， web-based company ought to keep the Maslows hierarchy of needs theory in mind when designing their online products. This paper aims to investigate client motivations for participating in social media and what needs do those platforms they providing satisfy. Design/methodology/approach- In-depth interviews with 5 persons were conducted to collect their rankings of social media sites and the reasons for visiting each of the sites.

【Key words】Maslow' s hierarchy of needs; social network

【作者簡介】沈琦玮，香港岭南大学。

1. Introduction

When asking modern people， what is the object they couldnt be without？ The answer must be smartphone. Today， we are able to participate in all kinds of social networks through phones， not only to communicate with other people， but also to conduct the functions of payment， meet the requirement of entertainment and so on which provides huge business opportunities for the internet industry. So， this paper will analyze the customers motivations and needs of using the online platforms through the theory of Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and a demographic and psychographic profile of heavy internet users by type of internet usage.

2. Research design and process

2.1 Research design

Different groups of people usually own different values， beliefs and attitudes for the same object. So， people with various cultural backgrounds may have nothing same when participating in the social networks. To ensure the variousness of the interview results， I select five people from different regions and occupations to conduct my interviews.

There are two main questions in my interview- 1. Could you give me five social media sites used most frequently？ 2. And why you visit each of sites？ The rankings of social media sites are combined their screen usage time and subjective feelings. This is the result of the interviews.

2.2 Research result and analysis

The first interviewee is CHEN qiuhan who works in a head-hunting company as a team manager. She uses WeChat to contact her colleagues， clients， friends and relatives which meets her social needs to a large extent. UC Browser is a useful tool for her work where she searches information about job hunting. It has a close connection with her jobs that she has to follow up the information constantly. Thus， she could do her work better to receive recognition and promotion which satisfies her ego needs. Also， Xiao Hong Shu where people publish their evaluation of products especially cosmetics meets her ego needs. For the sake of work， she makes up every day to maintain modesty which helps win respect from her colleagues and clients. As to Taobao， it is meet both her physiological needs and ego needs. She purchases products from clothing， cosmetics to daily supply. Actually， Tik Tok is something helps her free from daily hard work， which satisfies her self-actualization needs. She said that she felt peaceful and happy when visited this APP. Although her usage time of WeChat is most， which makes her like a socializer， she falls into the web generalist category according to the heavy internet user standards. Because she said the WeChat took over from the e-mail for her.

The second interviewee is JIANG Panpan who works in the advertising department as a new media worker. Her part of motivation of participating in WeChat， Tik Tok and Taobao is the same as the first interviewee. As a new media worker， she needs keep pace with the popular. Tik Tok and Sina micro-blog are not only the entertainment tools， but also something to hunt for useful information and fashionable elements， which meet her ego needs. As to Photoshop APP， it satisfies her self-actualization needs. In fact， she enjoys reporting the meaningful moment of her life and retouching the photos， which is also her hoppy. Its not hard to see she is a socializer that actively takes part in social network.

The third interviewee is LI Xinran， a post graduate in Durham University in UK. Obviously， she is an entertainment seeker. Douban， Sina micro-blog where people exchange gossip and Bilibili video meet her self-actualization needs， as she is keen on all kinds of gossip and comedy videos， which brings much fun for her. In addition， Sina micro-blog， as well as WeChat， meet her social needs. She chats with others and posters photos related with her feelings which is a representative social action for young people. As to Love Nikki which satisfies her self-actualization， she said that she got a great sense of fulfillment and achievement when she dressed up the virtual character in the game.

The fourth interviewee is ZHANG Tianqin， who is a postgraduate in Wuxi， China. When visiting Bilibili Video and Zhihu， she prefers to watch course including sports， programming and so on. And she spends not a little time to recite words in MOMO APP. The above platforms where she improves herself and gets great sense of achievement all meet her ego needs. Moreover， she is a keen amateur photographer. Camera app meets her interest and self-actualization needs. Apparently， she is a self-improver.

The last interviewee is WEI Jianghui working in a network game company in Shanghai， China.In fact， his motivation of visiting the social network is divided into two needs- social needs and self-actualization needs. Tencent and WeChat play the role of social communication. Also， Glory of Kings， a popular multiplayer online battle arena game， also helps him connect with her friends. He likes whiled away hours by reading novels in Soushu Reader and UC Browser which meet his self-actualization needs. Moreover， he is an entertainment seeker.

3. Discussion and conclusion

3.1 Main findings

From my research， I find that the main function of phones is still communication， but the proportion declines. And in China， WeChat is the most popular instant-messaging software that almost every one use it. In addition， the entertainment of smartphone is multiplying， including games， novels， videos and so on. The motivations that people visit social media sites are not limited to the basic needs-physiological needs， they thirst for high-ranking needs.

3.2 Ideas and strategies

Firstly， taking costumers social needs into consideration is very essential. If the products built an excellent social network， it is easy to conduct viral marketing and attract more users.

Secondly， pay emphasis on the positive effect for the clients. Whether the products help improve the customers， from appearance， ability， status to reputation， is the content of ego needs. Building an effective information base maybe a great strategy.

Finally， I believe satisfying the self-actualization needs is the key to keep customer loyalty. Interest is the best motivation. The design of new product ought to grasp the clients hobbies.

To sum up， a good product is designed for the customers， not designed without customers.

References：

[1]Schiffman， Leon G.， and Joseph Wisenblit. Consumer Behavior. Twelfth ed[J]. Upper Saddle River， New Jersey： Pearson Education， 2019. Print.