The message influences me more than others: How and why social media metrics affect first person perception and behavioral intentions

Two experiments investigated how and why social media metrics affect perceived media influence and behavioral intentions. In the first experiment (N = 241), those who viewed a news article about an environmental risk with social media metrics (vs. news article only) reported greater media influence on the self than others (First-person perception, FPP), and such effect was more prominent among those high in the need to belong. Increased FPP, in turn, led to greater intentions to combat the risk. The second experiment (N = 210) found that exposure to a news article about a health risk with high (vs. low) social media metrics led the readers to perceive greater injunctive norms and thereby report greater FPP. Such effect was more prominent among those high in the need for closure. Increased FPP induced stronger behavioral intentions to prevent the risk as well as to share the news article via social media.