Behavioural mimicry or herd behaviour of Generation Z? Social media interactions in the context of information overload

Stepaniuk Krzysztof (), Lăzăroiu George (), Misiewicz Chrystyna () and Pereira Verónica Crespo ()
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Stepaniuk Krzysztof: Bialystok University of Technology, Marketing and Tourism Department, Tarasiuka 2, 16-001 Kleosin, Poland
Lăzăroiu George: Cardiff Metropolitan University, Llandaff Campus, Western Avenue, CF5 2YB Cardiff, United Kingdom, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley Western Australia 6102, Australia Toronto Metropolitan University, 350 Victoria Str., ON M5B 2K3 Toronto, Canada
Misiewicz Chrystyna: Kozminski University, Marketing Department, Jagiellońska 57, 03-301 Warsaw, Poland
Pereira Verónica Crespo: A Coruña University, Area of Marketing and Market Research, Faculty of Business and Economy, Campus Elviña, S/n, 15071, A Coruña, Spain

Engineering Management in Production and Services, 2024, vol. 16, issue 4, 21-33

Abstract: The article aimed to examine the relationship between Generation Z’s interactions on social networking sites in the context of herd behaviour and behavioural mimicry through central and peripheral content processing pathways. The study was conducted using the CAWI method on a group of 142 representatives of Generation Z from selected universities in Poland. Nonparametric tests were used for statistical analyses. In the case of information overload, approximately 20 % of respondents’ interactions on different social media platforms may result from behavioural mimicry and herd behaviours. This type of activity is influenced primarily by the observed number of interactions and the emotional nature of other users’ reactions. The observed differences are determined by gender, the type of social media platform, and related content specificity. Research limitations result from the specificity of the research sample in the context of its homogeneity and size. The theoretical contribution is related to the development of the cognitive-emotional-behavioural theory of memes about the imitation of interactions of social media users’ conditioned herd behaviour and behavioural mimicry. The novelty of the research lies in the application of the theoretical Elaboration Likelihood Model approach to the analysis of herd behaviour and behavioural mimicry in the context of research on the cognitive, emotional, and behavioural activities of various social media platform users.

Keywords: social media interactions; behavioural mimicry; herd behaviours; information overload; Generation Z; elaboration likelihood model; memetics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:ecoman:v:16:y:2024:i:4:p:21-33:n:1002

DOI: 10.2478/emj-2024-0031

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