The generation of virtual needs: Recipes for satisfaction in social media networking

Successful social media networks motivate people to engage in behaviors that speak to their most basic psychological needs through citizenship in a virtual society. These environments provide individuals with the ability to build relationships (relatedness), exercise competence, and express autonomy. Recipes for satisfying these basic needs are vital to the success of virtual societies. This research contributes to existing literature by framing social media interaction using the self-determination theory (SDT); the study analyzes a sample of 570 social networking participants using the generations of baby boomers, generation X, and millennials with fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Findings indicate that affinity, belonging, interactivity, and innovativeness are all base expectations for social media networking usage, depending on the generational cohort. Indeed, understanding the motivational needs of unique generational cohorts allows marketers to more effectively design precise adaptive strategies for their social media, which can impact engagement and thereby loyalty.