Understanding envy and users ? responses to envy in the context of social networking sites: A literature review

Envy is an ancient theme of interest and various academic disciplines researched the topic in the last decades. With the advance of technologies and the popularity of social networking sites (SNSs), there is a need to comprehend what is new and unique about envy in the SNS environment. To contribute to an improved understanding of this phenomenon, we investigate academic research on envy in the context of SNSs. Particularly, in this work, we review and clarify the concept of envy in the SNS context and how users respond to envy they experienced in an SNS environment. This allows us to (1) better comprehend the conceptualization and theorization of envy in the SNS context, and to (2) identify particularities of users? responses to envy. Based on our analysis, we observe that there exists a need to contextualize definition, operationalization and theorization further. Responses to SNS-induced envy mirror findings from the offline context with purchase intentions as an interesting and relevant behavioral response for the SNS context, since most revenues are generated by advertisement on these sites. We provide directions for future investigations on the phenomenon of SNS-induced envy.

Automated summary

Envy is a longstanding and intriguing theme, with unique characteristics in the context of social networking sites (SNSs) that warrant further investigation. User responses to envy in the SNS environment are noteworthy and it is important to contextualize definitions, operationalization, and theorization. Future research directions on SNS-induced envy include exploring the concept of purchase intentions as a behavioral response and the need for further contextualization of definitions and theories.