Celebrity Self-disclosure and Social Cohesion: Perspectives from Ghanaian Instagram Users

Abstract

The phenomenon of social cohesion has gained much traction in the extant literature. However, research that assesses how celebrity self-disclosure can be leveraged to engender social cohesion remains very scanty in the existing literature. The current study aims at empirically testing the effect of celebrity self-disclosure on social cohesion while accounting for the roles of fans’ behavior, social presence and attachment to celebrities. To realize this aim, data is collected from 306 Instagram users who follow at least one celebrity. The hypothesis intended to realize these aims are tested by adopting structural equation modeling technique. The results show that celebrities’ descriptive self-disclosure (but not emotional self-disclosure) influences fans’ archiving and commenting behavior. Additionally, celebrities’ emotional self-disclosure (but not descriptive self-disclosure) as well as fans’ commenting, and archiving behaviors are instrumental in predicting fans’ social presence. The study further finds that fans’ social presence is essential in predicting their attachment to celebrities, while their (fans’) attachment to celebrities and social presence are significant antecedents of social cohesion. Furthermore, attachment to celebrities is found to significantly mediate the relationship between social presence and social cohesion. The study provides practical and theoretical insights into understanding social cohesion, celebrity self-disclosure, fans’ behavior, social presence and attachment to celebrities.