1. Social Comparison
By: Donna Moulton, Britta Nordstrom, Ryan Wilson, and Evan Fox

2. Background:
● Identify self comparison through social
media and how it affects self esteem
● Figure out whether or not marketing exploits
self-comparison, insecurity, and envy
● Conduct study on young adults regarding
their self comparing habits on social media

3. Description of the Problem:
● Disconnection as a result of easier “connection”
○ Isolation, envy, disconnection, self worth
● The “search” for connection
● Presenting an idealized self vs. real self
○ Sentiment vs. vanity (evolution of photography)
● We will never find the perfection we’re looking for
“perfectionism is what is thought to protect us, but it is the very thing that
prevents us from being seen” - Brené Brown

4. ● The social comparison theory- we have an innate drive to find an accurate
comparison of our selves and an accurate self evaluation.
● How people compare themselves to others.
● How that affects how they feel about themselves and what they buy.
● Analyze a study conducted on 20 students focusing on social comparison
and body image.
● Social media vs. social comparison.
Executive Summary:

5. Facts/Studies on Human Contact and Relationships
Harry Harlow’s monkey experiment in the 1960’s
The “Wild Child”, Victor from France (1800)
Dopamine Loop
“Dopamine system is stronger than the opioid system”
Pavlovian “cues”
Brain has more activity anticipating reward than receiving
“Rat Park”
“Variable Reinforcement Schedules”Facts/Studies on Human Contact and Relationships

6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1srQ5Mi-rzU

7. ● One specific study was done on adolescents (12-14 years old) and the effects that social
comparison has on their lives.
● This study suggested that the comparison process is used for the purpose of developing a sense
of identity.
● Results show that body image was an important aspect of self representation.
People compare themselves to others on social media.
● Studies show that comparison often causes people to feel inadequate and experience a negative
effect.
● Marketers are able to capture consumers by exploiting their insecurities.
Literature Review:

8. ● “Friendships between Facebook users can be characterised typically as
weak ties showing low values on measures of the amount of time, the
emotional intensity, the intimacy and the reciprocal services which are
generally seen as major dimensions of any type of interpersonal
relationship” (Csepeli)
● “it’s usage has proliferated because it offers users the ability to present
carefully crafted presentations of their idealized selves to others” (Taylor) -
Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing
Literature Review Continued

10. Experiment Method:
● Our experiment was conducted through a qualtrics survey which allowed us to see the number of respondents, how many respondents
responded to each answer, and overall Qualtrixs allows us to see whether or not our peers and social media have an affect on our self concept
and to what extent do people compare themselves to others on social media.
● When we put together our survey our group dispersed it throughout the Sacred Heart University’s campus population though
methods such as email, and word of mouth. We also had each group member post on social media the link to the survey for other
Sacred Heart University students to see, so we could reach a sufficient majority of the campus population to better gather
conclusive results for our research.
● Modified likert scale - It was the best choice for analysing our data, we wanted to find on a scale of 1-5 our respondents level of
agreement or disagreement on a symmetric agree-disagree scale for a series of statements.
In doing this the range captures the intensity of their feelings for a given item. We also used other survey questions such
as Dichotomous Questions or Yes and No questions, and cumulative or Guttman scale questions. In doing so we
developed a 20 question survey that provided conclusive findings for our research assignment.

14. - 100% of respondents use social media.
- 82% of respondents agreed that being part of a group made them feel
they belong.
- Over half of the respondents said they compare themselves to others on
social media.
- Almost 25% of respondents felt low self esteem when they see posts
from others who appear to have a more desirable social setting.
- These results are important to marketing because by using people’s
insecurities, marketers can create ads or products to satisfy the
consumers desire of becoming a better person.
Discussion of Results:

15. Qualtrix Report:
1. Purpose of the survey
2. How old are you - 18-24 years of age: 69%
3. What describes your sex? Female: 73%
4. Are you in a Sorority or Fraternity - No 71%
5. Involved in 1 or 2 Activities -48%

16. Qualtrix Report:
6.)How important is it that you have a lot
of friends? Moderatly 49%
7.)Attitudes towards photos: Looks like
they are having fun: 43%
8.)Participating in clubs makes you feel
like you belong: Agree- 36%
9.) Compare yourself to others who
participate in clubs/ activities: No 71%
10.)How many times a day do you go on
social media? 3-5 times a day 25%
11.)Do you view your friends profiles on
social media? Mostly when bored: 48%
12.) What social media do you use?
Facebook 91%
Instagram 89%
Snapchat 84%
Twitter 59%

17. Qualtrix Report:
13.) how often do you look through friends
profiles? Only when they post something
relevant to my interests: 60%
14.)What aspects of a friends profile do you
look at?
Profile pictures 67%
Photo albums 67%
Places they have been 50%
15.)- text response to 14
16.)Do you compare yourself to others?
Definitely Yes 34%
17.) Satisfied with social life?
Agree 32%
18.)Satisfaction with social life change after
looking at friends profiles? Probably not 36%
19.)How satisfied are you with your personal
appearance? Moderately Satisfied 51%,
-11%- Extremely, Slightly and Moderately
dissatisfied

18. Conclusion
The results of our survey give us insight into how people think about themselves in real life and on social media. Based on
our results, we can say that people do compare themselves to others on social media and a large part of that is comparing
how their profiles look, to how many friends they have and if they feel worse about themselves or less satisfied with themselves
after looking at someone elses profile. It is definite that some people compare their own life and look to others and as
an outcome, feel worse about themselves. As said in our literature report, Facebook users have demonstrated higher levels of
envy and lower life satisfaction (Krasnova et al., 2013). Social media network users will tend to have a lower self esteem when
they see posts from peers that appear to have a more desirable social standing. Facebook users put their best face forward and it is
obvious from our survey that being in a group and doing activities makes people feel like they belong which in a way is
them putting their best face forward. It is almost as if they are trying to impress those around them to make themselves seem like
they are desirable.

19. Social Comparison:
Be like Tim!