The Persuasive Power of Facebook Push Notifications

This paper analyses the persuasiveness of Facebook push notifications. Facebook push notifications are conceptualized as starting point of a chain of persuasive offerings. A push notification is successful, i.e. has high persuasiveness when adressed users react on it, enter the platform and stay longer in Facebook. Facebook push notifications as well as entertainment and media offerings of the platform result in an escapist consumtion of the offered content by the platform. The empirical results reveal that self-control is negatively related to triggered Facebook escapism. Usability of push Facebook notifications is positively related to triggered Facebook escapism. Triggered Facebook escapism furthermore results in positive effects for users in term of enjoyment, autonomy, competence and relatedness. It is negatively related to feeling of guilt.