The paradox of virtuous online presentation: Examining the receiver's perceptions of impression management

Virtue signaling, defined as the act of engaging in public moral discourse to enhance or preserve one’s moral reputation (Westra, 2021), happens frequently in daily interactions. It is particularly common online since social media has substantially lowered the costs of online self-presentation. Typical examples of virtue signaling include an individual making a virtuous post on social networking sites that advocate a social cause, such as racial equality and feeding the homeless. With virtuous posts, actors deliver a positive image to receivers and expect receivers to form a virtuous or morally respectable impression of them. However, it can also be perceived negatively. Actors may be perceived as manipulative when receivers consider them to be extrinsically motivated to self-promote their virtues online and/or impress others with their virtues (i.e., being perceived as virtue signaling by receivers). Perceptions of manipulativeness subsequently have a negative impact on the receiver’s online intention to like the post, and offline intention to support the social cause mentioned in the post. Additionally, receivers are more likely to unfollow the actor and avoid the actor’s future posts. Perceived manipulative intention mediates the relationship between perceived motivations of virtuous posts and receivers’ behavioral reactions. It has a direct positive effect on the relationship between perceived extrinsic motivation and avoiding/unfollowing. Besides, perceived manipulativeness has a direct negative effect on the relationship between perceived extrinsic motivation and receivers’ online intention to like the post and offline intentions to support the social cause mentioned in the post. This paper conducted semi-structured interviews and experiments to examine the perceptions of virtuous posts and the impact of virtue signaling perceptions.