Social media use and its impact on intrinsic motivation in Generation Z: a case study from Poland

Purpose Activities on social platforms affect the audience. They may impact brand perception, purchasing decisions or motivation to act. Motivation makes people behave in certain ways. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the use of social media and its impact on intrinsic motivation, with a focus on Generation Z users (born between 1994 and 2002). Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted multifaceted survey research among full-time and part-time students of one of the largest universities in Poland. The survey was carried out on students of three major fields of study. The analysis involved 427 questionnaires. The data was analysed both with unidimensional and two-dimensional statistical analysis. Findings Although the respondents indicated some “motivational aspects” of social media usage, most of them were characterised by a passive attitude and infrequent activity on such websites. Not many of the respondents published actively. The respondents expected valuable content but were not inclined to disseminate it. Originality/value Publishing of own content and ability to view others’ content in social media may not be enough to increase the user base of a social platform. One way to do this may be narrowing down or diversification of the array of additional services and functionalities that induce users to increase the use rate.