Are they virtue-signalling or sincere? The impact of perceived motives on the effectiveness of online collective action

Social media is an important tool used by supporters of modern social movements to persuade others to participate. However, people who engage in online collective action often face speculation about their motives and may be perceived as acting for self-serving reasons. How do these perceptions impact the effectiveness of collective action? In three experiments ( N = 916), participants viewed posts (Study 1) or an immersive social media feed (Studies 2–3) where a user encouraged them to take action for a political cause. They stated that they acted out of genuine concern (autonomous motivation), to avoid guilt and social disapproval (controlled motivation), or did not specify (baseline). Participants who viewed controlled-motivated posts perceived the user as less autonomously motivated and were therefore less likely to socially identify as supporters or take collective action. Thus, movements will be more effective at mobilising (online) support when they are seen to arise from autonomous motives.