People-Pleasing Personality and Blind Box Purchasing in Social Media Contexts: The Mediating Role of Need for Social Acceptance

Abstract

Blind box consumption has become a new consumption model that combines emotional experience and social interaction among young people, and the widespread use of social media platforms further amplifies the role of peer influence, social comparison, and conformity behavior in consumer decision-making. There are few studies that combine personality traits with social psychological mechanisms to examine their impact on blind box purchasing behavior. Based on this, this study aims to explore the relationship between pleasing personality traits and blind box purchase frequency in the context of social media, and examine the mediating role of social acceptance needs in this relationship. This study used a mixed research method combining questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews, collecting 258 valid samples through an online platform and conducting in-depth interviews with some participants. The research results indicate that the pleasing personality is not only significantly positively correlated with blind box purchase frequency and social acceptance demand, but also significantly positively correlated with social acceptance demand itself; Further mediation analysis shows that social acceptance needs partially mediate the relationship between pleasing personality traits and blind box purchase frequency. The purchasing decisions of participants are deeply influenced by social identity, group belonging, and online social pressure, and blind box consumption has become a tool for individual identity expression and social connection to a certain extent. This study reveals the psychological pathway through which the pleasing personality enhances social acceptance needs and drives blind box consumption.