Exploring influential social cognitive determinants of social media use

•We explore antecedents of social media use behavior.•Habit strength was found to be the sole antecedent of social media use.•Individuals’ deficient self-regulation largely determines habit strengths.•Past social media usage experiences also determines habit strengths.

This study explored relationships between social cognitive determinants and examined their associations with social media usage. Overall, the model exhibits a goodness-of-fit and secures generalizability. In examining the social cognitive determinants of social media usage, habit strength was found, with statistical significance, to be the sole and immediate antecedent of social media use. Discussion and implications are further offered.