A Survey of Social Network Forensics

Social networks in any form, specifically online social networks (OSNs), are becoming a part of our everyday life in this new millennium especially with the advanced and simple communication technologies through easily accessible devices such as smartphones and tablets. The data generated through the use of these technologies need to be analyzed for forensic purposes when criminal and terrorist activities are involved. In order to deal with the forensic implications of social networks, current research on both digital forensics and social networks need to be incorporated and understood. This will help digital forensics investigators to predict, detect and even prevent any criminal activities in different forms. It will also help researchers to develop new models / techniques in the future. This paper provides literature review of the social network forensics methods, models, and techniques in order to provide an overview to the researchers for their future works as well as the law enforcement investigators for their investigations when crimes are committed in the cyber space. It also provides awareness and defense methods for OSN users in order to protect them against to social attacks

Anonymous Social Networks versus Peer Networks in Restaurant Choice

abstract: I compare the effect of anonymous social network ratings (Yelp.com) and peer group recommendations on restaurant demand. I conduct a two-stage choice experiment in which restaurant visits in the first stage are informed by online social network reviews from Yelp.com, and visits in the second stage by peer network reviews. I find that anonymous reviewers have a stronger effect on restaurant preference than peers. I also compare the power of negative reviews with that of positive reviews. I found that negative reviews are more powerful compared to the positive reviews on restaurant preference. More generally, I find that in an environment of high attribute uncertainty, information gained from anonymous experts through social media is likely to be more influential than information obtained from peers.Dissertation/ThesisM.S. Agribusiness 201

Acceptance of Feedbacks in Reputation Systems: The Role of Online Social Interactions

In an online environment, the aim of reputation systems is to let parties rate each other and to help consumers in deciding whether to transact with a given party. In current reputation systems for e-commerce, users have to trust unreliable information sources and anonymous people. As a result, users are not only hesitant to trust online seller but also to reputation systems. Therefore, there is a need to improve current reputation systems by allowing users to make buying decision based on reliable source of information. This paper proposes a new approach of sharing knowledge and experience in reputation systems by utilizing social interactions. This study examines the potentials of integrating social relations information in reputation systems by proposing a model of acceptance of feedbacks in reputation systems

The Influence of Opinion Leaders towards the Purchase Intentions of Consumers in the Virtual Communities of Consumption

Tohoku University大滝精一課

Are digital influencers ruining your business?: the effects of negative word-of-mouth endorsed by digital influencers on purchase intention

Companies are being faced with the rise of influencer marketing, which has been proved to deliver companies’ messages to a wider audience in an effective manner. Being a new phenomenon, there is still little knowledge about the implications of the electronic word-of-mouth that digital influencers engage in with their followers. Negative word-of-mouth is common on the blogger atmosphere, as bloggers are telling their harsh opinions on brands or products they dislike. The purpose of this study is to analyze the extent to which this negative word-of-mouth affects consumers’ purchase intention. Self-brand connection, bloggers’ perceived credibility and pre-word-of-mouth purchase probability levels were also analyzed with the purpose of understanding whether they affect purchase intention in this context. 150 female respondents answered a questionnaire in the form of an experiment. They were divided in two groups, where one was faced with positive word-of-mouth inputs and the other was faced with negative word-of-mouth inputs. The results showed that negative word-of-mouth endorsed by digital influencers doesn’t have a significant effect neither on consumers’ purchase nor recommendation intention. Despite this, high self-brand connection levels turned out to be relevant in diminishing the effects of the negative endorsement, as well as pre-word-of-mouth purchase probability levels. High perceived credibility of the digital influencer levels did not turn out to be relevant in diminishing such effects. Hence, companies might not need to worry as much with negative word-of-mouth communications on social media, and should instead focus on fostering positive wordof-mouth communications. Likewise, companies should pay close attention to what digital influencers are saying about their products or brands.As empresas estão a ser confrontadas com o Marketing de Influência, que já comprovou ser uma estratégia que faz chegar as mensagens das empresas a uma audiência maior, de forma mais efetiva. Sendo um novo fenómeno, ainda há pouco conhecimento sobre as implicações do boca-à-boca eletrónico, que os influenciadores digitais comunicam com os seguidores. O boca-à-boca negativo é comum na atmosfera dos bloggers, onde estes partilham as suas duras opiniões acerca de marcas ou produtos. O objetivo deste estudo é analisar até que ponto isto afeta a intenção de compra. Os níveis de conexão com a marca, credibilidade percebida e probabilidade de compra pré-boca-à-boca também foram analisados, com o propósito de perceber se afetam a intenção de compra neste contexto. 150 respondentes do sexo feminino responderam ao questionário. Foram divididas em dois grupos, que receberam inputs positivos/negativos aleatoriamente. Os resultados mostraram que o boca-à-boca negativo, comunicado por influenciadores digitais, não tem um efeito significativo nem na intenção de compra dos consumidores, nem na intenção de recomendação. Apesar disto, a conexão com a marca e a probabilidade de compra pré-boca-à-boca mostraram-se relevantes em atenuar os efeitos negativos. Já a credibilidade/reputação do influenciador digital percebida não mostrou afetar esta relação. As empresas poderão não ter de se preocupar tanto com a comunicação boca-à-boca feita nas redes sociais – em vez disso, dever-se-ão focar em promover comunicação boca-à-boca positiva. Deve-se prestar atenção àquilo que os influenciadores digitais dizem nas redes sociais acerca das suas marcas

Exploring Facebook: impacts of social media on consumer behavior

Online social networks have been growing exponentially and are now one of the most important platforms of communication among users. This study aims to understand the impact of this new place of interaction on consumers’ behavior. To measure this impact, a quantitative study was conducted. The sample was randomly selected with 150 men across different nationalities and age groups, and was made in co-operation with the Consumer Goods Company P&G. The objective of the study was twofold: 1) understand the importance of Social Media as a marketing channel; and 2) based on the results, establish the most efficient Facebook media strategy to then be deployed across BRAUN’s key markets. The results show that tie strength, attitude towards the product and the amount of time spent online affects the perception and purchase intention of a particular product. Although variables like income and product class play a small role, the purchase intention of the consumer is significantly affected by Facebook activity, attitude towards the product and tie strength

Measuring Social Influence in Online Social Networks - Focus on Human Behavior Analytics

With the advent of online social networks (OSN) and their ever-expanding reach, researchers seek to determine a social media user’s social influence (SI) proficiency. Despite its exploding application across multiple domains, the research confronts unprecedented practical challenges due to a lack of systematic examination of human behavior characteristics that impart social influence. This work aims to give a methodical overview by conducting a targeted literature analysis to appraise the accuracy and usefulness of past publications. The finding suggests that first, it is necessary to incorporate behavior analytics into statistical measurement models. Second, there is a severe imbalance between the abundance of theoretical research and the scarcity of empirical work to underpin the collective psychological theories to macro-level predictions. Thirdly, it is crucial to incorporate human sentiments and emotions into any measure of SI, particularly as OSN has endowed everyone with the intrinsic ability to influence others. The paper also suggests the merits of three primary research horizons for future considerations

An Analysis of the Impact of an Influencer\u27s Perceived Trustworthiness and Content Quality on Their Follower\u27s Travel Intent

Influencer marketing is quickly becoming an essential aspect of a company\u27s online and social media strategy. This research examines the field of influencer marketing by conducting a quantitative study that researches the impact of two influencer attributes, trust and content quality, and how they affect the travel intentions of a follower. The study was conducted directly by an influencer on their followers, and the analysis showed that trust and content quality impact the travel intentions of followers. This work is important as the travel industry is still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. It provides a better understanding of how companies, through influencers, can impact an audience\u27s potential travel intentions