The Structural Importance of Consumer Networks

This dissertation contains three essays that investigate how a consumer’s social network position (i.e., a person’s location within a web of relationships) plays an important role in the way that consumer influences and exchanges information with others. Using social capital theory as the conceptual framework, I demonstrate that a consumer’s location within a network (network centrality) has an effect on their ability to influence others and, conversely, on others’ ability to influence them. I also show that network positions influence the type of information that is sought from others (information about the self or information about others). Moreover, I demonstrate that people’s perceptions of their own social capital may not coincide with their actual stores of social capital, revealing how this discrepancy may yield certain social benefits and social costs. Together, the findings of this research contribute to our understanding of consumer networks and further emphasize the relevance and importance of social network positions and social capital. Essay 1 provides a framework for understanding the association between network centrality and the flow of consumer influence. Overall, people see themselves as opinion leaders when they perceive that they are central (i.e., popular) within their networks. However, these self-assessments are sometimes at odds with the perceptions of the rest of the network members. Counter-intuitively, the findings demonstrate that consumers who perceive themselves to be central in networks are quite susceptible to the influence of others. Essay 2 further extends the investigation of network centrality to information-seeking behavior. The results demonstrate that network centrality is positively related to a consumer’s rate of seeking information from other network members. Interestingly, people occupying degree central positions tend to seek information about their own consumer behavior (i.e., feedback), while people occupying betweenness central positions tend to seek information about the behavior of other consumers. Finally, Essay 3 focuses on the instrumental and detrimental role of the individual’s materialism in social network development. Based on an experimental study and a separate longitudinal field study of a social network, I demonstrate that materialistic consumers are susceptible to a perceptual network fallacy (a mismatch between individuals’ perceptions of their social networks versus their actual social networks, as rated by others) over time. Results from the longitudinal field study demonstrate that materialistic individuals overestimated the number of friends they had in their social networks in two separate time periods. Further, materialistic individuals overestimated the growth of their social networks over time. A follow-up experimental study reveals that materialistic consumers overestimated the extent to which others desired to develop friendships with them. Using the latest social network analysis techniques, I demonstrate the unique advantages and disadvantages of occupying central positions in social networks

Cognitively central actors and their personal networks in an energy efficiency training program

This article aims to examine cognitively central actors and their personal networks in the emerging field of energy efficiency. Cognitively central actors are frequently sought for professional advice by other actors and, therefore, they are positioned in the middle of a social network. They often are important knowledge resources, especially in emerging fields where standard knowledge exchange mechanisms are weak. By adopting a personal network approach, we identified the cognitively central participants of a one-year energy efficiency training program, studied the structure and heterogeneity of their personal networks and determined which features were relevant to achieving these cognitively central positions. At the end of the training, the social networking questionnaire was sent to 74 course participants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for the six most-central actors, whose personal networks were larger than those of the other participants. These six actors differed from each other in many respects; there did not appear to be a single explanation for why these persons achieved their central positions. In conclusion, we propose that becoming a cognitively central actor is an intricate process. It cannot be explained only, for instance, by actors’ educational backgrounds, the level of their previous energy efficiency knowledge or their field of know-how. To understand this phenomenon, we must examine which organizations such people come from and how their expert profiles, which are related to their fields and competences, fit into the wider context of energy efficiency. More research is needed to determine whether the results are only typical of emerging fields

Conocimiento y centralidad : el papel de los expertos en las redes de discusión política

En esta investigación se ha estudiado el proceso de influencia interpersonal en las redes de discusión política, una variable relevante que debe tener en cuenta cualquier agente social situado en las esferas del Estado, del mercado o de la sociedad civil. Se analiza el papel desempeñado por los "expertos" sobre la Unión Europea (detectados a través de dos escalas creadas para la ocasión) en estas redes de discusión, el lugar que ocupan en estas redes y si se encuentran en las posiciones más centrales de la estructura social, localizaciones definidas a través de una versión actualizada de la escala de posición social sugerida por Galtung en los años 60.This research studies the process of interpersonal influence that takes place in political discussion networks, an important factor that must be taken into account by any social agent in State, market or civil society spheres. We analize the role of "experts" on European Union in these networks (detected through two scales created for this study), the location they occupy in these networks and if they are situated in most central positions in the social structure, defining these locations with a modern version of the social positions scale suggested by Galtung in the sixties

When does centrality matter? Scientific productivity and the moderating role of research specialization and cross-community ties

The present study addresses the ongoing debate concerning academic scientific productivity. Specifically, given the increasing number of collaborations in academia and the crucial role networks play in knowledge creation, we investigate the extent to which building social capital within the academic community represents a valuable resource for a scientist's knowledge-creation process. We measure the social capital in terms of structural position within the academic collaborative network. Furthermore, we analyse the extent to which an academic scientist's research specialization and ties that cross-community boundaries act as moderators of the aforementioned relationship. Empirical results derived from an analysis of an Italian academic community from 2001 to 2008 suggest academic scientists that build social capital by occupying central positions in the community outperform their more isolated colleagues. However, scientific productivity declines beyond a certain threshold value of centrality, hence revealing the existence of an inverted U-shaped relationship. This relationship is negatively moderated by the extent to which an academic focuses research activities in few scientific knowledge domains, whereas it is positively moderated by the number of cross-community ties established

CPSU and Komsomol Activists Within the Current Ukrainian Political Elite : Analysis of Biographies and Connections.

In this paper, social networks perspective is applied to the analysis of biographies of the ex-Komsomol and ex-Party activists who are among of the Ukrainian political elite nowadays. There are two main questions to be answered: (i) whether these actors who are members of Ukrainian political elite have common biographical expe- rience they can rely on; (ii) whether their network positions make them in fluential, or are they so-called ‘central players’ within their subnetwork and overall network of political elite

The Role of Status Differentials and Homophily in the Formation of Social Support Networks of a Voluntary Organization

Given the important implications of social support on managing volunteers and their organizational commitment, we investigated how members of a Korean immigrant church (N = 178) exchanged two distinctive kinds of social support (i.e., informational and tangible). We used theories of centrality and homophily to hypothesize patterns of social connections among organizational members. Employing exponential random graph modeling (ERGM), the current study estimated the likelihood of age and gender homophily/heterophily in forming supportive ties while considering structural parameters. The results of analysis of variance showed that members with higher socioeconomic status and in official staff positions in the church were more central in the informational support exchange. However, ERGM for both types of support networks did not show hypothesized gender and age homophily/heterophily of Korean immigrants’ support exchange, suggesting the importance of other potential organizational and cultural influences. The findings shed light on the internal structuring of organizational support networks and suggest practical implications for managing organizational volunteers