WHAT MESSAGES TO POST? EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS BASED ON MARKET AND OFFERING CHARACTERISTICS

Marketers are struggling with the successful implementation of social media executions in their marketing efforts. The effectiveness of their social media campaigns may be realized when their customers transmit company brand messages across their unique networks of friends and associates (Berger and Milkman 2012). Indeed, marketers using social media try to determine what messages will engage their customers. In essay one, we provide guidance to B2B (business-to-business) managers by examining the usage and effectiveness of social media message strategies. Building on B2B advertising, organizational buying, and word-of-mouth theories, we highlight key differences in B2B and business-to-consumer (B2C) social media message strategies in terms of branding, message appeals, selling, and information search. Analyzing 1,467 Facebook wall posts by Fortune-500 companies, using Bayesian Models, we find differences in the usage and effectiveness (message likes and comments) of social media. Specifically, the results indicate that the use of 1) corporate brands, 2) functional and emotional appeals, and 3) information search results in a higher percentage of message likes in B2B messages than in B2C messages. In addition, we find that B2B buyers, when compared to B2C consumers, demonstrate a higher message liking rate, but a lower message commenting rate. In essay two, we examine how and when social media communications get transmitted by estimating a Multivariate Multilevel Poisson Model. To answer how, we focus on the two primary modes of transmission, message likes and comments. To answer when, we examine the effect of offering characteristics, products (goods) versus services on the social transmission of content. Drawing upon the same Fortune-500 dataset, we investigate the effectiveness of social media message strategies in terms of branding, message appeals, and vividness. We find that the use of corporate brand names is more effective (in terms of likes and comments) for service messages, whereas the use of images, videos, and product brand names is more effective for product messages. Furthermore, the results indicate that the use of corporate brand names, images, and videos yields a lower commenting rate, whereas the use of emotional appeals results in a higher liking and commenting rate

Social Sharing Design

This dissertation studies the effects of sharing mechanisms and content characteristics on social sharing processes. Social sharing describes any exchange of resources available in a social system (news, products, ideas, behaviors, etc.). The dissertation consists of four empirical studies, each addressing a different research question. The first empirical project focuses on the effects of user control over the sharing process, preservation of user’s privacy, and symbolic expressions of self-focus. The results from a laboratory experiment and two field studies reveal that content sharing is negatively affected by sharing mechanisms that allow greater control over the sharing process, aim to preserve the user’s privacy and express a self-focus. The second research project investigates how the sharing mechanisms which allow the non-disclosure of the users’ identity impact social sharing. The results show that content related to controversial topics are less likely to be shared on Facebook, whereas they are actively discussed on discussion boards. The third research project analyzes how the payment of incentives influences the social sharing. The results of three field experiments show that the payment of incentives increases the number of consumer reviews. Moreover, paid customers write less positive reviews and are less willing to make recommendations to their peers. The last study explores whether positive or negative content is shared with peers. The results show that the relationship between content’s positivity and its virality follows an inverted U-shape

Journal of Applied Communications 100(3) Full Issue

Journal of Applied Communications 100(3) - Full Issu

3D Virtual Worlds and the Metaverse: Current Status and Future Possibilities

Moving from a set of independent virtual worlds to an integrated network of 3D virtual worlds or Metaverse rests on progress in four areas: immersive realism, ubiquity of access and identity, interoperability, and scalability. For each area, the current status and needed developments in order to achieve a functional Metaverse are described. Factors that support the formation of a viable Metaverse, such as institutional and popular interest and ongoing improvements in hardware performance, and factors that constrain the achievement of this goal, including limits in computational methods and unrealized collaboration among virtual world stakeholders and developers, are also considered

Processing spam: Conducting processed listening and rhythmedia to (re)produce people and territories

This thesis provides a transdisciplinary investigation of ‘deviant’ media categories, specifically spam and noise, and the way they are constructed and used to (re)produce territories and people. Spam, I argue, is a media phenomenon that has always existed, and received different names in different times. The changing definitions of spam, the reasons and actors behind these changes are thus the focus of this research. It brings to the forefront a longer history of the politics of knowledge production with and in media, and its consequences. This thesis makes a contribution to the media and communication field by looking at neglected media phenomena through fields such as sound studies, software studies, law and history to have richer understanding that disciplinary boundaries fail to achieve. The thesis looks at three different case studies: the conceptualisation of noise in the early 20th century through Bell Telephone Company, web metric standardisation in the European Union 2000s legislation, and unwanted behaviours on Facebook. What these cases show is that media practitioners have been constructing ‘deviant’ categories in different media and periods by using seven sonic epistemological strategies: training of the (digital) body, restructuring of territories, new experts, standardising measurements (tools and units), filtering, de-politicising and licensing. Informed by my empirical work, I developed two concepts - processed listening and rhythmedia - offering a new theoretical framework to analyse how media practitioners construct power relations by knowing people in mediated territories and then spatially and temporally (re)ordering them. Shifting the attention from theories of vision allows media researchers to have a better understanding of practitioners who work in multi-layered digital/datafied spaces, tuning in and out to continuously measure and record people’s behaviours. Such knowledge is being fed back in a recursive feedback-loop conducted by a particular rhythmedia constantly processing, ordering, shaping and regulating people, objects and spaces. Such actions (re)configure the boundaries of what it means to be human, worker and medium

Media Distortions

Media Distortions is about the power behind the production of deviant media categories. It shows　the politics behind categories we take for granted such as spam and noise, and what it means to our broader understanding of, and engagement with media. The book synthesizes media theory, sound studies, science and technology studies (STS), feminist technoscience, and software studies into a new composition to explore media power. Media Distortions argues that using sound as a conceptual framework is more useful due to its ability to cross boundaries and strategically move between multiple spaces—which is essential for multi-layered mediated spaces. Drawing on repositories of legal, technical and archival sources, the book amplifies three stories about the construction and negotiation of the ‘deviant’ in media. The book starts in the early 20th century with Bell Telephone’s production of noise, tuning into the training of their telephone operators and their involvement with the Noise Abatement　Commission in New York City. The next story jumps several decades to the early 2000s focusing on web metric standardization in the European Union and shows how the digital advertising industry constructed web-cookies as legitimate communication while making spam illegal. The final story focuses on the recent decade and the way Facebook filters out antisocial behaviors to engineer a sociality that produces more value. These stories show how deviant categories re-draw boundaries between human and non-human, public and private spaces, and importantly, social and antisocial

Development and evaluation of an open online course in sport psychology using self-determination theory principles

The provision of free, open, and online content is a relatively new phenomenon through which education providers are exploring innovative new business models to bring their content to a global audience. Learning materials that are openly licensed and readily accessible have the potential to transform educational delivery and present learning and psychological growth opportunities for all. However, there is little consensus as to how best design and deliver open online courses, where barriers to access are low and dropout rates are high. With its strong focus on autonomy and high quality motivation, self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) provides an ideal frame of reference to approach the design and development of open online courses. The present research describes the design and evaluation of an open online course titled Elite Sport Performance: Psychological Perspectives, being the first of its type in the world. Three related studies were conducted, each building on the next: Study 1 provides an evaluation of a first iteration of the course run in 2013, which was deemed unsuccessful. The course was evaluated mainly using web analytic criteria and provided useful insights to support a completely new iteration of the course. Study 2 articulates a redesign of Elite Sport Performance: Psychological Perspectives that addressed supporting the three basic psychological needs of self-determination theory: autonomy, competence and relatedness, with a view to fostering intrinsic motivation to engage learners and optimise learning outcomes. A step-by-step approach using best practice techniques is provided. Study 3 presents an empirical evaluation of Elite Sport Performance: Psychological Perspectives that was released to a global audience in late 2015 with 1007 registrations from 73 countries. The final study includes engagement data derived from web analytics, self-determination theory metrics (e.g., satisfaction of basic psychological needs), and qualitative feedback from participants. Additionally, data are presented around continuance intention and reasons for non-engagement to better contextualise motivational dynamics in an open online course environment. In general terms, when taken together, the second iteration of the course was successful and supported the design approach taken. The implications of the findings of the present research suggest that designing for open online courses is a unique context in which the needs of the learner need to be carefully considered. A set of recommendations to enhance the design of open online courses such as Elite Sport Performance: Psychological Perspectives are provided. Suggestions for further research, particularly surrounding the potential benefits to well-being and eudaimonic flourishing offered by open online courses are speculated