I LIKE IT BECAUSE I (‘M) LIKE YOU – MEASURING USER ATTITUDES TOWARDS INFORMATION ON FACEBOOK

Limited in motivation and cognitive ability to process the increasing amount of information on their Newsfeed, users apply heuristic processing to form their attitudes. Rather than extensively analysing the content, they increasingly rely on heuristic cues – such as the amount of comments and likes as well as the level of relationship with the “poster” – to process the incoming information. In the paper we explore what impact these heuristic cues have on the affective and cognitive attitude of users towards the posts on their Newsfeed. We conduct a survey on based on a Facebook application that allows users to evaluate Newsfeed posts in real time. Applying two distinct panel-regression methods we report robust results that indicate that there is a certain relationship primacy effect when users are processing information: only if the level of relationship with the “poster” is low, the impact of comments and likes on the attitude is considered, whereby likes trigger positive, whereas comments – negative evaluations

I like it because I (‘m) like You – measuring user attitudes towards information on Facebook

Limited in motivation and cognitive ability to process the increasing amount of information on their Newsfeed, users apply heuristic processing to form their attitudes. Rather than extensively analysing the content, they increasingly rely on heuristic cues – such as the amount of comments and likes as well as the level of relationship with the “poster” – to process the incoming information. In the paper we explore what impact these heuristic cues have on the affective and cognitive attitude of users towards the posts on their Newsfeed. We conduct a survey on based on a Facebook application that allows users to evaluate Newsfeed posts in real time. Applying two distinct panel-regression methods we report robust results that indicate that there is a certain relationship primacy effect when users are processing information: only if the level of relationship with the “poster” is low, the impact of comments and likes on the attitude is considered, whereby likes trigger positive, whereas comments – negative evaluations

Examine Online User Reactions for Philanthropic Communication in Social Media: An Online Natural Experiment

Social media has become a viable channel for firms to communicate corporate social responsibility initiatives given its broader customer base and escalating information dissemination speed. Nevertheless, little is known about how the online diffusion of a firm’s philanthropic announcement unfolds over time and how such diffusion can influence consumer behavior. To address these questions, we drew on the attribution theory and utilized an online natural experiment that took place during the disaster relief period of 2021 Henan floods in China. Preliminary results reveal that both the intensity and content of meta-voicing responses towards a firm’s charitable donation announcement can influence consumers’ online livestreaming purchases of the firm’s products. More importantly, the initial meta-voicing reactions towards a firm’s philanthropic announcement can have both immediate and enduring impacts on purchase behavior

The Effect of Design Characteristics of Mobile Applications on User Retention: An Environmental Psychology Perspective

As many people have adopted mobile applications for their hand-held devices, mobile applications are becoming widely used in everyday life. Nonetheless, some applications are used only few times and then abandoned. Particular since many firms have launched mobile applications for communicating with and delivering their products or services to customers, user retentions toward mobile applications can be critical. To address this challenge, we identify how design characteristics of mobile application enhance user retention toward mobile applications, particularly in the context of cross-channel commerce. Drawing on an environmental psychology, we address that user beliefs stimulated by environmental cues (e.g., design characteristics) affect users’ cognitive and affective internal states, which in turn lead to their retention toward mobile applications. Contributions of this study include 1) theoretically, a suggested theoretical framework for effective mobile application design as an extension of website design, and (2) practically, helping practitioners to articulate effective mobile applications or the Internet strategy in mobile-based online markets

REDUCING INFORMATION OVERLOAD: DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF FILTERING & RANKING ALGORITHMS FOR SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

Recognizing the detrimental impact of information overload on user participation, in this paper we design and evaluate several algorithms to filter and rank the information on Social Networking Sites (SNS). As a first step we identify the factors that impact user evaluations of information shared through these networks in a set of regression analyses. Second, we use a Neural Network algorithm to predict three dimensions of user evaluations: affective, cognitive and instrumental value of information shared. Moreover, we design algorithms that allow not only to filter out the irrelevant information, but also rank the information on SNS in order of its relevance. As a result, the filtering algorithm accurately predicts in 73% of the cases, whereas for more than 70% of the users the individual ranking accuracy lies over 70%. The designed algorithms can be implemented by SNS providers in order to present users with more relevant and better structured information

From Conspiracies to Insults: A Case Study of Radicalisation in Social Media Discourse

Online radicalisation is often linked to discourses on social media. In this context, the question arises how populist online discourses radicalise in social media platforms. With a quantitative content analysis of supporters of the German party "Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)" and their contributions on Facebook between March 2014 and May 2017, this preliminary analysis illustrates how the discourse shifts from a dominantly neutral debate to insult-driven and discriminatory contributions. It provides insights into the dynamic of political social media discourses and shows a tendency of correlating language style and topics that can be further studied in Social Media Analytics

Tie Strength vs. Network Overlap: Why Information from Lovers is More Valuable than from Close Friends on Social Network Sites?

Network structure is an important determinant of information value contained in individuals’ social networks. Researchers argue whether more value is contained in strongly connected cohesive networks or the weaker ones that are rich in structural holes. In the paper we differentiate between two measures of network structure - tie strength and network overlap – and explore their impact on the value of information that users derive from Social Network Sites. We analyze the data collected trough a survey administered to 121 Facebook users via a platform application. Our findings reveal that although users prefer information from their stronger ties on the network, high overlap in their networks decreases information value

When One Speaks Out and When One Does Not: Online Discussion Forums for Opinion Expression

Individuals’ opinion expression about public affairs has entered a new phase with the growth of new venues for social interaction among fellow citizens such as online discussion forums. However, not much empirical evidence exists to understand an individual’s voicing views in online discussion. Focusing on this attention-deserved form of political activity online, the current dissertation aimed to yield insights into some fundamental questions: who, with what characteristics, more intends and tends to talk on an online discussion forum, and what forum conditions (and combinations of them) facilitate an individual’s opinion expression intention and behavior. To investigate these questions, two experimental research methods – scenario-based thought and website-based true experiments – were implemented. Thought experiments relied on a hypothetical scenario technique, the most widely used method in spiral of silence research, but employed the multifaceted, detailed scenarios. True experiments, on the other hand, used the stimulus online forums designed for this study to actually place the participants in the online discussion situation. The findings from these two different approaches indicated that a person’s race, issue involvement, issue knowledge, and the revelation of identity were factors that generally influenced opinion expression online. Racial minorities, compared to Whites, were consistently more willing and likely to voice their views on the online forum. Those who were involved in and knowledgeable about the issue under discussion were more likely to post messages to the forum. Disclosing one’s real name and other personal information was a big hindrance to actual opinion expression on the discussion forum. However, comparing the findings from scenarios to those obtained from real, analogous situations also revealed that the use of scenarios could not accurately identify some existing phenomena. Thought and true experiments returned incongruent predictions regarding the roles of age, fear of isolation, and the votes climate as well as the contribution degree of issue knowledge (to posting intention). In particular, trait fear of isolation, which has been pointed out as the primary culprit behind silencing minority opinion holders, played a completely opposite role. Against the background of these findings, the theoretical and methodological implications of the study were discussed.PhDCommunication StudiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116699/1/ywoh_1.pd

Effect of Social Media Characteristics on Perceptions of Alcohol-Branded Social Media Content

Background: Alcohol advertising has recently expanded onto social networking sites (SNSs), which allows users to interact with alcohol ads through user engagement features (e.g. Likes or Shares) and user-generated comments. Few studies have evaluated alcohol advertising on SNSs or investigated how ad interactivity may influence ad perceptions. Two inter-related studies were conducted to answer these questions. Methods: In Study 1, alcohol advertising posted on Facebook by Budweiser and Bud Light were evaluated for compliance with a self-regulated alcohol advertising code and for thematic content. User-generated comments written in response to these ads were also evaluated. The results of this study were used to inform Study 2, a 2(within) x 2(between) x 2(between) factorial randomized trial. Participants (n=120) viewed four pre-selected Facebook ads, of which two were compliant and two were non-compliant with a self-regulated alcohol advertising code. Participants also viewed real-world high or low user engagement values and real-world pro- or anti-drinking user-generated comments. Ad appeal, drinking intentions, and individual user engagement were measured after viewing each ad. The results were analyzed using hierarchical linear models. Results: In Study 1, 82% of the ads contained 1 or more violations of a self-regulated alcohol advertising code, and 78% of the ads contained one or more content areas previously associated with code violations. Forty-seven percent of the user-generated comments were positive towards the product or drinking. In Study 2, ads non-compliant with a self-regulated alcohol advertising code scored higher on emotional appeal (p=0.004) while compliant ads scored higher on informational (p\u3c0.001) and source appeal (p=0.034). Pro-drinking user-generated comments significantly increased drinking intentions and individual user engagement. Discussion: Self-regulation has failed to prevent potentially harmful content from appearing in Budweiser and Bud Light advertising posted on Facebook. Non-compliance with existing self-regulated alcohol advertising codes was associated with increased emotional appeal, which may result in the ads being remembered more often and recalled more swiftly. Pro-drinking user-generated comments were associated with increased drinking intentions and increased individual user engagement, both of which are associated with increased alcohol consumption. New regulations may be needed to limit alcohol ad content and the influence of user-generated comments