Information Seeking Behavior and Context: Theoretical Frameworks and an Empirical Study of Source Use

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Word-of-Mouth Communication and Its Influence on the Purchase of Cars in Jordan

The central question of this thesis is whether or not personal sources of information and word-of-mouth communication influence the purchase of cars in a developing country such as Jordan. With this question in mind, this study was carried out on consumer durables (cars) A random sample of 600 respondents, who were car owners, was drawn from files obtained from the Jordanian Licence Authority and 600 questionnaires were hand delivered to them. The response rate was 68.5% (i.e. 411 usable questionnaires). The capital of Jordan (Amman) was chosen for the study as it had 55% of the total population of Jordan and this area contains a cross-section of people reflecting different social classes. Four objectives were specified for research. They were: Firstly, to investigate the importance of personal sources in providing Jordanian buyers with the necessary information when buying cars. Secondly, to examine the influence exerted by personal sources on Jordanian car buyers. For example, what sources influenced Jordanians when buying a particular car. Thirdly, to examine if Jordanians give information to other car buyers, whether car opinion leadership exists in Jordan and what characteristics information givers and opinion leaders have. Fourthly, to examine forms of communication used by Jordanian car buyers when giving and receiving information and the role of word-of-mouth communication and opinion leaders in influencing the purchase decision of cars in Jordan. The social normative influence of personal sources on the purchase decision of cars was examined, and it was found to have played an important role in the selection of a particular car. Moreover, Jordanians were found to have compared their cars with others cars. Factors such as income, occupation, general opinion, education, and age were taken into consideration when choosing a referent for this comparison. There were significant differences between car information givers and seekers with regard to certain social characteristics such as; innovativeness or early adoption of new cars, level of influence on others' purchase decisions, level of experience in cars, and level of self-confidence when making the purchase decision. No significant differences were found between information givers and seekers with regard to level of exposure to mass media, level of social participation and level of interest in the product area (cars) . The findings indicated that the concept of car opinion leadership exists in Jordan, and those opinion leaders were more likely to have these seven social characteristics than non-leaders (followers). Moreover, those opinion leaders were both information givers and seekers which suggests the inaccuracy of the two-step flow model of communication. A face-to-face form of communication was the most important method used by Jordanians when seeking information from car owners or when conveying information to other car buyers. The major conclusion of this work is that word-of-mouth communications (through face-to-face interaction) and opinion leaders were found to have played a great role in influencing the purchase decision of cars in Jordan

“If you start again, don’t worry. You haven’t failed”. Relapse talk and motivation in online smoking cessation

In this article, I explore how relapse following initial smoking cessation is discursively construed and how participants position each other to enhance motivation in two different settings: smoking cessation forums and websites from the UK. In my qualitative discourse analysis, I focus on identity construction and relational work to pinpoint how users are re-motivated when they have not managed to reach their goal of becoming smoke-free. Results show an imbalance regarding how extensively relapse is covered in a selection of smoking cessation forums and websites. Relapsing is constructed as a normal part of a quitting journey and not as a deviation from it. Similarly, the moral obligation of making healthy lifestyle choices influences the construction of the relapsed self. My analysis also revealed that writers resort to face-enhancing relational work strategies to console readers and connect with them. Further, while referring to personal experience was a means of normalizing relapses in forums, websites used numerical evidence to back up their informational statements. In both settings, relapsing is transformed into a beneficial learning experience, thereby positioning quitters as having an advantage over new quitters. The findings suggest that there is a common discourse of how relapsing is conceptualized, both on professional and peer-to-peer sites. This paper adds to previous studies of online health practices, providing a different angle by not focussing on success stories. It adds interesting insights by comparing peer-to-peer practices to monologic websites, and it shows that an interpersonal pragmatic approach allows investigating how participants try to impact each other’s decision-making

Monitoring, Creeping, or Surveillance? A Synthesis of Online Social Information Seeking Concepts

Affordances of Internet sites and Internet-based applications make personal information about romantic partners, friends, family members, and strangers easy to obtain. People use various techniques to find information about others, capitalizing on online affordances by using search engines to find relevant websites and databases; scouring the target’s social media or social networking site presence; accessing information about the target via their links or network association with others on social media; or asking questions or crowdsourcing information through online channels. Researchers have coined an assortment of terms to describe online social information seeking behaviors, such as interpersonal electronic surveillance, social surveillance, monitoring, patient-targeted Googling, cybervetting, websleuthing, human flesh search, lateral surveillance, Facebook surveillance, and Facebook stalking. Although considerable research has examined these behaviors, there has been little effort to clarify the concepts themselves. As a result, the literature is currently full of inconsistent and overlapping conceptualizations. To synthesize these concepts for future research, this review examines 73 online social information seeking concepts extracted from 186 articles. Specifically, the concepts are reviewed in light of their scope; the information seeker or target of information seeking (e.g., romantic partners, parents, children, employees, criminals); motives for information seeking (e.g., uncertainty, threat, curiosity); and the intensity of the behavior. Recommendations are provided for future research, such as employing clear conceptualizations and incorporating affordances. Finally, we offer a decision tree that researchers can use to help select appropriate terms to use in their work moving forward

A Dual-Perspective Approach to Understanding Collegial Information Mediation in the Workplace

This dissertation is motivated by two problems. First, despite the advances of information systems, human mediation of information cannot satisfactorily be supplanted by systems. While existing research emphasizes the importance of collegial information mediation for organizational success, it has focused exclusively on the seeker’s perspectives, producing a gap in our knowledge of the giver’s. Second, companies have been increasing their investment in implementing social software, but without understanding the complexity of the processes of information mediation. To address these issues, this study takes a dual-perspective approach to examine how employees enter into and perform information mediation, how they assess interpersonal trustworthiness, information credibility, and value-in-experience, and what challenges and benefits they encounter while engaging in the process.A mixed methods study was conducted at the Research & Development department of a Fortune 500 manufacturing company in the Midwest. To capture naturalistic experiences of information mediation, and to collect in-depth narratives of those experiences, the study was carried out in two phases. In phase one, a two-week long online diary study was conducted with 75 employees. In phase two, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 employees. At the beginning of the interviews, the bull’s eye method was used to collect social network data.The findings have important implications for information behavior research, design of workplace social software, and organizational practice. First, it was found that collegial information mediation can be characterized as a value-addition process, which involves multiple interventions, using multiple communication media. Second, a typology of tasks that led employees to information mediation was identified. Task type was found to be a strong predictor of their decision of whom to consult for information and their perception of information credibility and value-in-experience. Third, this study found that when interchangeably playing the roles of the seeker and giver, strategies individuals used when seeking information shaped their strategies used when providing information, and conversely. Lastly, this study demonstrated that the challenges of information mediation arose in the areas of communication, comprehension, attitude of acceptance, and time. These challenges provided a framework for developing design guidelines that can empower both the seeker and giver.PHDInformationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102380/1/jiyeon_1.pd

Information Sources in Relation to Information Quality, Information-seeking, and Uncertainty in the Context of Healthcare Reform

This exploratory study examines information-seeking about the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (i.e. healthcare reform) in relation to the potential barriers of uncertainty,uncertainty discrepancy, and low health self-efficacy. Adult United States participants completed an anonymous online survey about their perceptions and understanding of healthcare reform. Results confirmed recent literature, suggesting a complex relationship between information-seeking and uncertainty. Specifically, for this sample, significant positive relationships were observed between information-seeking about healthcare reform and uncertainty, uncertainty discrepancy, health self-efficacy. Further, uncertainty discrepancy was the potential barrier that accounted for the most variance in predicting information-seeking.Implications of these findings for improving public understanding of healthcare reform are discussed.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/communication_books/1011/thumbnail.jp

I Can’t Get No (Need) Satisfaction: Applying Basic Psychological Needs Theory to Foster Human Connection and Improve Applicant Reactions in Asynchronous Video Interviews.

This research addresses the importance of making job applicants feel valued and respected, and tries to find ways to humanize high-stakes interactions in the digital age. In particular, this research experiments with designing one-way video interviews to increase applicants’ sense of connection to the hiring organization. The results underscore the need for organizations to develop these assessments with humane technology principles in mind, in order to foster positive reactions from applicants and secure top talent

Online Health Information Gathering And Health Service Utilization By Emergency Department Patients With Acute, Non-Urgent Illness Symptoms

ABSTRACT ONLINE HEALTH INFORMATION GATHERING AND HEALTH SERVICE UTILIZATION BY EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT PATIENTS WITH ACUTE, NON-URGENT ILLNESS SYMPTOMS by JOANNE M. YASTIK May 2017 Advisor: Dr. Deborah Schutte Major: Nursing Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Statement of the Problem: The influence of the Internet on our global society cannot be overstated. One of the most utilized areas on the Internet is the quest for health information (Bouche & Migeot, 2008; Goldman & Macpherson, 2006; Warner & Procaccino, 2007, Seckin, 2014). To date, little is known on how this information is being used or whether there is a link between online health information seeking and health service utilization, including location of care or appropriateness of the level of care. As ED patients comprise a large proportion of those seeking health care, and it is recognized that many ED visits are not appropriate, and costlier when compared with other locations of care, it is imperative that current research examines the potential correlation of online health information seeking with ED health service utilization. The purpose of this research was to examine the online health information-seeking practices of Emergency Department (ED) patients when experiencing acute, non-urgent illness symptoms. Methods: This study used a quantitative research methodology with a descriptive/correlational design. An investigator-developed questionnaire was used to measure online health information seeking and the decision to utilize the Emergency Department. Seventy-four patients were surveyed with a mean age of 43. Results: Overall findings were consistent with demographics of Internet users in that 74% of participants utilized the internet for health information, with 24.3% reporting use of WebMD. Women and those with higher education are more likely to utilize the Internet for health information. Abdominal pain, chest pain and headache emerged as high frequency symptoms as reasons for ED visit. Information found on the Internet was not a determinant when seeking care in the ED. Nearly 98% of participants reported their perceived symptom severity as emergent or urgent. The amount of time participants spent seeking information was widely varied and should be the basis for future research. Conclusion: The findings will provide a foundation for other researchers investigating ED patient use of online health information. Findings can be used to tailor education to improve patients online health information seeking and ED utilization experiences

An Individual Psychology of Novelty-Seeking, Creativity and Innovation

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: What does it take to generate something new? The desire to seek something new, the satisfaction of finding something, sharing these findings with others who also recognize them as new - these are key ingredients of generating a novelty. Part One of this book proposes a model of the novelty generation process based on an analysis of psychological theories, most importantly drawing from neuropsychology and social psychology. This Novelty Generation Model (NGM) clearly distinguishes three components: novelty-seeking, creativity and innovative performance. It is meant to provide a basis for better understanding the links between these particular components and identifying what interferes with and what facilitates each of them. Practical advice is also generated on this basis that is relevant not only for the novelty-seekers themselves, but also for their social environment that may want to support them. Highly creative professionals are often only loosely affiliated with organizations, while much of the current scientific literature on creativity and innovation focuses on individuals in tighter employee relationships and teams in organizations. This book presents an individual work psychology for those settings where creative professionals (be it artists, scientists or inventors) see organizations (e.g. publishers or universities) more as service-providers to their own work. In such comparatively free professional settings other support issues seem to become more relevant: For instance grants and awards conferred to individuals. These phenomena that have not yet been paid attention to in the psychological literature on creativity and innovation, are given a place in this individual work psychology. Many questions may be asked about grants and awards, whether they actually support innovation is an important one. Part Two, the empirical part of this book, among others presents a large-scale longitudinal study that tests some more specific hypotheses on the relationship between the individualâs innovative performance and winning awards and grants. The study includes 1348 writers and poets that have received grants and/or awards in the German-speaking publishing area. DEUTSCHE ZUSAMMENFASSUNG EINE INDIVIDUALPSYCHOLOGIE ZU EXPLORATIONSVERHALTEN BEI NEUHEIT, KREATIVITÄT UND INNOVATION ‚Novelty-Seeking’ ist ein neuropsychologisches und persönlichkeitstheoretisch es Konstrukt, das ins Deutsche übersetzt wörtlich ‚neu-gier’ bedeutet und das Suchen nach stets neuen Stimuli beschreibt. Novelty-Seeking nach C.R.Cloninger, ein über das dopaminerge System vermitteltes Verhalten (unterschiedliche dopaminerge Rezeptoraktivität), wurde zwar in der medizinischen Literatur in Deutschland verwendet, hat jedoch in der psychologischen Literatur über Kreativität und Innovation überraschenderweise noch nicht seinen festen Platz eingenommen. Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation war es, den Wert dieses Konstrukts im psychologischen Kontext aufzuzeigen, einen Überblick über die existierende Kreativitäts- und Innovationsliteratur zu geben und dabei auf Schwächen reagierend ein neues Modell vorzulegen, das den Prozess der Neuheits-Generierung (Novelty Generation Process) beschreibt. Das Novelty Generation Model (NGM) unterscheidet drei Komponenten: Novelty-seeking, Kreativität und innovative Leistung. Als theoretischer Hintergrund dienen vor allem drei psychologische Teildisziplinen: Neuropsychologie, Sozialpsychologie und Arbeitspsychologie. Hoch kreative Menschen bevorzugen oft eine relativ freie Arbeitsituation, man denke zum Beispiel an Künstler, Wissenschaftler oder Erfi nder. In der psychologischen Literatur über Kreativität und Innovation wurden jedoch vor allem Arbeitssituationen erforscht, in denen das Individuum in Organisationen eingebunden ist und dort oft als Teil von Arbeitsgruppen fungiert. Von einer Individualpsychologie ausgehend wurden in dieser Dissertation deshalb völlig andere Forschungsschwerpunkte gelegt. So ist das Gewinnen von Preisen und Stipendien beispielsweise weniger ein Thema in der Kreativitätsforschung über Gruppen und Teamarbeit als ein das Individuum betreffendes. Die Vernachlässigung dieses Themas in der psychologischen Literatur ist schwerwiegend, wenn man davon ausgeht, dass Preise und Stipendien die Instrumente sind, mit denen eine Gesellschaft par excellence kreative Individuen zu unterstützen vermag. So wird die Dissertation in zwei Teilen präsentiert, in denen die Ergebnisse einer allgemeineren theoretischen Analyse über die Neuheits-Generierung (Teil I) sowie einer spezifi scheren empirischen Studie zu Preisen und Stipendien in diesem Kontext (Teil II) nicht nur als Ausgangspunkt dienen sollen für weitere Forschungen im Bereich von Arbeitssituationen, in denen das Individuum relativ unabhängig von Organisationen den Prozess der Neuheits-Generierung durchläuft, sondern auch als praktischer Ratgeber. In Teil I dieser Dissertation wird zunächst das Problem erarbeitet, dass Experten sich sowohl in der Theorie als auch in der Praxis oft nicht einig sind, wo genau der konzeptionelle Unterschied zwischen Kreativität und Innovation liegt (vor allem im englischsprachigen Gebrauch der Konzepte). In dieser Arbeit werden auf neuro-, persönlichkeits- und sozialpsychologischer Basis Defi nitionen angeboten, die die folgenden Komponenten der Neuheits-Generierung deutlich unterscheiden: Novelty-Seeking, wie oben beschrieben, dann Kreativität (die sich hier zusammensetzt aus dem Prozess des ‚Novelty-Finding’ (Finden des Neuen) und ‚Novelty-Producing’ (dem Umformen des Gefundenen in ein für andere wahrnehmbares Produkt), und schließlich der Innovativen Leistung, hier defi niert als Resultat des Exponierens eines Produktes an andere Individuen, die den Aspekt des Neuen in diesem Produkt anhand ihrer Expertise zu beurteilen vermögen. Etwas Neues, das nicht als solches beurteilt wurde, kann nicht als Innovation anerkannt werden. Dieser zentrale Unterschied zwischen etwas ‚Kreativem’ und etwas ‚Innovativem’ wurde in den bisherigen Studien oft nicht gemacht, was nicht selten zu schweren konzeptionellen und methodologischen Konsequenzen für die Brauchbarkeit der Forschungsergebnisse führte. Mit der theoretischen Dreiteilung der Neuheits-Generierung wird es möglich, sowohl in der Forschung als auch in der Praxis die Persönlichkeits- sowie Motivationsstrukturen und auch die geeigneten sozialen Stimuli zu identifi zieren, die für die jeweiligen Komponenten eine optimale Wirkung erzielen. Dieser theoretische Teil wird mit Beispielen aus Kunst und Wissenschaft illustriert. Teil II der gegenwärtigen Dissertation befasst sich empirisch mit der Überprüfung von spezifi scheren Hypothesen über die Wirkung von Preisen und Stipendien im Kontext der Neuheits-Generierung, die in Teil I erarbeitet wurden. Diese Hypothesen richten sich auf nur eine der Komponenten des Neuheits-Generierungs-Models, um dieses Forschungsprojekt im Rahmen einer Dissertation zu halten. Untersuchungen über andere Komponenten (unter anderem neuropsychologische Aspekte zwischen Novelty-Seeking und Kreativität) sind in der post-doktoralen Planung. Ziel dieser empirischen Studie war es, einen möglichen Zusammenhang zwischen dem Erhalt von Preisen und Stipendien einerseits und innovativer Leistung anderseits herzustellen. Anhand einer Stichprobe von 1300 deutsch-sprachigen Schriftstellern (ansässig in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz), die im Zeitraum zwischen 1995 und 2001 Preise und Stipendien gewonnen haben, wurde untersucht, wie verschiedene Zuwendungen (Ehrenpreise, Stimulierungspreise und Stipendien mit jeweils verschiedenen fi nanziellem Gewicht und Prestige) sich auf die innovative Leistung der Gewinner auswirkten und umgekehrt. Eine der wichtigsten Fragen war dabei, ob solche Fördersysteme die innovative Leistung ihrer Empfänger wirklich unterstützen oder eher untergraben, und welche Rolle in diesem Kontext Stereotypen im Bezug auf das Geschlecht und die professionelle Reife der Individuen spielen. Daten über die innovative Leistung wurden auf der Basis von Beurteilungen einer Jury von 41 Top Literaturverlagschefs (oder ihren Vertretern) erhoben, die eine Rangliste von deutschsprachigen Literaturverlagen erstellten. So wurde die Bewegung der Schriftsteller und Dichter mit ihren Veröffentlichungen innerhalb dieser Rangliste über den Zeitraum 1993-2001 gemessen. Die Auswertung der Daten über mehr als 3000 Preis- und Stipendienvergaben erfolgte hauptsächlich in einem longitudinalen Ansatz mittels hierarchischen sowie logistischen Regressionsanalysen. Hier erschienen Stipendien als geeignete Stimulatoren der individuellen innovativen Leistung. Im Gegensatz dazu waren Ehrenpreise die Folge von innovativer Leistung. Stimulierungspreise, eine dritte Kategorie, in der sich Charakteristika des Stipendiums mit denen des Ehrenpreises vermischten, erwiesen sich zur Stimulation wie zur Ehrung von innovativer Leistung als ungeeignet. Die wichtigsten Resultate dieser Studie zeigen, dass weibliche und männliche Schriftsteller und Dichter sich im Rahmen dieser Förder- und Ehrenmaßnahmen deutlich unterschieden. Zuallererst war festzustellen, dass nur 385 Frauen unter den Gewinnern / Geförderten waren, im Gegensatz zu 943 Männern (dies entspricht auch in etwa dem Verhältnis von männlichen und weiblichen Autoren in Literaturverlagen im Allgemeinen). Im Vergleich waren Männer diejenigen die Ehrenpreise erhielten, während Frauen bei der Zuteilung von Stipendien verhältnismäßig stark vertreten waren. Nichtsdestotrotz bekamen Männer die größeren Stipendien. Während Männer nach Erhalt eines Stipendiums einen deutlichen Anstieg in der innovativen Leistung verzeichneten, konnte man bei Stipendiatinnen ein klares Abfallen der innovativen Leistung feststellen. Die vorliegenden Ergebnisse werden vor dem Hintergrund der in Teil I besprochenen psychologischen Ansatzes diskutiert sowie ihre Implikationen für Theorie und Praxis erörtert.Tanja Sophie Schweizer (1973,Heilbronn Am Neckar, Germany)finished the Mönchsee-Gymnasium in 1992 followed by studies of linguistics, pragmatics, economics, philosophy and psychology at the Universities of Stuttgart, London, Amsterdam, Madrid, Rotterdam and Milan. Having received Master’s degrees from two of these universities and having taught Master’s courses on Creativity and Innovation in three of them, she is currently still working on a spezialization in neuropsychology, next to her research activities. In December 2004 she receives her PhD on “An Individual Psychology of Novelty-Seeking, Creativity and Innovation” from Erasmus University for a 4-year project fi nanced by the Dutch National Science Foundation (NWO). From January 2005 onwards she will be holding Assistant Professor positions at the Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, Free University of Amsterdam, and the Department of Innovation & Technology at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. Her research areas are Psychology of Novelty-Seeking and Innovation, Social Psychology of Social Support to Novelty-Seekers, Psychology of Art & Science. Sophie is winner of the Chorafas Award 2002 at Erasmus University Rotterdam (International Award for Original Research). She publishes her work in journals like Corporate Reputation Review, Long Range Planning, International Journal of Arts Management and Technology Analysis & Strategic Management