Context Effects in Word-of-Mouth Communications: The Effect of Crowdedness on Social Transmission

We study how the perceived crowdedness of the environment affects WOM sharing. We show that crowded places trigger feelings of lack of control which make consumers more likely to engage in WOM in order to restore control. This finding has relevant implications for real-time sharing on social media

Social desirability in virtual communities

As virtual worlds and social media in general become important settings for marketing actions, we need to know what is the weight of social norms within such contexts. To what degree can a researcher expect that the answers obtained within a virtual world \u2013 ultimately a social network \u2013 reflect real opinions and are not inflated by social desirability? Does the social context of an online community induce higher social desirability? This paper investigates whether social desirability is stronger within virtual world online communities than in the real world, observing same structural relationship among measured constructs but higher social desirability tendency in the virtual world compared to the real life. Since social networks and online communities will be more often used as research and communication platforms, increased attention needs to be paid to the social desirability tendency of the community members

On Braggarts and Gossips: Why Consumers Generate Positive but Transmit Negative Word-of-Mouth

Past research has presented conflicting evidence as to whether consumers are more likely to share positive or negative word-of-mouth. We offer a novel theoretical perspective to reconcile this conflict by comparing the generation of word-of-mouth (i.e., consumers sharing information about their own experiences) to the transmission of word-of-mouth (i.e., consumers passing-on information about experiences they heard occurred to others). We suggest that the self-enhancement motive leads consumers to generate positive word-of-mouth, but also to transmit negative word-of-mouth. Evidence for self-enhancement motives playing out in a unique fashion at word-of-mouth generation and transmission is presented across a series of four experiments

HOW LANGUAGE AROUSAL SHAPES RESPONSES TO INFLUENCERSPONSORED CONTENT

Influencer marketing has become big business. But while influencers have the potential to diffuse marketing messages and drive sales, some posts get lots of engagement, while others do not. Could a subtle change in language boost engagement? This work investigates how language arousal in micro versus macro influencers’ sponsored posts can shape engagement. Four studies, combining a text analysis of thousands of influencer’s social media posts and controlled experiments, demonstrate that a more aroused language increases engagement for micro influencers, while it decreases engagement for macro influencers. This effect occurs because a more aroused language boosts (reduces) feelings of interpersonal closeness between micro (macro) influencers and their audience, which makes the influencers seem more (less) credible. These findings deepen the understanding of how language arousal and influencer type shape consumer behavior, reveal a psychological mechanism through which language arousal affects consumer perceptions, and provide actionable insights for composing more effective social media content

Too good to be true! The effects of number of followers and language intensity on consumer responses to influencers’ sponsored content

Marketers increasingly enlist influencers to spread information about brands, products and services. However, it remains unclear what, how, and when the influencer perceived credibility is affected. Drawing on language expectancy theory, this study offers a granular assessment of the language intensity effects on consumer responses to sponsored content. Three online experiments demonstrate the joint impact of number of followers (micro vs. macro influencer) and language intensity (moderate vs. high) on influencer credibility. Specifically, results suggest that the use of high intensity appeals enhances micro influencer credibility but reduces macro influencer credibility. The findings shed more light on how verbal elements affect consumer responses to influencer marketing and thus offer guidance to influencers for developing more effective communication strategies in social media marketing campaigns

GuEstNBL: The Software for the Guided Estimation of the Natural Background Levels of the Aquifers

Natural background levels (NBLs) for targeted chemical elements characterize a specific groundwater body, the knowledge of which represents a fundamental information for environmental agencies responsible for the protection, management, and remediation of territory. The large number of areas subject to strong anthropogenic pressures of a different nature and magnitude makes the job of control authorities particularly difficult. The process to distinguish effective anthropogenic contamination from natural conditions and to define realistic environmental clean-up goals goes through the computation of several mutually dependent statistical methods, some of which have non-trivial resolution and interpretation. In this study, we presented a new tool designed to drive those working in the sector into an articulated path towards NBL assessment. The application software was developed in order to read environmental input data provided by a user-friendly web-based geographic information system (GIS) and to return the NBL estimate of a given chemical element following a wizard that allows for the implementation of two methodologies, i.e., component separation or pre-selection. The project was born from a collaboration between the Department of Environmental Engineering of the University of Calabria and the Department of Environmental Policies of the Calabria Region. The software was used to estimate NBLs in selected chemical species at potentially contaminated industrial sites located in Lamezia Terme, Italy. In the future, the developed calculation program will be the official evaluation tool of the Calabria Region for identifying groundwater thresholds

Bioavailability and pharmacokinetic profile of grape pomace phenolic compounds in humans

Grape pomace, the major byproduct of the wine and juice industry, is a relevant source of bioactive phenolic compounds. However, polyphenol bioavailability in humans is not well understood, and the inter-individual variability in the production of phenolic metabolites has not been comprehensively assessed to date. The pharmacokinetic and excretive profiles of phenolic metabolites after the acute administration of a drink made from red grape pomace was here investigated in ten volunteers. A total of 35 and 28 phenolic metabolites were quantified in urine and plasma, respectively. The main circulating metabolites included phenyl-γ-valerolactones, hydroxybenzoic acids, simple phenols, hydroxyphenylpropionic acids, hydroxycinnamates, and (epi)catechin phase II conjugates. A high inter-individual variability was shown both in urine and plasma samples, and different patterns of circulating metabolites were unravelled by applying unsupervised multivariate analysis. Besides the huge variability in the production of microbial metabolites of colonic origin, an important variability was observed due to phase II conjugates. These results are of interest to further understand the potential health benefits of phenolic metabolites on individual basi

N-Heterocyclic Carbene (NHC) Silver Complexes as Versatile Chemotherapeutic Agents Targeting Human Topoisomerases and Actin

In recent years, the number of people suffering from cancer has risen rapidly and the World Health Organization and U.S. and European governments have identified this pathology as a priority issue. It is known that most bioactive anticancer molecules do not target a single protein but exert pleiotropic effects, simultaneously affecting multiple pathways. In our study, we designed and synthesized a new series of silver N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes [(NHC)(2)Ag](+)[AgX2](-) (X=iodide or acetate). The new complexes were active against two human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231. These compounds showed multiple target actions as anticancer, by inhibiting in vitro the activity of the human topoisomerases I and II and interfering with the cytoskeleton dynamic, as also confirmed by in silico studies. Moreover, the antimicrobial activity of these silver complexes was studied against Gram-positive/negative bacteria. These dual properties provide a two-tiered approach, making these compounds of interest to be further deepened for the development of new chemotherapeutic agents

Annali storici di Principato Citra A. 4, n. 1.1 (2006)

A. 4, n. 1.1 (2006): G. Guardia, Editoriale, P. 3 ; D. Ienna, Menhir a "la Mannina". Un sito megalitico a San Nazario di San Mauro La Bruca? Materiali e ipotesi interpretative, P. 5 ; A. Tierno, Il Vaticano Borgiano gr 27: un rotolo liturgico in lingua greca prodotto a Salerno, P. 44 ; G. Palmisciano, Baronissi nei moti del 1848, P. 54 ; C. Cerone, L’'arrivo dell'illuminazione a Capaccio e Agropoli. Dalle lampade a gas alla nazionalizzazione dell'energia. La centrale idroelettrica Maida, P. 68 ; F. La Greca, Paestanae valles: un antico nome per il Cilento?, P. 104 ; A. Giudice, Da Capo Palinuro alla conca di Sapri: la romanizzazione di un territorio, P. 110 ; Pietro III Paleologo di Bisanzio, Note storiche sulla vita del Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di S. Giorgio, con la Regola di S. Basilio, dalla sua fondazione al gran magistero della Imperiale Famiglia dei Paleologo di Bisanzio, P. 124 ; M. Cerrato – P. Zoccoli, Elementi per la gestione del marketing strategico del prodotto tipico. Il caso di un formaggio caprino, P. 140 ; E. Frescani, "Lò scritto meno del successo". I racconti di Antonio Sessa, un notaio salernitano del XVII secolo, P. 153 ; A. Capano, Sapri, note storiche e il suo Catasto "provvisorio" del 1815, P. 162 ; M. Di Pasquale, 1815 - San Martino Cilento. Un processo per tentato omicidio, P. 178 ; A. Tortorella Bracco, Da un cassettone dell'800 una romantica storia d'amore, P. 202

A machine-learning based bio-psycho-social model for the prediction of non-obstructive and obstructive coronary artery disease

Background: Mechanisms of myocardial ischemia in obstructive and non-obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), and the interplay between clinical, functional, biological and psycho-social features, are still far to be fully elucidated. Objectives: To develop a machine-learning (ML) model for the supervised prediction of obstructive versus non-obstructive CAD. Methods: From the EVA study, we analysed adults hospitalized for IHD undergoing conventional coronary angiography (CCA). Non-obstructive CAD was defined by a stenosis < 50% in one or more vessels. Baseline clinical and psycho-socio-cultural characteristics were used for computing a Rockwood and Mitnitski frailty index, and a gender score according to GENESIS-PRAXY methodology. Serum concentration of inflammatory cytokines was measured with a multiplex flow cytometry assay. Through an XGBoost classifier combined with an explainable artificial intelligence tool (SHAP), we identified the most influential features in discriminating obstructive versus non-obstructive CAD. Results: Among the overall EVA cohort (n = 509), 311 individuals (mean age 67 ± 11 years, 38% females; 67% obstructive CAD) with complete data were analysed. The ML-based model (83% accuracy and 87% precision) showed that while obstructive CAD was associated with higher frailty index, older age and a cytokine signature characterized by IL-1β, IL-12p70 and IL-33, non-obstructive CAD was associated with a higher gender score (i.e., social characteristics traditionally ascribed to women) and with a cytokine signature characterized by IL-18, IL-8, IL-23. Conclusions: Integrating clinical, biological, and psycho-social features, we have optimized a sex- and gender-unbiased model that discriminates obstructive and non-obstructive CAD. Further mechanistic studies will shed light on the biological plausibility of these associations. Clinical trial registration: NCT02737982