Misuse and Artifact in Factor Analytic Research

The theory of factor analysis has been developed for incorporating mathematical　statistical theories such as the maximum likelihood method and asymptotic methods. However, there have been several instances of misuse while employing procedures for factor analysis studies. In several studies, factor analysis has been performed by deleting items exhibiting the ceiling effect or floor effect. The number of samples required for factor analysis is not well known. Kaiser-Guttman criterion cannot be applied for determining the number of factors. Furthermore, various studies have employed Scree Graphs and Parallel Analysis for the said purpose, but no definitive method exists for the same. Orthogonal rotation methods such as Varimax cannot be considered as a conclusive solution. However, Geomin has been considered as a better rotation method not only for simple structure but also for more complex factor configuration. Simple structure and bifactor structure are discussed in connection to factor rotation problem. Although there are various artifacts associated with the usage of factor analysis, this issue can be addressed by verifying factorial invariance through multi-group simultaneous analysis incorporated by SEM programs such as Mplus and R Package.因子分析の理論は、最尤法と漸近的方法のような数理統計学的理論を組み込んだ形で発展してきた。しかしながら、因子分析研究の手順にはまだ誤用がみられる。いくつかの研究において、天井効果や床効果を示す項目を削除して因子分析が行われている。因子分析に必要なサンプル数は明確ではない。因子の数を決定するためにKaiser-Guttman 基準は使うことはできない。そして、この目的でScree Graph とParallel Analysis を使用している研究は数多くあるが、そのための決定的な方法はない。Varimax のような直交回転は最終的な解と考えることはできない。しかしながら、Geomin は単純構造だけでなくより複雑な因子の布置に対しても優れた回転方法と考えられている。因子回転問題を考慮した単純構造とbifactor 構造について議論した。因子分析の使い方には多くのartifacts があるが、この問題は、Mplus やR Package などのSEMプログラムによって組み込まれた複数集団の同時分析によって因子的不変性を検証することによって対処することができる

Personal Information Sharing: Essays on Antecedents and Consequences of Gossip

Understanding when and why people gossip, i.e., exchange personal information about others, is the topic of this PhD dissertation. Gossip has long been considered by academic researchers as a fundamental human behavior (Foster 2004, Dunbar 2004). In this dissertation, I develop a re-conceptualization of gossip and investigate both the antecedents and the consequences of this phenomenon. In the first essay, I focus on the antecedents of gossip and investigate why people gossip more about some subjects than others. I focus on the relationships between the members of the gossip-triad: the sharer (A), the absent subject (B) and the receiver (C), and propose that gossip depends on the sharer’s relationship with the subject of the content (who the information is about). Gossip involves a combination of two opposing concerns that vary based on the type of relationship with the absent subject: the perceived guilt associated with sharing something presumably private versus the perceived excitement of sharing juicy and secret content. Building on Emerson’s (1962) Power-Dependence theory, I distinguish between different types of (A-B) relationships varying across two dimensions: mutual influence and balance. Mutual influence is the overall degree of reciprocal influence in a relationship; balance is how this influence is distributed. Across five studies, I find that personal information about celebrities (as opposed to other people) is mostly shared because consumers experience lower guilt and higher excitement. In addition, the propensity to gossip about celebrities remains higher even varying the relationships with the audience (A-C and B-C). The second essay focuses on re-conceptualizing gossip. Across the gossiping literature, there is lack of a clear definition and conceptualization of the behavior. Following MacInnis’ (2011) guidance on conceptual development, I perform a systematic and a conceptual review of existing literature and research on gossip. In the systematic review, I analyze all the empirical and theoretical evidence in the gossip domain to describe what is known and more importantly what remains still unexplained. I provide a set of recommendations centering on definition clarity, contexts and methods that I suggest as ways for researchers to evaluate what gossip is and provide meaningful investigations of this behavior. In the conceptual review, I describe, map, and define the gossip entity by identifying the fundamental gossip characteristics. I provide a new comprehensive definition of gossip rooted in the extant literature and based on the gossip-triad. I further propose a grounded theory research design to validate my re-conceptualization and investigate the role of the members gossip-triad (sender A, absent subject B, and receiver C). In the third essay, I take a marketing perspective and investigates the gossip industry, which is a big market that remains largely unexplored by marketing research. To do this, I focus on the key subjects in this large business which are, in fact, celebrities. I start from the premise that gossip is foundational in the relationships that famous individuals build with their fans, as it is one of the primary sources of information that consumers use to build and relate to the celebrity image. By being in control of personal information, celebrities can strategically self-disclose information themselves, or let others diffuse personal content about them without intervening (i.e., via gossip). Across four studies, I compare gossip with self-disclosure and find that consumers share self-disclosed content more compared to content received from a third-party (i.e., gossip). Despite this, unexpectedly, negative information delivered via gossip (vs. self-disclosed) increases consumer’s liking and appreciation of the celebrity, especially as an endorser. I aim at offering useful insights for human brands and their managers on how to deal with personal information sharing and gossip

When Does Collaborating With Green Influencers Backfire? An Experimental Analysis of how Authenticity Components Shape Consumer Reactions to Sponsored Content

This study explores the role of perceived authenticity in shaping the persuasiveness of sponsored content by green influencers. We examine how variations in the importance of six authenticity component judgments—accuracy, connectedness, integrity, legitimacy, originality, and proficiency—influence consumers' intentions to change their behavior following green influencers' advice in the case of sponsored and nonsponsored content. To this end, we conducted an experiment with 486 active social media users who follow at least one green influencer. Results indicate that, although sponsored content typically diminishes the intent to follow green influencer advice, this effect is contingent upon the relative importance attributed to the authenticity components by consumers. Further, cluster analysis identified distinct consumer segments that vary in their response to sponsored content based on their perceptions of authenticity. We offer guidance to green influencers and companies on how to authentically tailor their sustainable collaborations

Interaction-range effects and universality in the BCS-BEC crossover of spin-orbit-coupled Fermi gases

We explore the evolution of an ultracold quantum gas of interacting fermions crossing from a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superfluidity to a Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of molecular bosons in the presence of a tunable-range interaction among the fermions and of an artificial magnetic field, which can be used to simulate a pseudo-spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and to produce topological states. We find that the crossover is affected by a competition between the finite range of the interaction and the SOC and that the threshold λB for the topological transition is affected by the interactions only in the small pair size, BEC-like, regime. Below λB, we find persistence of universal behavior in the critical temperature, chemical potential, and condensate fraction, provided that the pair correlation length is used as a driving parameter. Above threshold, universality is lost in the regime of large pair sizes. Here, the limiting ground state departs from a weakly interacting BCS-like one so that a different description is required. Our results can be relevant in view of current experiments with cold atoms in optical cavities, where tunable-range effective atomic interactions can be engineered