Differences in Online Social Media Mavens: the Gender Gap

Consumer Behavior experts have acknowledged the significant impact market mavens play in the dissemination and acceptance of new products in the market place. The emergence of online social media mavens has only recently been recognized. Based on traditional patterns of behavior and Internet usage it could be assumed the predictable demographics of the social media maven would be male, young, educated and with an above average income. This study investigated these traditional assumptions and discovered unique differences in online social media mavens. In order to determine potential Social Media Mavens, this research looked beyond usage of social media and instead at who was communicating with others about social media both in the form of recommending and encouraging the usage of social media. Results indicate the gender dominance of males is leveling, signaling the potential of females to drive social media acceptance and usage to ultimately reign as Online Social Media Mavens

Collegiate Competition and the Propensity for Gender Bias

Since the dawn of time gender has played a starring role in human behavior. The behavioral implications of an individual’s sex have permeated research findings in a wide variety of academic disciplines. This preliminary investigation will explore the concept and definition of gender, gender bias, and gender stereotype on actions and conduct. Specifically, this inquiry will determine the scope and types of gender bias/stereotypes that exist in the business world with a primary concentration on the area of professional sales. The ultimate objective is to discover the type and level of influence a person’s gender contributes to evaluation, performance and judging in student sales competition

Digital Word-of-Mouth and the Gender Implications

Consumers can now easily access data and exchange sentiments regarding products and services on an unprecedented scale, and often in real time, through digital connections. The Internet and mobile technologies have made sharing of information and opinions among consumers easier than ever. The capacity of online participants to inspire and transform perspectives has been touted to surpass the radical potency of television when it entered the consumer’s province during the 50’s. Men and women use social media sites to learn about new products, to become smarter shoppers and to feel good about a purchase they might have already made. College students are so driven to continuously connect that they chain themselves to the technology 24/7. As digital natives, they are so thoroughly immersed in the process that they possess an indigenous aptitude to operate and fully function within the techno world. Marketers have long recognized the prominent role that word-of-mouth communication (WOM) played in the consumer decision-making process. However, in recent years, interest has grown with the expansion in the number and types of communication channels offered by new technologies. Online WOM has established itself as a central element in the lives of consumers. In the view of many, the power of social media and online digital WOM communications outstrips the ability of companies to shape their own messages through either traditional communication means or by way of their own social media initiatives. Common wisdom now holds that companies that ignore consumer-to-consumer information posted about their business and products do so at their own peril. This study explored the implication of gender on the use of digital WOM along with specific online behavior characteristics and purchase variances of male and female digital activities. Research findings suggest the identification of primary digital WOM leaders as revealed through purchase behavior, shopping experience, purchase confidence and innovative online conduct. The concept that “tie-strength” is an indicator of the importance of a moderator’s impact on consumer purchase decisions (Brown & Reingen 1987) may be shifting in regard to online digital WOM. This study indicates that respondents were neutral in regard to the usefulness of online digital WOM compared to friends and family. While online was not deemed as more useful, the neutrality indicates that more research needs to be done on the concept of tie-strength as well as outside indicators of online digital WOM credibility

SMAD6 variants in craniosynostosis: genotype and phenotype evaluation

Purpose: Enrichment of heterozygous missense and truncating SMAD6 variants was previously reported in nonsyndromic sagittal and metopic synostosis, and interaction of SMAD6 variants with a common polymorphism near BMP2 (rs1884302) was proposed to contribute to inconsistent penetrance. We determined the occurrence of SMAD6 variants in all types of craniosynostosis, evaluated the impact of different missense variants on SMAD6 function, and tested independently whether rs1884302 genotype significantl

Breast cancer risk variants at 6q25 display different phenotype associations and regulate ESR1, RMND1 and CCDC170.

We analyzed 3,872 common genetic variants across the ESR1 locus (encoding estrogen receptor α) in 118,816 subjects from three international consortia. We found evidence for at least five independent causal variants, each associated with different phenotype sets, including estrogen receptor (ER(+) or ER(-)) and human ERBB2 (HER2(+) or HER2(-)) tumor subtypes, mammographic density and tumor grade. The best candidate causal variants for ER(-) tumors lie in four separate enhancer elements, and their risk alleles reduce expression of ESR1, RMND1 and CCDC170, whereas the risk alleles of the strongest candidates for the remaining independent causal variant disrupt a silencer element and putatively increase ESR1 and RMND1 expression.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.352