What Influences Influencers? Hiding Popularity Signals and Influencer Behavior

The burgeoning popularity of social media has shifted how social media users share and seek information through online platforms. Social media users are often motivated to show the “perfect side” of themselves on the platform, resulting in sharing manipulated appearances and positive aspects of their lives in order to garner more “likes” when comparing their popularity to others. Thus, social media users may often face inauthentic information, which may affect their behaviors on the platform. In this study, we utilize a change in Instagram policy—where they hide the number of likes from the platform— which started in September 2019 in East Asia. Specifically, we examine influencers’ post-generating behavior and post characteristics (e.g., whether it is focused on product vs influencers themselves and the degree of image manipulation). The results show that the number of endorsement postings increases, and influencers are more likely to generate influencer-focused postings after the intervention. In addition, we find that such effects are accentuated when influencers have a the larger follower base. Lastly, our findings suggest that the economic benefit (e.g., total weekly sales) that influencers gain increases after the intervention; however, such an effect is attenuated with influencers having a larger number of followers

The Pursuit of Conversion: Effects of Mediating Channels on Product Choices and Purchase Propensities in Social Commerce Platforms

This study elucidates the effectiveness of intermediary channels in driving sales at social commerce sites (SCSs). Using a panel data, we investigate how the external intermediary channels through which consumers arrive at SCSs influence product choice and purchase likelihood. In addition, we scrutinize the extent to which product categories with varying quality moderate the relationship between consumers’ channel-related behaviors and purchase propensities. Furthermore, we examine how external channels “collaborate” with internal channels to increase purchase likelihood. The findings suggest that consumers who enter the SCS through direct apps and portals engage in more proactive purchasing than do consumers landing at the SCS via metasites or e-mail promotions. Consumers who are directed to the SCS through metasites or e-mail promotions are more likely to purchase experience goods than search goods. Contrary to previous findings, consumers’ purchasing propensities decline, rather than increase, across all channels after the implementation of a recommendation system

Nature or Nurture? An Analysis of Rational Addiction to Mobile Social Applications

Through the lens of rational addiction theory (Becker and Murphy, 1988), this study investigates whether addiction to mobile social apps should be viewed as a rational behavior rather than an uncontrollable, irrational disorder. To derive the analytical model, this study extends the rational addiction framework to include a utility-level network effect as the key factor that regulates the inter-temporal consumption of mobile social apps. Further, to validate empirically the rational addiction model in this context, we gathered and analyzed longitudinal panel data on the weekly app usage of thousands of smartphone users. The findings suggest that consistent with the rational addiction theory, users of mobile social apps are rational and forward-looking. They determine their current consumption based on both past and future consumption and the utility derived from network effects. However, the extent of rational addiction to mobile social apps varies considerably across diverse demographic groups and app categories

Recognition of Transmembrane Protein 39A as a Tumor-Specific Marker in Brain Tumor

Transmembrane protein 39A (TMEM39A) belongs to the TMEM39 family. TMEM39A gene is a susceptibility locus for multiple sclerosis. In addition, TMEM39A seems to be implicated in systemic lupus erythematosus. However, any possible involvement of TMEM39A in cancer remains largely unknown. In the present report, we provide evidence that TMEM39A may play a role in brain tumors. Western blotting using an anti-TMEM39A antibody indicated that TMEM39A was overexpressed in glioblastoma cell lines, including U87-MG and U251-MG. Deep-sequencing transcriptomic profiling of U87-MG and U251-MG cells revealed that TMEM39A transcripts were upregulated in such cells compared with those of the cerebral cortex. Confocal microscopic analysis of U251-MG cells stained with anti-TMEM39A antibody showed that TMEM39A was located in dot-like structures lying close to the nucleus. TMEM39A probably located to mitochondria or to endosomes. Immunohistochemical analysis of glioma tissue specimens indicated that TMEM39A was markedly upregulated in such samples. Bioinformatic analysis of the Rembrandt knowledge base also supported upregulation of TMEM39A mRNA levels in glioma patients. Together, the results afford strong evidence that TMEM39A is upregulated in glioma cell lines and glioma tissue specimens. Therefore, TMEM39A may serve as a novel diagnostic marker of, and a therapeutic target for, gliomas and other cancers

S6 kinase 1 plays a key role in mitochondrial morphology and cellular energy flow

Mitochondrial morphology, which is associated with changes in metabolism, cell cycle, cell development and cell death, is tightly regulated by the balance between fusion and fission. In this study, we found that S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) contributes to mitochondrial dynamics, homeostasis and function. Mouse embryo fibroblasts lacking S6K1 (S6K1 KO MEFs) exhibited more fragmented mitochondria and a higher level of Dynamin related protein 1 (Drp1) and active Drp1 (pS616) in both whole cell extracts and mitochondria' fraction. In addition, there was no evidence for autophagy and mitophagy induction in S6K1 depleted cells. Glycolysis and mitochondrial respiratory activity was higher in S6K1-KO MEFs, whereas OxPhos ATP production was not altered. However, inhibition of Drp1 by Mdivi1 (Drp1 inhibitor) resulted in higher OxPhos ATP production and lower mitochondrial membrane potential. Taken together the depletion of S6K1 increased Drpl-mediated fission, leading to the enhancement of glycolysis. The fission form of mitochondria resulted in lower yield for OxPhos ATP production as well as in higher mitochondrial membrane potential. Thus, these results have suggested a potential role of S6K1 in energy metabolism by modulating mitochondrial respiratory capacity and mitochondrial morphology.

Picture Perfect: An Image Mining of Advertising Content and Its Effects on Social Targeting

Using a Google™s image analysis framework that is based on machine learning algorithms, this study investigated how diverse image components of advertisements designed for fashion products affect consumers™ search behaviors and purchase propensities in m

Conflict between Two Selves: Mobile Temptation and Self-Control through Precommitment

This study investigates the effectiveness of diverse precommitment mechanisms as self-control measures against mobile temptation, which refers to an uncontrollable desire and craving to consume mobile applications. These precommitment systems are made available by app-blocking options that are downloadable on smartphones at user discretion to restrict access to apps. On the basis of Thaler and Shefrin’s (1981) self-control framework, we identify and evaluate rule-based (spatial and temporal) and incentive-driven (social- and reinforcement-based) precommitment schemes. Mixed results are found with respect to the effectiveness of rule-driven precommitment schemes: Rigid temporal precommitment effectively facilitates sustained self-control and motivates users to increase block time, but contrary to expectations, the less stringent flexible spatial precommitment outperforms rigid spatial precommitment. The findings also suggest that both social- and reinforcement-based methods successfully advance sustainable command over oneself and therefore aid users in increasing voluntarily implemented block time

Economic Implications of Rating-Sentiment Inconsistency in Online Reviews and the Role of User-Generated Photos

While online user-generated reviews are believed to lower purchase uncertainty, some recent studies reveal that the inconsistency between numerical ratings and the sentiment of text reviews exists and impacts consumers\u27 purchase intention. However, we know little about which factors mitigate the impact of such inconsistency. In this paper, we examine the impact of text-rating inconsistency on consumers’ actual purchase behavior and the moderating effect of user-generated pictures in online reviews on the relationship between text sentiment-rating inconsistency and consumers’ purchase behavior. This study contributes to the literature by being among the first to examine how inconsistency between text sentiment and product rating influences individual consumers\u27 actual purchase behavior and how the presence of pictures in reviews mitigates the negative impact of review inconsistency on purchase. Our results also guide platform owners on how to manage their strategy for encouraging user-generated reviews

Impact of COPD Treatment on Survival in Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with a poor prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the impact of COPD treatment on the survival of patients with advanced NSCLC remains uncertain. We retrospectively investigated COPD patients among patients newly diagnosed with advanced NSCLC between September 2005 and August 2019 at a university hospital. The clinical characteristics, lung function, and survival outcomes were analyzed and compared between patients who did and did not receive COPD treatment. Among 221 patients with advanced NSCLC and COPD, 124 patients received treatment for COPD and 97 patients did not receive treatment for COPD. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) % predicted value was greater in the no-treatment group than in the COPD treatment group (p p = 0.007). In the multivariate analysis, COPD treatment was independently associated with improved OS (hazard ratio 0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.53–0.95, and p = 0.021). COPD treatment was associated with improved OS in patients with advanced NSCLC and COPD. Therefore, pretreatment spirometry and maximal treatment for COPD may offer a chance of optimal management for patients with advanced NSCLC

Revisiting the Warburg Effect: Diet-Based Strategies for Cancer Prevention

It is widely acknowledged that cancer cell energy metabolism relies mainly on anaerobic glycolysis; this phenomenon is described as the Warburg effect. However, whether the Warburg effect is caused by genetic dysregulation in cancer or is the cause of cancer remains unknown. The exact reasons and physiology of this abnormal metabolism are unclear; therefore, many researchers have attempted to reduce malignant cell growth in tumors in preclinical and clinical studies. Anticancer strategies based on the Warburg effect have involved the use of drug compounds and dietary changes. We recently reviewed applications of the Warburg effect to understand the benefits of this unusual cancer-related metabolism. In the current article, we summarize diet strategies for cancer treatment based on the Warburg effect