Socially networked heterogeneity : the influence of WhatsApp as a social networking site on polarisation in Kenya

Using a cross-sectional survey of two sampled counties in Kenya, this article analyses whether social networking sites reflect social network heterogeneity. It then examines how social network heterogeneity influences polarisation in Kenya. Three types of polarisation are examined: party, ethnic and ideological (around county resources). The study focuses specifically on the public WhatsApp platform (the most popular SNS in Kenya). To assess this empirical data, theoretical perspectives are drawn from the literatures on incidental and selective exposure and their impact on political polarisation. The findings indicate that the randomised composition of a WhatsApp group through public links indeed reflects social network heterogeneity. The findings further show that posting political news, obtaining political news and commenting on political news influence social network heterogeneity to some degree. This social network heterogeneity was also found to influence all three (party, ideological and ethnic) types of polarisation in varying but significant degrees

Exerting Self-Control ≠ Sacrificing Pleasure

Self-control is a prominent topic in consumer research, where it is often conceptualized as the abstinence from hedonic consumption. We examine whether this conceptualization accurately captures consumers’ experiences of self-control conflicts/failures in light of seminal self-control theories in economics and psychology. Rejecting that notion, we argue that self-control failures are choices in violation of super ordinate long-term goals accompanied by anticipated regret,rather than choices of hedonic over utilitarian consumption. This conceptualization has important methodological, theoretical, and practical implications. Methodologically, it highlights the need for experimental paradigms with higher construct validity. Theoretically, it helps elucidate how self-control is distinct from impatience and self-regulation. Practically, it provides a rich set of implications for deducing interventions on the individual and public policy level to help consumers exert self-contro