Understanding incentives and deterrents of mobile shopping

Mobile shopping allows consumers to shop on their mobile devices from anywhere and at any time. In this paper, we interviewed 14 U.S. adults to learn about their shopping motivations and shopping practices to see how mobile shopping situates within their ecology of purchasing behaviors. Our data suggested that most consumers perceived bargains and convenience as the major reasons for mobile shopping, while some consumers were still reluctant to shop on mobile devices due to security concerns and his/her mobile device’s screen size. Although there were gender differences in general shopping behavior, there were no obvious gender differences found with regard to the motivations & decision-making processes in mobile shopping. We suggest that retailers and app designers resolve consumers’ concerns on safety and security to increase their willingness to shop on mobile devices

Live Streaming Commerce: Uses and Gratifications Approach to Understanding Consumers’ Motivations

In this paper, we introduce live streaming commerce– e-commerce integrated with real-time social interaction via live streams. Using a uses and gratifications framework, we identified four motivations (enjoyment of interaction, substitutability of personal examination, need for community, and trend setting) related to live streaming commerce, and explored relationships between motivations and behavioral intentions in three different scenarios: general watching scenario, product search scenario, and internet celebrity scenario. Results showed that substitutability of personal examination was associated with the general watching scenario and product search scenario, while enjoyment of interaction was associated with the internet celebrity scenario. Trend setting was associated with all scenarios but need for community was insignificant with all scenarios. Design implications based on results are discussed for future live streaming commerce system development

Micro Agenda Setters: The Effect of Social Media on Young Adults’ Exposure to and Attitude Toward News

Social media services like Facebook and Twitter are playing an increasingly large role as sources of news. This article investigates the ways the composition of social media networks affects people’s exposure to and attitude toward news. Focus groups (N=31) and in-depth interviews (N=15) with young adults of varying ethnicity and country of origin showed that people’s networks on social media function as micro agenda setters. The characteristics of people in one’s network can facilitate negative effects such as echo chambers and spirals of silence but can also unfold new perspectives and create awareness of topics not covered by legacy media

The Effects of Feedback and Habit on Content Posting in an Online Community

This study examined the relationship between feedback and content posting behavior in the social media system Everything2. Analyses paired survey data with behavioral data of user activity obtained from server logs. Results showed that both positive and negative feedback from other users was associated with more posting behavior. Habit strength moderated the effect of positive feedback such that those with higher habit were less affected by the feedback than those with lower habit. Habit, however, did not moderate the effect of negative feedback. Results suggest that systems that facilitate positive feedback mechanisms may encourage initial participation but may become less effective for users who have developed a habit.ye

User Opinions on Effective Strategies Against Social Media Toxicity

Existing literature on content moderation rarely identifies strategies social media users believe can be implemented by platforms and other users to adequately manage toxicity and curate a positive environment online. To bridge these gaps, we conducted a survey with 902 users of six different social media platforms to understand their opinions on effective strategies against social media toxicity and for a positive online environment. Participants suggested a range of strategies, both for the platforms and the users to implement. Even though all these strategies are not unprecedented, it is crucial to recognize that currently not all platforms implement or can implement these strategies to encourage less toxicity and more positivity. Overall, participants expect platforms and social media users to do their individual and collective part in managing online toxicity

The Many Facets of Me: Multiple Account Management on Reddit

In this study, we examined why people have multiple accounts on Reddit and how they are used. Based on interviews with U.S. Reddit users (n=21), we found that having multiple accounts was not always for anonymity purposes. While certain accounts were disposable to engage in stigmatized or deviant activities, other reasons for having multiple accounts included utilitarian purposes, such as storing content, organizing information, or gaming the system for attention. Users also maintained multiple accounts as a form of online impression management to keep distance between different online communities, avoid harassment, and experiment with different identities. Moreover, they helped with boundary regulation, such as disassociating online from offline identity and identity synchronization-- linking identities across different social media platforms