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Entrepreneurs and individual sellers heavily leverage their social ties embedded in social media, expressive or instrumental, to penetrate the market and achieve business success. However, the extant social commerce literature offers limited understanding on how different forms of buyer−seller social ties embedded in social media affect buyers' purchase behaviors. The study draws on the theoretical lens of social ties and proposes an integrative theoretical framework to understand the direct and indirect influences of expressive and instrumental ties (ExTSM and InTSM) between buyers and sellers on buyers' purchase intention (PI) in social commerce.

The authors first validated the measures of ExTSM and InTSM with survey data from 166 Weibo commerce buyers. They then tested their theoretical framework and hypotheses with survey data from 246 buyer−seller dyads in WeChat commerce.

With a buyer-centric view, (1) ExTSM and InTSM, respectively, had a direct negative and a positive influence on PI; (2) both trust and perceived product value displayed inconsistent mediation effects on the negative relationship between ExTSM and PI; and (3) only perceived product value mediated the positive influence of InTSM on PI. From sellers' viewpoint, (1) their ExTSM and InTSM with buyers were mixed up, and (2) the mingled social ties negatively impacted buyers' purchase intention.

The findings of the study advance the theoretical understanding of social commerce and offer practical guidance for small and medium-sized enterprises to effectively utilize social media for business purposes.

The purpose of this study is to answer whether and how supervisor–subordinate instrumental or expressive ties based on enterprise social media (ESM) might enhance employee performance.

Drawing on social exchange theory, this study developed a theoretical model to explore the influencing mechanism of different supervisor–subordinate ties based on ESM on employee job performance. The model was empirically tested through 219 ESM users.

The results revealed that supervisor–subordinate instrumental ties based on ESM play a positive role in employee job performance, while supervisor–subordinate expressive ties based on ESM are not significantly related to employee job performance. Supervisor–subordinate instrumental ties and expressive ties based on ESM can positively influence employee job performance through the mediating effect of organizational trust. Besides, perceived performance climate can weaken the relation of organizational trust to job performance, and then weaken the indirect relations via the mediating of organizational trust.

Our findings advance the understanding of ESM use through various underlying mechanisms and have the potential of guiding organizations to fine-tune their social media usage strategies.

This paper investigates the mechanics of multimedia tie maintenance, with a particular emphasis upon social network sites (SNSs) and their uses and gratifications. We present results from a national sample of American adults (N = 571) of all ages, investigating the associations of several attitudinal and social variables with multimedia tie maintenance. We find that Facebook is used to maintain social ties at rates comparable to other media and is increasingly used to connect with close ties, contrary to previous literature. We also uncover highly significant patterns of “expressive” and “instrumental” engagement, isolating distinct expressive/instrumental orientations toward digital media in general and Facebook specifically. Respondents who displayed an expressive pattern of engagement with Facebook did not use non-SNS media to maintain ties any less frequently than those who do not use Facebook expressively. Respondents who displayed an instrumental pattern of engagement with Facebook meanwhile, supplemented their lack of SNS use to maintain ties by using other media more frequently for this purpose. This paper contributes to the literatures of media multiplexity, networked individualism, uses and gratifications theory, and social capital through SNSs. It makes a significant contribution to understanding the psychological and social gratifications of digital media, and their relationship to patterns of multimedia tie maintenance.

This study aims to explore whether and how task characteristics affect employee agility in the context of enterprise social media (ESM).

Adopting the social network ties perspective, this study examines how task characteristics (i.e. task complexity, task interdependence and task non-routineness) affect employee agility by promoting their social network ties (i.e. instrumental ties and expressive ties) and how ESM visibility moderates their relationships. Data gathered from 341 ESM users in workplaces were analyzed using Smart-PLS 3.2.

First, task complexity, task interdependence and task non-routineness have positive effects on instrumental and expressive ties, which in turn influences agility; Second, instrumental ties have a stronger effect on employee agility relative to expressive ties; Finally, ESM visibility positively moderates the effects of task complexity and task non-routineness on social network ties.

The findings provide guidance for organizational managers on how to use task characteristics and ESM to improve employee agility, as well as insights for social media designers to optimize ESM functions to improve agility.

This study provides empirical evidence to explain the roles of task characteristics and social network ties in influencing employee agility, thus clarifying the inconsistent findings in extant research. The moderating effects of ESM visibility on the relationships between task characteristics and social network ties are also examined, thus providing further insights on the positive role of ESM in organizations.

Based on the social capital theory, the authors assume that personal and professional experts are both relevant to people's competence development. However, to date, there is little empirical evidence of how professional experts can support, or impede, people in learning how to deal with social media. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role and position of social media experts in the distribution of information on social media within the library as organization.

The paper draws upon social network and qualitative methods, within three public libraries located in Belgium.

The findings suggest that as the most central actors, social media experts in a library play a significant role in either supporting or constraining the distribution of information on social media.

While the sample size was chosen to conduct a mixed methods study that would explore how the position of a social media expert in an organization such as the library facilitates or prevents the exchange of social media information, the authors acknowledge the need for large-scale empirical studies that can substantiate the findings in larger and more diverse samples.

This unique study explores how the role and position social media experts in Belgian public libraries can support, or impede, librarians in learning how to deal with social media. This study is useful for other public libraries who want to implement social media, establish a social media policy and/or provide social media training.

The purpose of this study is to understand how perceived micro-celebrity-product image congruency and product type affect native advertising effectiveness on Instagram. Additionally, the study aims to understand how advertising skepticism and persuasion knowledge affect the effectiveness of native advertising featuring micro-celebrity.

This study was administered online using a 2 (product type: high self-expressive vs low self-expressive) × 2 (micro-celebrity and product congruity: congruent vs incongruent) between-subjects factorial design to test the hypotheses. A total of 186 participants, all Instagram users living in the USA, were recruited using an Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). After screening out 14 respondents who were not Instagram users or did not fully answer the questions, a total sample of 172 valid and complete responses were included for hypotheses testing.

The results revealed that when native advertising featured highly self-expressive products and micro-celebrities with good product image fit, consumers had a more positive attitude toward the ad and the brand, higher source credibility and higher electronic word-of-mouth intention. In addition, advertising skepticism was found to moderate the effect of micro-celebrity-product fit on source credibility.

This study is the first to examine the effect of micro-celebrity and product congruence on native advertising effectiveness. Moreover, the study provides a better understanding of the advertising skepticism and its influence on source credibility. It discusses why a micro-celebrity’s image is a critical factor in shaping attitudes toward native advertising. This study contributes to both the native adverting and influencer marketing literature.

The purpose of this paper is to review the study of social capital focused on the level at which it is embodied, cross-comparing two prominent camps that have emerged in the social capital literature: a communal level and an individual level.

This paper reviews the intersections and departures between communal level and individual level conceptualizations of social capital according to the social dynamics of action within social exchanges that they stimulate, the processes by which social capital is activated/mobilized and the rewards they yield, and their linkages to inequality through network diversity.

This paper articulates new directions for future research in social capital: more analytical precision for studying returns to social capital; more efforts to transcend the individual-communal divide; the depreciation of social capital or tie decay; and recognizing the importance of ties whose value does not come from the ability to provide instrumental gain, but just from their very existence.

Social capital has informed many influential agendas in the social sciences, but the sheer volume of which has largely gone unscoped. This paper reviews this literature to provide an accessible introduction to social capital, organized by social processes foundational to sociology and a novel contribution to the literature by articulating new directions for future research in the area.

Digital markets are increasingly constructed by an interplay between (non)human market actors, i.e. through algorithms, but, simultaneously, fragmented through platformization. This study aims to explore how interactional dynamics between (non)human market actors co-codify markets through expressive and networked content across social media platforms.

This study applies digital methods as cross-platform analysis to analyze two data sets retrieved from YouTube and Instagram using the keywords “sustainable fashion” and #sustainablefashion, respectively.

The study shows how interactional dynamics between (non)human market actors, co-codify markets across two social media platforms, i.e. YouTube and Instagram. The authors introduce the notion of sticky market webs of connection, illustrating how these dynamics foster cross-platform market codification through relations of exteriority.

Research implications highlight the necessity to account for all involved entities, including digital infrastructure in digital markets and the methodological potential of cross-platform analyses.

Practical implications highlight considerations managers should take into account when designing market communication for digital markets composed of (non)human market actors.

Social implications highlight the possible effects of (non)human market co-codification on markets and consumer culture, and corresponding countermeasures.

This study contributes to an increased understanding of digital market dynamics by illuminating interdependent market co-codification dynamics between (non)human market actors, and how these dynamics (de)territorialize digital market assemblages through relations of exteriority across platforms.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of how two types of informal social networks – those related to instrumental purposes of information sharing and those related to expressive purposes of interpersonal trust – impact teachers’ job satisfaction.

This paper uses social network analysis (SNA) degree and betweenness measures and job satisfaction scales from the Job Diagnostic Survey to collect longitudinal data from employees in one of the vocational schools in Saint Petersburg, Russia via structured interviews. Data on a total of 354 ties were analysed for 40 ego networks in 2018 and 33 ego networks in 2019.

The obtained results partially confirm the positive effect of teachers’ position in instrumental and expressive networks on job satisfaction. More centrally positioned teachers were more satisfied with peers and colleagues. They feel more secure in regard to job security, given the unique and multi-faceted knowledge they possess. Structural diversity of the network, as well as the category of a teacher (core subject or vocational subject), are found to explain the uneven evolvement of network size. The authors argue that the decrease in network size can be treated as a positive externality of changes in an informal network. The variation in teachers’ experience seems to explain both job satisfaction and network composition.

The paper is based on a case study and its findings are limited to one particular organization. Nonetheless, the proposed SNA application is of potential value for similar organizations in terms of enhancing their capacity to benefit from networks. This study uses a structured interview to collect network data and job satisfaction data. However, overt observation or secondary data on written communication (e-mail, reports) may provide additional insights about the sought impact in the context of school.

Both teachers and managers benefit from the results of the paper. Educational policymakers and schools’ administration can exploit the bird’s eye view on an organization that SNA provides. By identifying focal employees and their attitude towards school, one receives an opportunity to prevent structural holes, organizational conflicts and uneven distribution of workload. Novice teachers can nurture their well-being by enhancing personal and instrumental social networks at the start of their careers. Experienced teachers benefit from social cooperation as it fosters the exchange of experience and skills, which is vital for job retention.

This research extends the understanding of the role of different kinds of social networks in teachers’ job satisfaction. The paper provides new insights into the SNA application to vocational schools and developing economies. Authors address teachers’ informal networks both from ego and complete network analyses to provide the holistic, yet detailed view. The use of longitudinal data advances the understanding of how personal and group networks develop over time.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.