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1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 18 April 2023

Yabin Yang, Xitong Guo, Tianshi Wu and Doug Vogel

Social media facilitates the communication and the relationship between healthcare professionals and patients. However, limited research has examined the role of social media in a…

Abstract

Purpose

Social media facilitates the communication and the relationship between healthcare professionals and patients. However, limited research has examined the role of social media in a physicians' online return. This study, therefore, investigates physicians' online economic and social capital return in relation to physicians' use of social media and consumer engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

Using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression with fixed effects (FE) and panel data collected from Sina Weibo and Sina Health, this study analyzes the impact of physicians' social media use and consumer engagement on physicians' online return and the moderation effect of professional seniority.

Findings

The results reveal that physicians' use of social media and consumer sharing behavior positively affect physicians' online economic return. In contrast, consumer engagement positively impacts physicians' online social capital return. While professional seniority enhances the effect of physicians' social media use on online economic return, professional seniority only enhances the relationship between consumers' sharing behavior to the posts and physicians' online social capital return when professional seniority comes to consumer engagement.

Originality/value

This study reveals the different roles of social media use and consumer engagement in physicians' online return. The results also extend and examine the social media affordances theory in online healthcare communities and social media platforms.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 March 2024

Lisa H. Rosen, Linda J. Rubin, Savannah Dali, Daisie M. Llanes, Ahissa Lopez, Ashton E. Romines and Samantha A. Saunders

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered daily life for Gen Z. The purpose of this study was to examine parental perceptions of the pandemic’s effects on their children’s peer…

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered daily life for Gen Z. The purpose of this study was to examine parental perceptions of the pandemic’s effects on their children’s peer relationships. As children sought peer connection during the pandemic, technology usage soared. The second purpose of the current study was to assess how greater time on social media affected adjustment among Gen Z and whether this effect was mediated by experiences of cyber victimization.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 250 U.S. parent-child dyads participated in the study. Parents reported on their children’s social media use and described how they believed the pandemic affected their children’s peer relationships. Child participants were transitioning to middle school and reported on cyber victimization and adjustment.

Findings

Thematic analysis of parental reflections revealed three themes: children spent more time online since the onset of the pandemic, there were negative implications of increased time online and there were positive and protective implications of being online. Analysis also indicated significant indirect effects of social media use on internalizing and externalizing problems through victimization.

Originality/value

Parents reported Gen Z continues to use electronic forms of communication and social media at high rates even after pandemic-related restrictions eased with some suggesting that their children prefer digital over face-to-face communication because they have become accustomed to this way of connecting and may find it easier than in-person interaction. Current findings highlight concerns about this increased time online as social media use negatively affected adjustment via cyber victimization.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 October 2022

Ümmühan Avcı and Ayşe Kula

Recently, online learning and online environments have become even more important. Students' engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction are seen as interrelated…

1129

Abstract

Purpose

Recently, online learning and online environments have become even more important. Students' engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction are seen as interrelated components that affect students' online teaching and learning process. In this context, university students' engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction in online environments, the relationship among them and students' demographic characteristics, online environment usage status and Internet usage profiles as their predictors are examined in this study.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a relational study and is carried out with 179 university students. Personal information form, student's engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction scales were used as data collection tools. Descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation, hierarchical linear multiple regression analysis are used for the analysis.

Findings

According to the results, variables related to students' demographic characteristics, online environment usage status and Internet usage profiles together significantly predict the students' engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction in online environments. When students think positively about taking courses online, their engagement increases accordingly and their fear of missing out levels decrease. Increase in student's academic achievement leads to decline in Internet addiction.

Practical implications

In practice, examining the related variables about students in terms of engagement to the learning environment, fear of missing out and Internet addiction could bring a new perspective to studies on problematic use of the Internet and technology such as nomophobia and digital distraction. The results of this study reveal how and which components to be focused on for increasing the university students' engagement, reducing Internet addiction and fear of missing out in online learning environments.

Originality/value

The findings of this study provide a versatile perspective with the variables of student participation, fear of missing out, Internet addiction and their predictors in online learning environments, which are becoming widespread and increasingly important today and shed light on future researches.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 36 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 October 2023

Line Lervik-Olsen, Tor Wallin Andreassen and Bob M. Fennis

Compulsive social media use has the potential to reduce well-being. In this study, the authors propose that there are two main paths to compulsive social media consumption. One is…

Abstract

Purpose

Compulsive social media use has the potential to reduce well-being. In this study, the authors propose that there are two main paths to compulsive social media consumption. One is behavioral and based on habit; the other is motivational and rooted in the fear of missing out. This study aims to test the antecedents of these two drivers as well as their consequences for the tendency to engage in compulsive social media consumption.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors applied a quantitative research design and collected data through a survey of 600 respondents from a representative sample. The authors used structural equation modeling to test their conceptual model and hypotheses. Gender and age were included as moderators to investigate the model’s boundary conditions.

Findings

The authors found support for all the suggested relationships in the conceptual model. The findings indicate two main manifestations of compulsive social media use – always being logged in (i.e. the frequency of social media consumption) and excessive use (the intensity of consumption) – that in turn spurred a reinforcer of compulsivity: disconnection anxiety. The findings also indicate two main paths to compulsive social media consumption. One path is behavioral, based on habit, and the other is motivational, based on fear of missing out. Moreover, the authors identified the key antecedents of both paths. Habit formation was observed to be a function of situational cues (technological nudges in the online sphere) and consumer engagement. Fear of missing out was shaped by both injunctive norms (a consumer norm to be online) and descriptive norms (social proof).

Research limitations/implications

Although the antecedents of compulsive social media consumption suggested in this study have a strong and significant effect, the explained variance in the dependent variables being always logged in and excessive social media use indicates that there might be other drivers as well. These should be explored along with moderators other than gender and age to identify the potential boundary conditions of the model.

Practical implications

The main implications of the present work point to the “ease” with which typical or normal social media use may spiral out of control and become compulsive, with adverse implications for consumer health and well-being.

Originality/value

The behavioral and motivational paths to compulsive social media consumption have been less explored and have not yet been studied in conjunction, nor have their antecedents and consequences. Thus, this is a novel approach to understanding how social media use can potentially lead to reduced control and well-being.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 58 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 April 2024

Ariba Khan, Zebran Khan, Mohammed Kamalun Nabi and Imran Saleem

The purpose of this study is to propose and test an extended theory of planned behavior model to explain the significance of social media influencers’ credibility, social media…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to propose and test an extended theory of planned behavior model to explain the significance of social media influencers’ credibility, social media usage (SMU) and social media marketing while simultaneously examining females’ intentions to purchase cosmetics online.

Design/methodology/approach

An online questionnaire was used to collect data from 386 female consumers of cosmetics, and the data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with the help of SmartPLS version 4.

Findings

First, the results indicated that SMU, social media influencers’ credibility and social media marketing significantly and positively impact the theory of planned behavior components, namely, attitude, subjective norms (SNs) and perceived behavioral control (PBC). Second, results confirmed that attitude, SNs and PBC significantly and positively influenced female consumers’ online purchase intentions (OPIs).

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to examine an integrated model that consisted of SMU, social media marketing and social media influencers along with the theory of planned behavior constructs in their proposed research model in the context of cosmetics in India. The study also enriched the body of knowledge about using the PLS-SEM approach to predict OPI for cosmetics.

Details

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9342

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 February 2024

Shaoyu Ye and Kevin K.W. Ho

This study explored how the use of different social media is related to subjective well-being among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

Abstract

Purpose

This study explored how the use of different social media is related to subjective well-being among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

Design/methodology/approach

We surveyed 1,681 university students in the Kanto region of Japan in May 2021 to investigate how social media use relates to subjective well-being. We also examined the effects of self-consciousness and friendship, self-presentation desire, generalized trust, online communication skills, depression tendency and social support from others.

Findings

The responses revealed 15 possible patterns of social media usage on four widely used social media in Japan (LINE, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook). We selected users with the top five patterns for further statistical analyses: LINE/Twitter/Instagram/Facebook, LINE/Twitter/Instagram, LINE/Twitter, LINE/Instagram and LINE only. Overall, self-establishment as a factor of self-consciousness and friendship, and social support from others had positive effects on the improvement of subjective well-being, whereas depression tendency had negative effects on their subjective well-being regardless of their usage patterns, of which the results of social support from others and depression tendency were consistent with the results of previous studies. Regarding other factors, they had different effects on subjective well-being due to different patterns. Effects on subjective well-being from self-indeterminate and self-independency as factors of self-consciousness and friendship, praise acquisition, self-appeal and topic avoidance as factors of self-presentation desire were observed.

Originality/value

This is among the earliest studies on the relationship between young generations’ social media use and subjective well-being through social media usage patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

Details

Library Hi Tech, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 July 2023

Iffat Ali Aksar, Amira Firdaus, Jiankun Gong and Saadia Anwar Pasha

The unstoppable and exponential growth of social media use has given rise to concerns about the consequent effects on users. Among the major concerns are the psychological…

Abstract

Purpose

The unstoppable and exponential growth of social media use has given rise to concerns about the consequent effects on users. Among the major concerns are the psychological consequences, which have received considerable academic attention. The current mixed-methods research aims to examine women's social media use and its effects on their psychological well-being in a patriarchal culture, namely Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employs a mixed-method research methodology. The quantitative section collected data from 240 women and used structural equation modelling to test the proposed hypotheses. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the in-depth interviews with ten women.

Findings

The integration of the findings revealed increased use of social media by women and its beneficial effects (communication and socialisation, escapism and self-presentation), though qualitative findings revealed the cultural implications and obstacles that women face (online anonymity and digital asylum). The study calls attention to women's social media usage patterns and the resulting effects on women's psychological well-being in a low-income country with a patriarchal social structure.

Originality/value

Most research remains limited to Western societies and young populations. The situation is somewhat different in developing economies with traditionally preserved cultures compared to Western societies. This study uniquely examines the influence of social media on psychological well-being in a developing country with a special cultural context.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 48 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 October 2023

Caroline S.L. Tan

The purpose of this study is to examine how the constructs of false self, preference for online social interaction (POSI), compulsive internet use (CIU), and online disinhibition…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how the constructs of false self, preference for online social interaction (POSI), compulsive internet use (CIU), and online disinhibition affect social withdrawal in a social media context. The mediating effects of moral disengagement and cyber aggression are also tested.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using an online survey (n = 533) from consumers in Japan. This study used structural equation modeling and PROCESS to examine the proposed relationships.

Findings

The study revealed that false self positively affects moral disengagement while online disinhibition positively affects cyber aggression and moral disengagement. Preference for online social interaction and compulsive internet use both positively impacts social withdrawal. Cyber aggression and moral disengagement were established mediators between false self/ Preference for online social interaction/ compulsive internet use/ online disinhibition and social withdrawal.

Research limitations/implications

Although restricted to cyberaggression, owing to the reciprocal relationship between cyber victimization and cyberaggression, cyber victimization can be included for further study. This study expands the understanding of social withdrawal within the context of social media.

Practical implications

Based on the findings, policies and programs that address mental health that build self-esteem, self-confidence and reduce anxiety ought to be undertaken. Managing and formulating guidelines on anonymity should also be taken into consideration.

Originality/value

This research demonstrates the crucial constructs that affect social media users negatively from the aspects of cyberaggression, moral disengagement and social withdrawal. It also establishes the importance of mental health in reducing adverse effects from social media.

Article
Publication date: 26 July 2023

Natasha Saqib and Faseeh Amin

Millions of social media users over the last two decades have become dependent on social media that has negatively affected their lives, both physically and mentally. Earlier…

Abstract

Purpose

Millions of social media users over the last two decades have become dependent on social media that has negatively affected their lives, both physically and mentally. Earlier attempts on social media addiction (SMA) scale development have not been made in India which makes it essential to undertake such a study in this region. One of the objectives of this study was to explore and identify the relevant dimensions of the SMA in the literature. The main study objective was to develop and validate a scale on SMA in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design applied in this work was both qualitative and quantitative. Based on the literature review, some themes of SMA were recognized that were used to conduct semi-structured interviews with the concerned subjects. The interviews conducted were then transcribed, and using NVivo software application, content analysis was carried out. This helped in the identification of relevant themes that were used for preparing the questionnaire. After that an exploratory study was conducted to explore the factors of SMA. This was followed by a confirmatory analysis on a different sample that validated the instrument.

Findings

This work developed and validated a six-factor measure of SMA. The total numbers of items in the final instrument are 22. Salience, Tolerance, Mood Modification, Relapse, Withdrawal and Conflict are the six factors of the final scale.

Practical implications

The current designed instrument can be exceptionally functional for evaluating the occurrence and level of the SMA. This can also serve to assist in the handling and management of such online addictive behavior. A lot of productivity is lost due to the unwarranted time spent on the social media. By better understanding the dimensions of SMA, one can limit one's time on such networks.

Social implications

This work can provide valuable insight into this domain and help in understanding and treatment of this malaise. It can also help parents and other stakeholders at large to comprehend the danger linked with the excessive social media use and therefore, contribute towards the society. These dimensions can also help counsellors and psychologists to better understand the addiction behavior and accordingly counsel the concerned individual.

Originality/value

Although many instruments have been developed in the past by researchers to measure SMA,still some aspects of the concept remain under-researched. Moreover, most of such research has been confined to the developed world regions.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 48 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2024

Tal Eitan and Tali Gazit

The rapid growth of social media has changed how people interact and connect with one another while also giving rise to new social-media associated psychological experiences, such…

Abstract

Purpose

The rapid growth of social media has changed how people interact and connect with one another while also giving rise to new social-media associated psychological experiences, such as the well-known fear of missing out (FoMO) and the somewhat new phenomena, the joy of missing out (JoMO). This study aims to develop a new scale for measuring JoMO and explore its independent nature and relationships with well-being, social comparison and demographic variables.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 230 participants filled out an online survey, including questions about demographic details, well-being, social media engagement, social comparison, FoMO and a new JoMO scale. The data was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, hierarchical regression and structural equation modeling.

Findings

The study confirmed the validity and reliability of the new JoMO scale in three sub-categories: active JoMO, passive JoMO and coping with disconnection. Younger individuals and those who were single, with weaker psychological well-being, higher engagement in social media and greater social comparison inclinations tended to experience higher levels of FoMO. Conversely, older individuals, women and those who enjoyed stronger psychological well-being and reduced social media engagement demonstrated higher levels of JoMO. The findings also suggest a complex relationship between FoMO and JoMO.

Practical implications

The creation of an innovative JoMO measurement tool could transform both scholarly research and practical approaches to digital media interactions. This tool offers a deeper understanding of the intricate links between JoMO and factors such as social comparison and FoMO, paving the way for targeted interventions. By utilizing this, experts can foster healthier online behaviors and better psychological health through increased JoMO consciousness, reduced social media engagement and social comparisons, and FoMO management. Therefore, this fresh instrument assists in clarifying and improving how individuals engage with digital technology.

Originality/value

This research validates the JoMO scale, enhancing our understanding of JoMO and its potential effects on well-being, as well as its associations with other variables. In addition, this research provides valuable insights for future studies on social media use and JoMO, and for developing effective strategies for managing healthier online experiences.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

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