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1 – 10 of over 25000Abdul Haseeb Chaudhary, Michael Jay Polonsky and Nicholas McClaren
Plastic pollution is a widespread problem around the world. However, the problem is more severe and ever increasing in developing countries. The literature suggests that the…
Abstract
Plastic pollution is a widespread problem around the world. However, the problem is more severe and ever increasing in developing countries. The literature suggests that the majority of the work and the solutions that have been proposed to address plastic littering have been undertaken in developed countries. Thus, there is a need to explore the problem in developing countries to better understand the issue and to develop context-specific solutions. We explored the norms perspective using ‘The Focus Theory of Normative Conduct’, individual ethical position and place attachment factors. Interviews were conducted in Pakistan with 16 people who were recently at a beach at which there was a large amount of plastic litter. Results showed that people are influenced by the pro-littering social norms of their friends and neighbours. However, people with strong anti-littering personal norms are not influenced by pro-littering social norms. We also found that people have varying moral position, and their lack of attachment with the public place also influences their littering behaviour. Moreover, people believe that other people litter due to lack of education and awareness, lack of garbage bins and a general level of carelessness. Future research needs to focus on activating an individual's idealist moral position and an individuals' attachment with the place to enhance the activation of anti-littering personal norms which will help reduce littering behaviour. Further still, government needs to set up campaigns at public places to create awareness among people about the impact of littering, and government also needs to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of waste management. Businesses can also play a role by providing waste bins which may be used as a source of promoting their support for reducing litter.
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Kai Wang, Chi-Feng Tai and Han-fen Hu
Focusing on the social influence processes in the context of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), this study aims to investigate the nomological network of…
Abstract
Purpose
Focusing on the social influence processes in the context of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), this study aims to investigate the nomological network of social influence factors, a topic seldom explicitly articulated in the literature in this unique context.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a mixed-methods approach to develop and test a context-specific model of social influence processes in MMORPGs. First, the authors conducted qualitative interviews with MMORPG players to identify the drivers shaping players' perceptions of social influences. Second, the authors formulated and tested a research model with quantitative data collected from 450 respondents of an online survey.
Findings
Through the qualitative study, the authors identify leader enthusiasm, social support and social presence as the critical drivers of social influence factors. The result of the quantitative study validates the influences of the critical drivers and demonstrates the impact of social influences on MMORPG players' we-intention to continue playing games.
Originality/value
This research extends the social influence theory by identifying contextualized drivers that shape MMORPG players' perception of social influences determining their we-intention to continue playing games. MMORPG service providers can draw on these drivers to leverage social influences to increase players' we-intention of continuance.
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Wei Wang, Renee Rui Chen and Xuhui Yang
With the rising concerns of compulsive use of social media, it is important to understand why users develop such unplanned and irrational behaviors. Leveraging the uses and…
Abstract
Purpose
With the rising concerns of compulsive use of social media, it is important to understand why users develop such unplanned and irrational behaviors. Leveraging the uses and gratification theory, the authors aim to explore the determinants of compulsive use of social media from the dual perspectives of individual needs (need to belong (NTB) and need for uniqueness) and peer-related factors (referent network size and perceived peer activeness). Due to the importance of self-construal in cognitive deliberation on peer influences, the moderating effects of self-construal were taken into consideration.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors empirically test their model by conducting an online survey with 459 WeChat users.
Findings
The results show that compulsive use of social media is predicated by both individual needs and influence from peers. Moreover, peer influence could be attenuated when individuals develop a high degree of independent self-construal.
Research limitations/implications
The authors' study contributes to the research of compulsive behavior in the context of social media use by incorporating the dual effects of individual needs and social influence. The authors also offer managerial insights on eradicating the formation of compulsive behaviors.
Originality/value
The authors examine the dual effects of individual needs and peer influence in predicting compulsive use of social media and the moderating role of self-construal, which have been rarely investigated in this context.
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Qin Chen, Jiahua Jin, Tingting Zhang and Xiangbin Yan
The success of online health communities (OHCs) depends on maintaining long-term relationships with physicians and preventing churn. Even so, the reasons for physician churn are…
Abstract
Purpose
The success of online health communities (OHCs) depends on maintaining long-term relationships with physicians and preventing churn. Even so, the reasons for physician churn are poorly understood. In this study, an empirical model was proposed from a social influence perspective to explore the effects of online social influence and offline social influence on physician churn, as well as the moderating effect of their online returns.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical data of 4,145 physicians from a Chinese OHC, and probit regression models were employed to verify the proposed theoretical model.
Findings
The results suggest that physicians' churn intention is influenced by online and offline social influences, and the offline social influence is more powerful. Physicians' reputational and economic returns could weaken the effect of online social influence on churn intention. However, physicians' economic returns could strengthen the effect of offline social influence on churn intention.
Originality/value
This research study is the first attempt to explore physician churn and divides the social influence into online and offline social influences according to the source of social relationship. The findings contribute to the literature on e-Health, user churn and social influence and provide management implications for OHC managers.
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Chencheng Shi, Ping Hu, Weiguo Fan and Liangfei Qiu
Users' knowledge contribution behaviors are critical for online Q&A communities to thrive. Well-organized question threads in online Q&A communities enable users to clearly read…
Abstract
Purpose
Users' knowledge contribution behaviors are critical for online Q&A communities to thrive. Well-organized question threads in online Q&A communities enable users to clearly read existing answers and their evaluations before contributing. Based on the social comparison and peer influence literature, the authors examine peer influence on the informativeness of knowledge contributions in competitive settings. The authors also consider three levels of moderating factors concerning individuals' perception of competitiveness: question level, thread level and contributor level.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data from one of the largest online Q&A communities in China. The hypotheses were validated using hierarchical linear models with cross-classified random effects. The generalized propensity score weighting method was employed for the robustness check.
Findings
The authors demonstrate the peer influence due to social comparison concerns among knowledge contribution behaviors in the same question thread. If more prior knowledge contributors choose to contribute long answers in the question thread, the subsequent contributions are more informative. This peer influence is stronger for factual questions and questions with higher popularity of answering but weaker in recommendation-type and well-answered questions and for contributors with higher social status.
Originality/value
This research provides a new cue of peer influence on online UGC contributions in competitive settings initiated by social comparison concerns. Additionally, the authors identify three levels of moderating factors (question level, thread level and contributor level) that are specific to online Q&A settings and are related to a contributor's perception of competitiveness, which affect the direct effect of peer influence on knowledge contributions. Rather than focus on motivation and quality evaluation, the authors concentrate on the specific content of online knowledge contributions. Peer influence here is not based on an actual acquaintance or a following relationship but on answering the same question. The authors also illustrate the competitive peer influence in subjective and personalized behaviors in online UGC communities.
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Social media users can now create, exchange, modify and consume socially generated experiences which can enhance social influence toward mobile banking (MB). This study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Social media users can now create, exchange, modify and consume socially generated experiences which can enhance social influence toward mobile banking (MB). This study aims to provide understanding of how social actor interactions through social networking platforms (SNPs) can create social influence for MB adoption and present a research framework that can help to understand which social actors have higher social influence toward MB adoption in conventional and Islamic banks.
Design/methodology/approach
SNP users have different levels of perceptions and experiences about the usability and credibility of MB. Therefore, their experiences are subjective realties which can generate socially constructed knowledge. To understand these subjective realties, a social constructivist approach is adopted. Data were collected from interviews with 60 individuals from diverse occupational backgrounds.
Findings
Identification element of social influence explained that the shared reviews and recommendations of opinion leaders, industry experts, celebrities and friends were highly positive for conventional banks; therefore, there is high word-of-mouth for MB of conventional banks. Internalization of social influence highlighted that people are more likely to accept the wisdom of the crowd and close friends, which can generate their engagement and connection with MB. Finally, the compliance factor of social influence explained that people can only adopt MB when they perceive high usability and credibility.
Research limitations/implications
This study has provided understanding to the marketers of how social actors on SNPs can play a role in the creation, exchange, modification and consumption of socially generated influence that can impact the MB adoption intention for conventional and Islamic banks.
Originality/value
Although many theories and models have been presented about the marketing strategies and antecedents of MB adoption, the extensive use of SNPs has changed marketing strategies. For example, this study has found that social media users are highly influenced by the social reviews and recommendations they receive from their close friends. Therefore, socially generated influence on SNPs can create an adoption intention toward MB.
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Ying Sun and Zheshi Bao
Live streaming commerce becomes increasingly popular, and some special shopping behaviors existing in traditional e-commerce also emerge in this new context. The current research…
Abstract
Purpose
Live streaming commerce becomes increasingly popular, and some special shopping behaviors existing in traditional e-commerce also emerge in this new context. The current research mainly focuses on determinants of compulsive buying in live streaming commerce by taking fear of missing out (FOMO) and social influence into account.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the data collected from 242 experienced consumers in live streaming commerce, the proposed model was empirically assessed by partial least squares based structural equation model.
Findings
The results show that both informational and normative social influences have positive effects on FOMO, which in turn exert an influence on compulsive buying. In addition, informational social influence also directly and positively affects compulsive buying.
Originality/value
This study provides a deeper understanding of FOMO and social influence in the process of compulsive buying. It offers a new avenue to analyze the mechanism regarding why compulsive buying occurs in live streaming commerce.
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Power is one of the single most critical concepts for understanding industrial relations management. Yet, despite having been subject to much scholarly attention, existing…
Abstract
Purpose
Power is one of the single most critical concepts for understanding industrial relations management. Yet, despite having been subject to much scholarly attention, existing research often implicitly assumes an organizational level of behavior or examines influence tactics within the confines of an individual-level dyad. This has led to a limited understanding of influence exercises involving a third person. Motivated to advance the understanding of this phenomenon, this study aims to explore how boundary spanners from a buying organization influence supplier representatives by involving a third person.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a longitudinal single case study design grounded in social control theory. Data consist of interviews, observations and documents collected over a period of 27 months in a global sourcing context.
Findings
The findings demonstrate how the influence agent from the buying organization can invoke a third person’s mediated and nonmediated social power base through either direct or indirect social control mechanisms. With these findings, this paper makes a novel theoretical contribution by developing a deeper understanding of underexposed social influence tactics unfolding in individual-level triads.
Practical implications
This study offers boundary spanning managers with practical insights into subtle and indirect forms of social influence with which they can influence external exchange partners.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to draw on social control theory to examine interpersonal influence tactics in buyer-supplier relationships. By integrating this theoretical perspective with extant research on social power, this study emphasizes the importance of considering how the influence agent mobilizes a third person’s social influence base.
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Qingdan Jia, Xiaoyu Xu, Minhong Zhou, Haodong Liu and Fangkai Chang
This study embraces the call for exploring the determinants of continuous intention in TikTok. Taking the perspective of social influence, this study not only tries to explore the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study embraces the call for exploring the determinants of continuous intention in TikTok. Taking the perspective of social influence, this study not only tries to explore the contextual sources of two types of social influence but also aims to unveil the influence mechanism of how social influence affects TikTok viewers’ continuous intention.
Design/methodology/approach
This study empirically analyzes how TikToker attractiveness, co-viewer participation, platform reputation and content appeal affect informative and normative social influence and then lead to the continuous intention of TikTok. Based on 547 valid survey data, this study adopts a mixed analytical approach for data analysis by integrating structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).
Findings
SEM results unveil that content appeal is the most critical antecedent of informational social influence, while the TikToker attractiveness and platform reputation have no effect on it. Differently, all four external sources positively lead to normative social influence. Among them, content appeal and co-viewer participation influence the most. The influences of both two types of social influence on continuous intention are demonstrated. FsQCA results reveal seven alternative configurations that are sufficient for influencing continuance intention and further complement and reinforce the SEM findings.
Originality/value
Addressing the critical contextual elements of TikTok, this study explores and confirms the sources which may engender social influence. The authors also demonstrate the critical role of social influence in affecting TikTok viewers’ continuous intentions by the hybrid analytical approach, which contributes to existing academic literature and practitioners.
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