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1 – 10 of 134
Article
Publication date: 22 November 2019

Ge Zhang, Liang Ma, Xin Zhang, Xiao Yan Ding and Yi Ping Yang

An increasing number of users join and become immersed in WeChat official accounts, but many users quit using these services as well. Nevertheless, most of the previous studies…

Abstract

Purpose

An increasing number of users join and become immersed in WeChat official accounts, but many users quit using these services as well. Nevertheless, most of the previous studies mainly focussed on the usage behavior. The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap by examining factors affecting users’ unfollow intentions for WeChat subscriptions in a Chinese context.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling is used in our study. A field survey with 260 WeChat users is conducted to test the research model and hypotheses.

Findings

The results show the following interesting key findings: first, the effect of actual cost on users’ unfollow intentions is larger than the effect of opportunity cost; second, users’ unfollow intentions will decrease with the increase of users’ perceptions of information usefulness; third, the results of the control variables showed that only landing frequency has a negative effect on users’ unfollow intentions; and fourth, users’ demographic differences are also examined in regard to how they may affect users’ unfollow intentions.

Originality/value

First, this paper studies factors influencing users’ unfollow intentions for WeChat subscriptions from a social exchange theory perspective; the authors considered both extraneous factors and users’ internal perception factors potentially affecting users’ unfollow intentions, which has rarely been researched. Furthermore, the authors examined significant differences among users’ demographic characteristics in affecting users’ unfollow intentions. The results of the study provide a more comprehensive understanding of the influencing factors of users’ unfollow intentions.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 43 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 June 2020

Zhenya Tang and Leida Chen

Many companies have now built brand fan pages (BFPs) on social media platforms to connect with their existing and potential customers. Nevertheless, the inability to retain…

Abstract

Purpose

Many companies have now built brand fan pages (BFPs) on social media platforms to connect with their existing and potential customers. Nevertheless, the inability to retain existing followers would severely threaten the survival of BFPs and the effectiveness of a company's social media strategies. Drawing upon Furneaux and Wade's discontinuance framework, our study develops a research model to understand the BFP user's intention to discontinue following a BFP.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical study was conducted through an online survey of Chinese social media users. The proposed model was tested by analyzing the collected data using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach.

Findings

The results reveal that dissatisfaction with information quality, unfollowing costs, trust and alternative attractiveness affect the individual's intention to unfollow a BFP. Notably, unfollowing costs is the most powerful factor to predict followers' propensity to discontinue.

Originality/value

Our study contributes to the understanding of the discontinuance of information systems. Theoretical implications for future social commerce research as well as practical suggestions for BFP operators are also discussed.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 33 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 May 2020

Arunima Krishna and Soojin Kim

This study seeks to understand Trump supporters’ behaviors on social media in the wake of a political controversy: US President Trump’s continued support for Judge Roy Moore’s…

Abstract

Purpose

This study seeks to understand Trump supporters’ behaviors on social media in the wake of a political controversy: US President Trump’s continued support for Judge Roy Moore’s candidacy for the US Senate representing the state of Alabama despite several allegations of sexual assault against him.

Design/methodology/approach

Few days before the special election was held in Alabama, an online survey was conducted among 325 supporters of President Trump to explore Trump supporters’ social media behaviors, including the unfriending/unfollowing contacts and speaking out about the controversy.

Findings

We found a negative presidential image to influence individuals’ loss of face, and such loss of face to impact unfriending/unfollowing behaviors on social media, as well as outspokenness. Furthermore, the differences between strong issue supporters and weak issue supporters’ opinions of climate perceptions and outspokenness were investigated.

Originality/value

Rather than using fear of isolation as the mediator between opinion climate and willingness to speak out, as is generally the case in the spiral of silence model (Moy et al., 2001), this study investigated the role of another affective indicator, loss of face on two social media behaviors, outspokenness, and unfollowing/unfriending contacts on social media.

Details

Journal of Communication Management, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-254X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 July 2020

Sarah Van Duijn

In multi-sited ethnography, “following” (of, e.g. persons, objects and events) is used as a device to structure fieldwork. The purpose of this paper is to problematize and…

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Abstract

Purpose

In multi-sited ethnography, “following” (of, e.g. persons, objects and events) is used as a device to structure fieldwork. The purpose of this paper is to problematize and substantiate the notion of following, illustrating that, when adopting a “following” strategy, the endless number of potential trails one could follow may lead a fieldworker to be both everywhere and nowhere at once.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on the experiences and insights derived from a multi-sited ethnography of the strategic collaborations that emerged after the Dutch healthcare reform of 2015. Fieldwork was conducted between 2015 and 2017, and consisted of participant observations, shadowing and interviews.

Findings

An approach well suited to studying the contemporary problems that cut across organizational boundaries, multi-sited ethnography is both valuable and more challenging due to: (1) the continuous need to negotiate access, which stimulates the researcher to reflect on his or her positionality in the field; (2) the inevitable pressure it puts on a researcher to “unfollow” their field(s) and to regain critical distance and (3) its perplexing ability to highlight the lack of a whole, unveiling instead a plethora of perspectives across sites which may or may not align.

Research limitations/implications

This paper ends with three key considerations for future multi-sited research endeavours.

Originality/value

Although the metaphor of following can help to structure fieldwork, the practice of following in multi-sited ethnography is not as straightforward as it appears: there are countless potential “paths” to follow, and researchers themselves must decide which trails to choose and when to step back and “unfollow” their field(s).

Details

Journal of Organizational Ethnography, vol. 9 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6749

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 February 2020

Christos Begkos and Katerina Antonopoulou

In the current digital era where online content is riddled with fabricated metrics and rankings, this research aims to investigate the underpinning mechanisms of the calculative…

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Abstract

Purpose

In the current digital era where online content is riddled with fabricated metrics and rankings, this research aims to investigate the underpinning mechanisms of the calculative practices which actors engage with to evaluate digital platform content in the absence of well-defined performance measures.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper focuses on the online, photo-sharing platform Instagram which is devoid of common performance measures such as rankings, ratings and reviews. The authors applied netnographic methods to capture users' actions and interactions at the Greek Instagram community. The authors adopt a practice lens as informed by Schatzki's ‘site ontology’ to capture actors' calculative practices as organised by rules, teleoaffective structures and general and practical understandings.

Findings

Platform actors engage in aesthetic and palpable evaluations of other user profiles and their posted content. They employ permissible (e.g., using third-party apps) and illicit (e.g., lobbying and procuring engagement) tactics to measure and manage digital platform performance, fabricate metrics and blur others' evaluations, in pursuit of prestige and material teleologies. Their calculative practices are conditioned by an implicit social etiquette, which permeates the platform both horizontally and vertically.

Originality/value

First, the paper captures and theorises the mechanisms which underpin actors' calculative practices for performance measurement in the absence of robust judgement devices. Second, it demonstrates how ambiguous assemblages of material and prestige teleologies, aesthetic and palpable evaluative regimes and implicit rules and practical expertise collectively invoke platform actors' calculative practices and the construction of performance measures. In doing so, it contributes to performance measurement literature via demonstrating how management accounting is implicated in the evaluation of digital platform outputs.

Practical implications

The paper provides insight on how platform actors fabricate performance metrics, what they perceive as ‘good’ online content and what constitutes an ‘impactful’ user account or a ‘successful’ social media campaign. Such findings are valuable to management accountants, entrepreneurs and practitioners who seek to evaluate digital platform performance.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 33 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 March 2024

Rajat Roy, Fazlul K. Rabbanee, Diana Awad and Vishal Mehrotra

This study aims to investigate the fit of a promotion (prevention) focus with malicious (benign) envy and how this fit influences positive and negative behaviours, depending on…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the fit of a promotion (prevention) focus with malicious (benign) envy and how this fit influences positive and negative behaviours, depending on the context.

Design/methodology/approach

Four empirical studies (two laboratory and two online experiments) were used to test key hypotheses. Study 1 manipulated regulatory focus and envy in a job application setting with university students. Study 2 engaged similar manipulations in a social media setting. Studies 3 and 4 extended the regulatory focus and envy manipulations to the general population in pay-what-you-want (PWYW) and pay-it-forward (PIF) restaurant contexts.

Findings

The findings showed that a promotion (prevention) focus fits with the emotion of malicious (benign) envy. In the social media context, promotion and prevention foci demonstrated negative behaviour, including unfollowing the envied person, when combined with malicious and benign envy. In the PWYW and PIF contexts, combining envy with a specific type of regulatory focus encouraged both positive and negative behaviours through influencing payments.

Research limitations/implications

Future research could validate and extend this study’s findings with different product/service categories, cross-cultural samples and research methods such as field experiments.

Practical implications

The four studies’ findings will assist managers in formulating marketing strategies to enhance their positioning of target products/services, possibly leading to higher prices for PWYW and PIF businesses.

Originality/value

The conceptual model is novel as, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior research has proposed and tested the fit between envy type and regulatory foci.

Details

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

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 August 2018

Kyle John Lorenzano, Miles Sari, Colin Harrell Storm, Samuel Rhodes and Porismita Borah

Political polarization and incivility manifested itself online throughout the 2016 US presidential election. The purpose of this paper is to understand how features of social…

Abstract

Purpose

Political polarization and incivility manifested itself online throughout the 2016 US presidential election. The purpose of this paper is to understand how features of social media platforms (e.g. reacting, sharing) impacted the online public sphere during the 2016 election.

Design/methodology/approach

After conducting in-depth interviews with politically interested young people and applying deductive coding procedures to transcripts of the interviews, Dahlberg’s (2004) six normative conditions for the public sphere were used to empirically examine this interview data.

Findings

While some participants described strategies for productive political discussion on Social Networking Sites (SNS) and a willingness to use them to discuss politics, many users’ experiences largely fall short of Dahlberg’s (2004) normative criteria for the public sphere.

Research limitations/implications

The period in which these interviews were conducted in could have contributed to a more pessimistic view of political discussion in general.

Practical implications

Scholars and the public should recognize that the affordances of SNS for political discussion are not distributed evenly between different platforms, both for the sake of empirical studies of SNS moving forward and the state of democratic deliberation.

Originality/value

Although previous research has examined online and SNS-based political discussion as it relates to the public sphere, few attempts have been made understand how specific communicative practices or platform-specific features of SNS have contributed to or detracted from a healthy public sphere.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 42 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 July 2020

Tai-Yee Wu, Xiaowen Xu and David Atkin

This study integrates the spiral of silence (SoS) theory and theory of planned behavior (TPB) by examining Facebook users' opinion expression avoidance, the reactions to…

Abstract

Purpose

This study integrates the spiral of silence (SoS) theory and theory of planned behavior (TPB) by examining Facebook users' opinion expression avoidance, the reactions to dissenting views without revealing one's true opinion, in the context of political discussions. The present integrative approach provides a more comprehensive framework that expands our understanding of online opinion expression and withdrawal.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional online survey was employed, which rendered 348 valid responses from US college students (61.5% female; average age 19.11) recruited from a northeastern university.

Findings

The results categorized two sets of opinion avoidance strategies from six Facebook features. The intention to adopt “proactive avoidance strategies” (filtering out unwanted information) is positively related to descriptive norms and perceived self-efficacy, but negatively related to fear of isolation and perceived control of the urge to debate. Regarding the intention to employ “reactive avoidance strategies” (less obtrusive articulations), fear of isolation and attitudes toward opinion expression avoidance are positive determinants, whereas perceived control of the urge to debate again exerts a negative influence.

Originality/value

This study examines the growing variety of features that users adopt to avoid expressing their true opinion in reacting to dissenting views, updating our understanding of opinion circumvention in social media environment. As one of the few theoretically driven empirical investigations of SoS theory and TPB, the findings not only elucidate the significance of perceived behavioral control as the common ground in association with user adoption intention but also identify distinct qualities of the two sets of strategies that affect the likelihood of adoption. That is, proactive avoidance is more susceptible to normative influences, while reactive avoidance reflects user attitude and belief. This theoretical integration also helps identify diverse levels of intentions to strategically avoid opinion expression influenced by fear of isolation.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2016

Katrin Weller

The purpose of this paper from the series “Monitoring the Media: Spotlight on Social Media Research” is to look into different approaches to study uses of social media platforms …

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper from the series “Monitoring the Media: Spotlight on Social Media Research” is to look into different approaches to study uses of social media platforms – from user statistics to motivations for using specific features within a platform.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a literature review some general findings on social media usage are summarized alongside with examples of user activities that are rarely studied.

Findings

The paper concludes that social media research has neglected to question the use of more recent features in social media platforms, such as Twitter favorites or Facebook hashtags, as well as the more “destructive” activities in social networking such as unfollowing.

Originality/value

The paper draws attention to some features of popular social media platforms which are currently understudied. It raises awareness for these specific gaps in social media research and could inspire future studies to close the gap.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 40 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 October 2022

Valeria Noguti

This paper aims to understand how structural characteristics of social media enable consumers to satisfy needs related to marketer-generated content (MGC) and identify the…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to understand how structural characteristics of social media enable consumers to satisfy needs related to marketer-generated content (MGC) and identify the consequences of consumer exposure to MGC.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper revisits research on antecedents and consequences of advertising consumption to build an emergent conceptual model applied to MGC through the investigation of consumer experiences in social media. Thirty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with consumers who follow brands on Instagram. The interview transcripts were coded and analysed using a grounded theory approach.

Findings

This study finds that, structurally, MGC consumption is characterised by the combination of: consumer micro-control over both content and timing/place of consumption and ease of consumption, enabling consumers to seek pleasure and utility without effort. The data show that MGC is only likely to be shared to a restricted group with strong social connections, such as family members and close friends with similar interests, with whom new interactions develop over brands and products, online or in person. MGC consumption experiences also generate significant consumer learning that improves purchase outcomes for consumers. Three types of MGC consumers were identified in the data: “enthusiasts”, “circumstantial” and “occasional”.

Research limitations/implications

This study updates previous literature, offering a conceptual framework that specifies how the structural characteristics of social media are conducive to consumer exposure to self-curated MGC flows. This research also uncovers unique social dynamics and consumer learning related to MGC consumption.

Practical implications

Insights from this study suggest alternative business models that may be attractive for consumers, brands and social media platforms. This research also suggests ways in which brands can improve consumer MGC experiences.

Originality/value

This research demonstrates how and why consumers embrace MGC at scale through social media and reveals consequences of MGC consumption.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 56 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

1 – 10 of 134