Dynamic Value: Temporal Distance and Group Size of Information in Shaping Social Influence

Abstract

Individuals often pay attention to recency and source size of reference information when learning from it to aid own decisions. Despite research on the independent effects of temporal distance and group size on social influence of information, we have limited understanding about how recency and group size interact with each other to shape the influence of temporally dispersed information on individual decision making. Using 6.3 million single family listing records in California from 2009 to 2018, I find that in addition to their independent positive effects on social influence, temporal recency and group size are also contingent on each other. The discrepancy in the relative importance of recent information and distant information diminishes as the group size increases. Decision makers focus more on general patterns instead of individual recent information with the extension of time windows. Intercorrelation of information enhanced by temporal structure in large time windows also facilitates selection behaviors when incorporating information. Collectively, social influence forms a U-shape across time windows. These findings highlight the importance of accounting for the temporal structure of information for social influence research and provide new insights into the social dynamics of decision making process.