Role Of Social Influence Research Articles

It’s Fine If Others Do It Too: Privacy Concerns, Social Influence, and Political Expression on Facebook in Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Political expression is a focal point for understanding how digital media have transformed political engagement. Privacy concerns tend to impede online political expression, but this relationship is still poorly understood. Based on the theory of reasoned action, this study focuses on the role of social influence and institutional privacy concerns in political expression on Facebook. We draw on research on the privacy calculus to examine how observing the behavior of Facebook friends moderates the relationship between privacy concerns and online political expression. We use survey data gathered in 2023 from Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States ( n = 5,936). Across all five countries, we find that observing Facebook friends posting political content bolsters political expression on Facebook, as per our preregistered analysis. In all countries except Germany, privacy concerns impede political expression on Facebook. Also, the importance of institutional privacy concerns for political expression depends on the observed posting behavior of Facebook friends. This moderated effect is only observed in three of the five examined countries, however. Our findings offer new insights into the factors that encourage and discourse political expression, particularly on Facebook which is a platform that has been widely criticized for failing to protect its users’ privacy.

On the spurious effect of intergroup friendship on outgroup attitudes in schools: The role of social influence and the positive impact of exposure to outgroup peers.

Promoting intergroup friendships in schools is regarded as a powerful strategy for improving outgroup attitudes. However, stochastic actor-oriented modelling (SAOM) studies have often revealed no association between intergroup friendship and outgroup attitudes. I investigated whether SAOM studies reported no effect of intergroup friendship on outgroup attitudes, what was responsible for this surprising finding and whether exposure to outgroup peers was positively related to outgroup attitudes. The meta-analysis of SAOM studies confirms no association between intergroup friendship and outgroup attitudes. Examining longitudinal social network data of 2700 German students, I found that a positive link between intergroup friendship and outgroup attitudes appeared only when I did not control for social influence. This indicates that intergroup friendship did not automatically improve outgroup attitudes. Instead, the development of outgroup attitudes among students depended on social influence and, thus, the quality of outgroup attitudes among their outgroup friends. Exposure to outgroup peers was, however, positively associated with outgroup attitudes. These findings reframe intergroup contact theory by suggesting that intergroup friendship is not essential for improving outgroup attitudes. Rather, social influence and exposure to outgroup peers could be key factors shaping outgroup attitudes.

Role of social influence in adoption of energy-efficient household systems among Pakistani consumers: a quantitative study

Role of social influence in adoption of energy-efficient household systems among Pakistani consumers: a quantitative study

Peer effects in donations: Evidence from random assignment of college roommates

Understanding the determinants of philanthropic behaviors, which bring benefits to society but come with private costs, is crucial. In this study, we investigate the causal impact of exposure to peers with prosocial behaviors on an individual's donations. In contrast to previous research, we address the issue of self-selection by exploiting the random assignment of college roommates and tackle the challenges of reflection bias by examining peers’ volunteering history in high school in relation to an individual's donations in college. Our results indicate a statistically significant and positive impact of peers’ prosocial behaviors on an individual's own donations. Moreover, we find that the magnitude of peer effects varies based on individuals’ donation levels, interaction preferences, and self-confidence levels, suggesting social pressure as a potential mechanism of peer influence. This study contributes to the existing literature by shedding light on the role of social influence in shaping philanthropic behaviors.

Qualitative study on domestic social robot adoption and associated security concerns among older adults in Slovenia

IntroductionDespite the increasing use of domestic social robots by older adults, there remains a significant knowledge gap regarding attitudes, concerns, and potential adoption behavior in this population. This study aims to categorize older adults into distinct technology adoption groups based on their attitudes toward domestic social robots and their behavior in using the existing technology.MethodsAn exploratory qualitative research design was used, involving semi-structured interviews with 24 retired Slovenian older adults aged 65 years or older, conducted between 26 June and 14 September 2023.ResultsFour distinct groups of older adults were identified: (1) Cautious Optimists, (2) Skeptical Traditionalists, (3) Positive Optimists, and (4) Technophiles based on eight characteristics.DiscussionThese groups can be aligned with the categories of the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. Privacy and security concerns, influenced by varying levels of familiarity with the technology, pose barriers to adoption. Perceived utility and ease of use vary considerably between groups, highlighting the importance of taking into account the different older adults. The role of social influence in the adoption process is complex, with some groups being more receptive to external opinions, while others exhibit more autonomous decision-making.

Exploring the mechanisms driving elderly Fintech engagement: the role of social influence and the elderly's digital literacy.

This study aims to investigate the elderly digital engagement (acceptance and utilization of technology), with a focus on the widespread application of financial technology: mobile banking (m-banking). Guided by social influence theory, the research examines the various social dynamics that encourage elderly engagement with m-banking and the moderating effects of their digital literacy. Data was gathered online utilizing a disjunctive approach and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The study reveals that both word-of-mouths (WOMs) and peer engagement significantly influence the elderly's perceived usefulness of the platform, thereby influencing their m-banking engagement. Additionally, the level of digital literacy among older adults was found to impact their perceived usefulness of m-banking services. Interestingly, digital literacy among older adults negatively moderates the positive associations of WOMs and peer engagement on perceived usefulness. These insights advance our understanding of how social interactions can steer technological engagement, particularly for the silver generation with diverse levels of digital literacy. As society ages and becomes increasingly digitized, it is imperative to promote digital engagement among the elderly and foster a more inclusive digital environment.

Iranian Obese Women’s Lived Experiences of Social and Linguistic Factors Shaping Emotional Eating Behavior: A Phenomenological Study

Background: Emotional eating is harmful to health and is highly prevalent in obese women. Hence, an awareness of factors underlying emotional eating is important for weight management and maintaining women’s health. Research evidence indicates that several factors contribute to emotional eating behavior. The present study aimed to explore obese young Iranian women’s lived experiences of social and linguistic factors shaping emotional eating behavior. Methods: This qualitative and hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted on 17 young women living in Kermanshah or Karaj, Iran who experienced emotional eating and had a body mass index (BMI) of 30 and higher. The participants were selected using purposive sampling with maximum variation in terms of demographic characteristics. The data were collected through in-depth individual and face-to-face interviews and analyzed using Dickelman et al’s seven-step phenomenological approach. Results: The data analysis revealed that social and linguistic factors underlying emotional eating behavior can be explained by two themes including social influence and linguistic culture. Social influence further accounted for compensating for the stigma of thinness, relieving the stigma of obesity, group conformity, and following taboos to cope with sexual and emotional desires. In addition, linguistic culture was explained by two subthemes including associating grieving with eating and the metaphor of swallowing anger. Conclusion: Following the findings of the study, psychotherapy interventions can be planned to address emotional eating and weight management with a focus on the role of social influence and the effects of spoken language in the development of emotional eating behavior.

Expectations of progression to university among pupils in rural communities: the role of social influences

ABSTRACT This paper examines the social influences determining S5/Year 12 and S6/Year 13 (final year) pupils’ expectations of progression to university in a Scottish rural context in which pupils are less likely to go to university. In particular, we investigate the extent to which perceived support from parents, peers, and school, taking into account pupils’ own evaluation of their qualifications, is associated with their self-assessed likelihood of university entry. Our sample is drawn from a repeated questionnaire completed by pupils at three Scottish state secondary schools whose catchment areas are mainly rural. Our results are twofold. First, it is the perceived enthusiasm of their parents and peers, rather than their school, which is primarily correlated with pupils’ expectations of progression to university all else equal. This is true whether pupils report low or high qualification barriers to university entry. Second, perceived parental support is stronger for those whose parents had themselves attended university, especially for pupils identifying low qualification barriers. Given that school support appears to lack significance in pupils’ expectations of progression to university in this context, there is potentially scope for policymakers, universities and schools located in these rural communities to strengthen this influence.

Behavioral Intentions to Use Energy Efficiency Smart Solutions under the Impact of Social Influence: An Extended TAM Approach

The role of social influence (SI) as a determining factor in accepting new technologies has been addressed in several studies using the initial or extended technology acceptance model (TAM). This research uses an adaptation of the extended technology acceptance model (TAM) to analyze the behavioral intention of Romanian consumers regarding the use of energy efficiency smart solutions (EESS) under the effect of social influence. Data were processed with the structural equation modeling technique (PLS-SEM). The sample consisted of 302 domestic electricity consumers in Romania. The study’s findings show that the respondents’ perceptions of the two social influence dimensions—network of friends, colleagues, or family (SI_FF); and public space (SI_PS)—and their effects on other conceptual model variables are significantly different. The main implications highlight that the proposed model addresses social influence on two levels (SI_FF and SI_PS), to highlight not only the differences in users’ perceptions, but also the main directions in which efforts to promote these technologies should be focused more intensively, in the context of implementing European policies regarding the reduction of energy consumption at the level of household consumers. An important component of the proposed model is the analysis of the role of hedonic motivation constructs, expected performance, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use in mediating the relationship between social influence and behavioral intention to use.

Social interoception: Perceiving events during cardiac afferent activity makes people more suggestible to other people's influence

Our judgements are often influenced by other people's views and opinions. Interoception also influences decision making, but little is known about its role in social influence and particularly, the extent to which other people may influence our decisions. Across two experiments, using different forms of social influence, participants judged the trustworthiness of faces presented either during the systolic phase of the cardiac cycle, when baroreceptors convey information from the heart to the brain, or during diastolic phase, when baroreceptors are quiescent. We quantified the extent to which participants changed their minds (as an index of social influence) following the social feedback, in order to compare two competing hypotheses. According to the Arousal-Confidence Hypothesis, cardiac signals create a context of heightened bodily arousal that increases confidence in perceptual judgements. People should, therefore, be less subject to social influence during systole. By contrast, according to the Uncertainty-Conformity Hypothesis, cardiac signals increase neural noise and sensory attenuation, such that people should display greater effects of social influence during systole, as they then underweight private interoceptive signals in favour of the external social information. Across two studies that used different kind of social interactions, we found that participants changed their minds more when faces were presented at systole. Our results, therefore, support the Uncertainly-Conformity hypothesis and highlight how cardiac afferent signals contribute to shape our social decision-making in different types of social interactions.

Why viewers send paid gifts: The role of social influence on massively multiplayer online games live streaming

Virtual paid gifts from viewers are the main revenue source for the live streaming gaming industry, with massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) currently representing the most profitable game type. However, there is little understanding regarding what drives gifting behavior in the MMOG live streaming social environment. This study develops a research model for analyzing the antecedents of virtual gifts in the MMOG live streaming context, with monetary value used for quantification. This model builds on the theory of social influence and social impact literature, and it has been validated through an empirical study including 988,829 observations of real-time viewer data that were collected from the Douyu live streaming platform. Our study examines micro-, meso-, and macro-level social influences (i.e., self-presentation, parasocial relationship, and MMOG live streaming loyalty) on viewer gifting behavior and how the presence of others (i.e., social crowdedness of viewers on the live streaming channel) represents a contextual cue that moderates the effects of social influence on gifting behavior. The results reveal that self-presentation, parasocial relationships, and MMOG live streaming loyalty positively affect the monetary value of viewers’ paid gifts. Although the presence of others can strengthen the impact of parasocial relationships and MMOG live streaming loyalty on viewer gifting behavior, it negatively moderates the relationship between self-presentation and gifting behavior. This study theorizes the features of MMOG live streaming and extends the applicability of social influence theory and social impact theory to this context. Finally, we provide insights into how game practitioners facilitate viewer gifting behavior.

Dynamic effects of social influence on asset prices

This paper examines the dynamic effects of Social Influence on asset prices in the presence of heterogeneous expectations among investors. In our model, the choices of investors’ trading strategies are influenced not only by past payoffs but also by their neighbors’ choices in the social network. To obtain tractable results with generic implications for social structure, we use a mean-field approximation approach rather than specifying the exact structure of social network. Analytical conditions for the existence and local stability of equilibria of price dynamics are established and validated through numerical simulations. Our analysis shows that social influence increases the dimension of the dynamical system and that equilibria can only be expressed implicitly as solutions of certain equations. We also investigate the long-run behavior of price and fraction of trading strategies using numerical simulation under a scale-free network and a power function type social influence factor. Our results suggest that the system tends to be stable when social influence is small but exhibit complex periodic orbits and even chaos when social influence is large. These findings yield valuable insights into the role of social influence in financial markets.

Firm exit from open multiparty alliances: The role of social influence, uncertainty, and interfirm imitation in collective technology development

This study examines exit dynamics in open multiparty alliances, an important form of interfirm collaboration that includes committee-based standard-setting organizations, research and technology consortia, and other types of open meta-organizations. Open multiparty alliances differ markedly from more commonly studied dyadic alliances and closed multiparty alliances due to the open nature of membership and the broad diversity of firms that collaborate towards shaping the trajectory of emerging technologies in a sector. Drawing from literature on interfirm imitation, we posit that under conditions of elevated uncertainty about the technologies under development and the ability of diverse alliance members to work together effectively, firms are subject to social influence from their industry peers and thus tend to imitate them in exiting open multiparty alliances. However, we also argue that firms that are central in the wider network of alliances have access to superior information on sector developments as well as key resources that immunize them from such social influence effects. Analyses of the exit dynamics of the nine most influential open multiparty alliances that shaped the global mobile phone sector between 2000 and 2012 support our predictions. Our findings contribute to research on interfirm collaboration in technology-intensive contexts, in particular on open collaboration between multiple partners.

Gap between cognitions and behaviors among children’s guardians of influenza vaccination: The role of social influence and vaccine-related knowledge

ABSTRACT The seasonal influenza vaccine coverage remains suboptimal among children even though guardians expressed high willingness to vaccinate their children. This study aimed to determine the association between vaccine hesitancy and uptake to facilitate vaccination; thus, bridging the gap. A cross-sectional design, using stratified cluster random sampling, was conducted among guardians of 0–59-month-old Chinese children from July to October in 2019. A structural equation model was applied to explore the interrelationships between factors including vaccine hesitancy, vaccination, social influence, and relative knowledge among guardians. Of the 1,404 guardians, 326 were highly hesitant to vaccinate their children, 33.13% (108/326) of whom had vaccinated their children. Moreover, 517 and 561 guardians had moderate and low vaccine hesitancy, with corresponding vaccine coverage of 42.75% (221/517) and 47.95% (269/516). Guardians’ gender, age, and education level were demographic variables with significant moderating effects. Social influence considered impact of communities, family members, friends, neighbors, healthcare workers, bad vaccination experience and sense on price. Actual vaccine uptake was negatively significantly associated with hesitancy (β = -0.11, p < .001) with positive association with social influence (β = 0.61, p < .001). Vaccine hesitancy was negatively significantly associated with relative knowledge (β = -2.14, p < .001) and social influence (β = -1.09, p < .001). A gap is noted between cognitions and behaviors among children’s guardians regarding influenza vaccination. A comprehensive strategy including emphasizing benefits of the influenza vaccination, risk of infection, and ensuring high vaccine confidence among healthcare workers can help transform the willingness to engage in the behavior of vaccination.

Millennials' Perceptions of M-learning in Higher Education in Developing Countries: The Role of Social Influence

Technology has brought about various changes in the teaching and learning industry. This has further led to a new form of learning known as M-learning. Meanwhile, the attributes of students have changed over time. A new generation of learners known as millennials have varying demands from bodies of knowledge as compared to their preceding generations. millennials have been acquainted with technology for most of their life. Considering these facts, this study seeks to determine factors affecting millennials’ perceptions of M-learning in higher education. An online questionnaire based on a fusion of the Technology and Acceptance Model with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology framework was used to survey 103 millennials at a university in a developing country. Structural Equation Modelling was used to analyze data. The findings revealed that social influence has a statistically significant impact on millennials’ intention to use M-learning. The geographical location and contextual environment may amplify social influence as a prime factor motivating millennials’ intention to use M-learning. Universities, governments, and other learning institutions should consider this for more suited provisioning of M-learning solutions in higher education.

CONSUMER PERCEPTION TOWARDS M-COMMERCE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO GUJARAT

This study aims to investigate the key factors influencing consumers' perceptions of m-Commerce in Gujarat, with a focus on the roles of social influence, trust, and perceived cost. This study's sample size is 434 people, with a valid response rate of 78.91 percent. The proposed research model was tested using simultaneous multiple regression. According to the findings, perceived usefulness, social influence, and trust have a significant positive impact on customers' intentions, whereas perceived cost has a significant negative impact on consumer perception of m-commerce use. Furthermore, perceived ease of use has a negligible impact on consumers' attitudes toward m-commerce in Gujarat. The generalizability of this study's findings is limited: 1) Because this study is limited to Gujarat; 2) Other potential variables are not included in the model.

The Impact of Social Influence on the Intention to Use Physician Rating Websites: Moderated Mediation Analysis Using a Mixed Methods Approach.

Physician rating websites (PRWs) have become increasingly important in the cross-section between health and digitalization. Social influence plays a crucial role in human behavior in many domains of life, as can be demonstrated by the increase in high-profile influential individuals such as social media influencers (SMIs). Particularly in the health-specific environment, the opinion of family and friends has a significant influence on health-related decisions. However, so far, there has been little discussion about the role of social influence as an antecedent of behavioral intention to use PRWs. On the basis of theories of social psychology and technology acceptance and theories from the economic perspective, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of social influence on the behavioral intention to use PRWs. We conducted 2 studies by applying a mixed methods approach including a total of 712 participants from the Austrian population. The impact of social influence on the behavioral intention to use PRWs was investigated through linear regression and mediation and moderated mediation analysis using the PROCESS macro 4.0 in SPSS 27 (IBM Corp). The 2 studies show similar results. In study 1, an experiment, no direct effect of social influence on the behavioral intention to use PRWs could be detected. However, an indirect effect of social influence on the behavioral intention to use PRWs via credibility (b=0.572; P=.005) and performance expectancy (b=0.340; P<.001) could be confirmed. The results of study 2, a cross-sectional study, demonstrate that social influence seems to have a direct impact on the behavioral intention to use PRWs (b=0.410; P<.001). However, when calculating the proposed mediation model, it becomes clear that this impact may partly be explained through the 2 mediator variables-credibility (b=0.208; P<.001) and performance expectancy (b=0.312; P<.001). In contrast to the observed direct and indirect effect, neither demographic nor psychographic variables have a significant moderating impact on the influencing chain in study 2. This study provides an indication that social influence has at least an indirect impact on the behavioral intention to use PRWs. It was observed that this impact is exerted through credibility and performance expectancy. According to the findings of both studies, social influence has the potential to boost the use of PRWs. As a result, these web-based networks might be a promising future interface between health care and digitalization, allowing health care practitioners to gain a beneficial external impact while also learning from feedback. Social influence nowadays is not just limited to friends and family but can also be exerted by SMIs in the domain of PRW use. Thus, from a marketing perspective, PRW providers could think of collaborating with SMIs, and our results could contribute to stimulating discussion in this vein.

Spatial clustering in vaccination hesitancy: The role of social influence and social selection.

The phenomenon of vaccine hesitancy behavior has gained ground over the last three decades, jeopardizing the maintenance of herd immunity. This behavior tends to cluster spatially, creating pockets of unprotected sub-populations that can be hotspots for outbreak emergence. What remains less understood are the social mechanisms that can give rise to spatial clustering in vaccination behavior, particularly at the landscape scale. We focus on the presence of spatial clustering, and aim to mechanistically understand how different social processes can give rise to this phenomenon. In particular, we propose two hypotheses to explain the presence of spatial clustering: (i) social selection, in which vaccine-hesitant individuals share socio-demographic traits, and clustering of these traits generates spatial clustering in vaccine hesitancy; and (ii) social influence, in which hesitant behavior is contagious and spreads through neighboring societies, leading to hesitant clusters. Adopting a theoretical spatial network approach, we explore the role of these two processes in generating patterns of spatial clustering in vaccination behaviors under a range of spatial structures. We find that both processes are independently capable of generating spatial clustering, and the more spatially structured the social dynamics in a society are, the higher spatial clustering in vaccine-hesitant behavior it realizes. Together, we demonstrate that these processes result in unique spatial configurations of hesitant clusters, and we validate our models of both processes with fine-grain empirical data on vaccine hesitancy, social determinants, and social connectivity in the US. Finally, we propose, and evaluate the effectiveness of two novel intervention strategies to diminish hesitant behavior. Our generative modeling approach informed by unique empirical data provides insights on the role of complex social processes in driving spatial heterogeneity in vaccine hesitancy.

The distribution of initial estimates moderates the effect of social influence on the wisdom of the crowd

Whether, and under what conditions, groups exhibit “crowd wisdom” has been a major focus of research across the social and computational sciences. Much of this work has focused on the role of social influence in promoting the wisdom of the crowd versus leading the crowd astray and has resulted in conflicting conclusions about how social network structure determines the impact of social influence. Here, we demonstrate that it is not enough to consider the network structure in isolation. Using theoretical analysis, numerical simulation, and reanalysis of four experimental datasets (totaling 2885 human subjects), we find that the wisdom of crowds critically depends on the interaction between (i) the centralization of the social influence network and (ii) the distribution of the initial individual estimates. By adopting a framework that integrates both the structure of the social influence and the distribution of the initial estimates, we bring previously conflicting results under one theoretical framework and clarify the effects of social influence on the wisdom of crowds.

Acceptance of ELV Management: The Role of Social Influence, Knowledge, Attitude, Institutional Trust, and Health Issues

The growth of Indonesia’s automotive sector has increased the number of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), making ELV waste management a major issue. Most countries, such as Japan, China, and Europe, manage ELV waste well, but developing countries still do not. In developing countries, little is known about ELV social admissions. This study analyzes ELV management social acceptance in developing countries. Three hundred nine respondents from Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi (the district in Indonesia) were surveyed in a cross-sectional. A set of questions was designed to determine social acceptance (attitude, knowledge, social influence, institutional trust, health issues, and acceptance). After passing validity and reliability tests, the hypothesized research model was estimated using structural equitation. According to this study, social influence, attitude, knowledge, institutional trust, and health issues influenced public acceptance. The health issues variable was also a good moderator (Adj. R2 = 0.173, p &lt; 0.001, average path coefficient = 0.299). The analysis of social acceptance models related to ELV management found that social influence, attitude, knowledge, and institutional trust play a role in one’s desire to accept a new rule, and health issues can strengthen a person in the admission process.