Social Endorsement Research Articles

Determinants of Behavioral Intention Toward Telemedicine Services in Indonesia Post-Pandemic COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted daily life & accelerated the adoption of digital technologies across various sectors, including healthcare. In Indonesia, this shift has prompted the rapid development and implementation of Telemedicine services by both start-ups and established healthcare institutions. This study aims to identify the factors that influence customer intention to use Telemedicine services in the post-pandemic period, using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model. The research focuses on five key variables: Price Value, Effort Expectancy, Geographical Location, Performance Expectancy, and Social Influence. Data collected from 507 respondents across Indonesia through an online questionnaire reveals that user satisfaction is critical for further use of Telemedicine services. The findings indicate that improvements in the affordability, user-friendliness, accessibility, effectiveness, and social endorsement of Telemedicine services significantly enhance user satisfaction. The study provides practical recommendations for Telemedicine providers to improve these factors, thereby increasing customer retention and adoption rates. This research contributes to the understanding and offers insights for optimizing Telemedicine services in Indonesia in the evolving post-pandemic behaviors

Impact of COVID-19 Vaccine Persuasion Strategies on Social Endorsement and Public Response on Chinese Social Media

ABSTRACT Persuading the public to get vaccinated against infectious diseases is critical and carries profound implications for preparing for future pandemics. This study examined whether and how persuasion strategies employed in pro-vaccine messages affect social endorsement and audience stance toward the COVID-19 vaccine expressed in comments on Chinese social media. Through manual coding and pre-trained BERT model, we analyzed 1,500 Weibo posts focused on COVID-19 vaccination persuasion and 238,201 associated comments. Results showed that medical experts succeeded in eliciting heightened social endorsement and receiving more pro-vaccine comments. Posts that employed negative emotional appeal were less likely to be liked or receive pro-vaccine comments. Besides, vaccine persuasion messages presented in a narrative format or emphasizing vaccine efficacy garnered significantly more likes but did not significantly receive more pro-vaccine comments. Discussing domestic issues or employing joy appeal received more pro-vaccine comments. These results offer valuable insights for health practitioners and communicators, highlighting more effective persuasion strategies for engaging citizens in vaccine-related discussions on social media. This study underscores the importance of leveraging persuasion tactics on social media to foster vaccination uptake and better prepare us for handling future pandemics.

INFLUENCE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS ON HALAL PURCHASE INTENTION IN NON-MUSLIM CUSTOMERS

This study investigates the influence of religious beliefs, perceived benefits of halal products, social influence, and attitudes towards halal products on the halal purchase intention among non-Muslim customers in Surabaya. Utilizing a quantitative research design, data were collected from 150 non-Muslim respondents through an online survey distributed via social media. The analysis was conducted using SmartPLS to evaluate the relationships between the constructs. The findings reveal that even among non-Muslim customers, strong religious beliefs can foster positive attitudes towards halal products due to shared ethical and health values. Perceived benefits, including health, ethical, and quality advantages, significantly enhance attitudes towards halal products. Social influence from family, friends, and social media positively impacts non-Muslim customers' attitudes, highlighting the role of social endorsement in shaping perceptions. Furthermore, a positive attitude towards halal products is a strong predictor of purchase intention, indicating that favorable perceptions directly translate into a higher likelihood of purchase. These findings contribute to the understanding of consumer behavior in the context of halal products and offer practical implications for businesses aiming to target non-Muslim customers. By recognizing the importance of religious beliefs, perceived benefits, and social influence, companies can develop more effective marketing strategies to promote halal products beyond the Muslim community. .

Silencing Online Incivility: Examining the Effects of Impoliteness and Intolerance in Online Political Discussions

ABSTRACT Drawing on silencing and online incivility literature, this study examined how people evaluate and respond to impolite and intolerant online opinions in different discussion contexts. Based on a between-subject online survey experiment in the U.S. (N = 959), we found that people perceived impoliteness and intolerance as uncivil, leading to intentions to silence others. The results also revealed that intolerance resulted in higher perceived incivility and silencing intentions compared to impoliteness. Furthermore, the direct effects of impoliteness and intolerance on perceived incivility and their indirect effects on silencing intentions through perceived incivility were stronger in agreeing discussions than in disagreeing ones. However, social endorsement cues did not moderate the mechanisms.

A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF TALENT MANAGEMENT:” CO-CITATION AND CLUSTER PERSPECTIVES”

The current study's goals are to compile the body of knowledge on talent management, trace its historical evolution, examine the intellectual and social structures that underpin it, and suggest cluster-based issues for further talent management research. Donthu et al. (2021) suggested a framework-based bibliometric review that used the Scopus database to retrieve literature. Researchers used the VOS Viewer tool to analyse and present data in both tabular and graphical formats for descriptive and network analysis. The conceptual structure of the bibliographic data in this research area was made clear via co-citation analysis. Four-word frequency clusters were found by this research. Furthermore, it was demonstrated by author cooperation network analysis that in order to understand talent management, researchers looked into a variety of subjects, such as cultural influences, gamifications, social endorsements, and sustainability practices in the various contexts. By using network analysis to produce cluster-based themes, the study introduces a fresh methodology and provides insightful advice for future talent management research projects. Using the Scopus database is another novel feature that shows a deliberate attempt to thoroughly synthesize the literature and include a range of viewpoints and conclusions in the study.

What Chinese Internet Users “Like” to Read: Selective Exposure in a Restricted Information Environment

Abstract We study the phenomenon of selective exposure in China's restricted online information environment. Through an experimental survey study, we measure to what extent features of online news, such as popularity (i.e. number of “likes”), influence information selection among Chinese internet users (“netizens”). We find evidence of preferences for news information according to news topic and the nationalist sentiments of individuals. Generally, for news about domestic affairs, Chinese netizens prefer articles that take the opposite position of the government; for foreign affairs, they prefer articles aligned with the government's position. However, nationalistic individuals are more likely to select domestic affairs articles congruent with the Chinese government's issue framing. We also find social endorsements to be highly influential on news selection behaviour. Popular posts with many “likes” attract Chinese netizens to the point where they select content they may not otherwise read, even though the internet environment is easily manipulated.

The implementation and mechanisms of advance notification for cancer screening: A scoping review.

To describe and synthesise information on the content and delivery of advance notifications (information about cancer screening delivered prior to invitation) used to increase cancer screening participation and to understand the mechanisms that may underlie their effectiveness. Searches related to advance notification and cancer screening were conducted in six electronic databases (APA PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science) and results were screened for eligibility. Study characteristics, features of the advance notifications (cancer type, format, delivery time, and content), and the effect of the notifications on cancer screening participation were extracted. Features were summarised and compared across effective versus ineffective notifications. Thirty-two articles were included in this review, reporting on 33 unique advance notifications. Of these, 79% were sent via postal mail, 79% were distributed prior to bowel cancer screening, and most were sent 2weeks before the screening offer. Twenty-two full versions of the advance notifications were obtained for content analysis. Notifications included information about cancer risk, the benefits of screening, barriers to participation, social endorsement of cancer screening, and what to expect throughout the screening process. Of the 19 notifications whose effect was tested statistically, 68% were found to increase screening (by 0.7%-16%). Effectiveness did not differ according to the format, delivery time, or content within the notification, although some differences in cancer type were observed. Future research should explore the effectiveness of advance notification via alternative formats and for other screening contexts and disentangle the intervention- and person-level factors driving its effect on screening participation.

Factors influencing online health information credibility: a meta-analysis

PurposeThis study aims to address the growing importance of online health information (OHI) and the associated uncertainty. Although previous research has explored factors influencing the credibility of OHI, results have been inconsistent. Therefore, this study aims to identify the essential factors that influence the perceived credibility of OHI by conducting a meta-analysis of articles published from 2010 to 2022. The study also aims to examine the moderating effects of demographic characteristics, study design and the platforms where health information is located.Design/methodology/approachBased on the Prominence-Interpretation Theory (PIT), a meta-analysis of 25 empirical studies was conducted to explore 12 factors related to information content and source, social interaction, individual and media affordance. Moderators such as age, education level, gender of participants, sample size, platforms and research design were also examined.FindingsResults suggest that all factors, except social support, have significant effects on the credibility of OHI. Among them, argument quality had the strongest correlation with credibility and individual factors were also found to be relevant. Moderating effects indicate that social support was significantly moderated by age and education level. Different sample sizes may lead to variations in the role of social endorsement, while personal involvement was moderated by sample size, platform and study design.Originality/valueThis study enriches the application of PIT in the health domain and provides guidance for scholars to expand the scope of research on factors influencing OHI credibility.

How green social network affordances enhance pro‐environmental behaviour?

AbstractThough social media is considered to enhance environmentally conscious behaviour, there has not been sufficient investigation on the effects of specific affordances pertaining to green social networks (GSN). Also, the mechanism by which these affordances affect pro‐environmental behaviour (PEB) has not been explored in depth. Addressing these research gaps, this study first introduces three context‐specific GSN affordances, such as green self‐identification, green broadcasting, and green social endorsement. Further, drawing inspiration from social influence theory and the Stimulus‐Organism‐Response framework, the study put forth a novel framework that explains the varying effects of the conceptualized GSN affordances on PEB through the mediating mechanism of collective intention. The framework also indicates perceived informational and emotional values as moderators that accentuate the indirect influence of GSN affordances on PEB. Adopting a time‐lagged multi‐wave online survey design, 314 valid responses were obtained. The results of the moderated mediation analysis reveal that: (1) collective intention partially mediates the relationships between green broadcasting and PEB, and between green social endorsement and PEB; (2) collective intention fully mediates the relationship between green self‐identification and PEB. Further, the indirect effect of green self‐identification on PEB is positively moderated by emotional values and not moderated by informational values. Interestingly, the indirect effects of green broadcasting and green social endorsement on PEB are positively moderated by both informational and emotional values. These findings offer significant implications for researchers and practitioners who look out for online communities to promote actual PEB.

In Twitter we trust(ed): How perceptions of Twitter's helpfulness influence news post credibility perceptions and news engagement

This study examines the impacts of news veracity, source credibility, collective social endorsement, and perceptions of Twitter's utility on perceived credibility of and engagement with social media news posts. We conducted a 2 (Veracity: real vs. fake) × 2 (Source Credibility: credible vs. non-credible) x 2 (Collective Social Endorsement: high vs. low) online experiment (N = 271). In processing news posts, news veracity and source credibility influenced users' perceptions of post credibility, in that real news posts from credible sources were perceived as more credible than fake news posts from non-credible sources. Contrary to previous findings, social endorsement cues did not affect users' perceptions of post credibility or news engagement intent. More importantly, users' perceptions of Twitter's helpfulness in staying informed were associated with post credibility and intent to ‘like’ or share. Users with higher perceptions of Twitter's helpfulness were more likely to perceive posts as credible and more likely to engage with posts on social media. The results of this study have important implications for future research on news assessment and spread on social media.

Impact of Project Updates and Their Social Endorsement in Online Medical Crowdfunding

ABSTRACT Online crowdfunding has become an important fundraising channel for medical care. Yet, individuals in need face numerous challenges in meeting their fundraising goals. To improve fundraising, individuals may use project updates to evoke donors’ sympathy and secure donations. Informed by the sympathy bias literature, this paper conceptualizes two important but distinct aspects of project updates—positive sentiment and negative sentiment—and hypothesizes their individual and relative impacts on the donation amount of a crowdfunding project. In addition, this paper explores moderating effects of social endorsements on the influence of update sentiment. To test our hypotheses, we conducted two studies. Study 1 examined unique project-day panel data from 1,467 projects on a leading medical crowdfunding platform. Results reveal that both positive and negative update sentiment positively affect the donation amount of a crowdfunding project, but negative updates have a greater effect. Further, endorsements by strong ties and weak ties attenuate the positive effects of update sentiment. Study 2 was a controlled, randomized experiment that corroborated findings from Study 1, established the causality of observed effects, and confirmed the mediating effects of sympathy. The findings of this paper underscore the role of sympathy in enhancing online charitable crowdfunding to individual donors and show project updates with positive or negative sentiment to be potent mechanisms to boost donations. Furthermore, the substitution effect of social endorsement on donation amount also adds nuance to our knowledge suggesting that a proper combination of various information can better help improve crowdfunding performance. Platform operators and fundraisers should prioritize project update sentiment to enhance online charitable crowdfunding success.

Engaging with misinformation and misinformation corrective messages on social media: Examining the role of source cues, social endorsement cues, and prior attitudes

ABSTRACTThis study seeks to understand how individuals engage with misinformation and corrective messages about genetically modified (GM) food safety on social media. Based on a 2 (expert source vs. social peer source) x 2 (high social endorsements vs. low social endorsements) between-subject experiment (N = 264), this study examined the role of source cues, social endorsement cues, and prior attitudes in influencing individuals’ social media engagements. Results found that individuals selectively engaged with misinformation and corrective messages based on their prior attitudes. Individuals with more negative prior attitudes toward GM foods were more likely to share, click ‘likes,’ add a positive comment, and were less likely to add a negative comment to the misinformation message that doubts GM food safety. Conversely, individuals with more positive prior attitudes toward GM foods were more likely to share, click ‘likes,’ and were less likely to add a negative comment to the corrective message that supports GM food safety. Individuals were more likely to endorse a corrective message when it was attributed to an expert (vs. social peer) source. However, social media endorsements had no significant impact on individuals’ social media engagement with the corrective message.

Digital news ecology and polarization in the context of deep learning: empowerment, entrenchment and reconciling failure

Abstract This paper aims to discuss the causes of public opinion polarization in digital news ecology and then analyze group polarization’s specific manifestations and carriers. Secondly, it introduces word embedding technology to analyze digital news text, utilizes a multi-head self-attention mechanism to construct a new classification model, and realizes collaborative filtering recommendations of digital news based on users’ interests and news hotspots. Finally, social media is taken as an example to analyze the factors that cause polarization in digital news ecology. The results show that the digital news ecosystem can empower the development of the polarization phenomenon, deeply involve users, and group users by solidifying their identity construction, social endorsement and other directions. It can also provide a space for the polarization phenomenon to be reconciled, but due to the emotional loss of control and the decline of publicity leading to the failure of reconciliation, the similarity of sadness emotion reconciliation is 36.94%. It is suggested that the digital news ecology provides technical support for developing polarization phenomena, enabling them to thrive in digital news.

Others (dis‐)endorse this so it must (not) be true: High relative endorsement increases perceived misinformation veracity but not correction effectiveness

AbstractPeople increasingly rely on social‐media platforms to access information; thus, understanding how platform characteristics influence belief in misinformation is important. Recent findings indicate perceived social endorsement of information (e.g., number of likes) can influence misinformation belief and correction acceptance. However, how the influence of endorsement may be modulated by concurrent disendorsement information (e.g., dislikes) is unclear. Across two experiments, we assessed the influence of relative endorsement on misinformation belief and correction acceptance. Experiment 1 exposed participants to claims and fact‐checks with a high or low likes‐to‐dislikes ratio. Experiment 2 simplified the relative‐endorsement information into a single value (i.e., a percentage). Results suggest high relative social endorsement of misinformation significantly increases misinformation belief, particularly when the endorsement information is presented as a single value. Conversely, relative endorsement had a negligible impact on correction effectiveness. This suggests perceived relative endorsement may influence belief primarily when other cues of information veracity are unavailable.

Does knowledge make a difference? Understanding how the lay public and experts assess the credibility of information on novel foods.

Drawing on Metzger's dual-processing model of credibility assessment, this study examines how individuals with varying topical knowledge (laypersons vs experts) assess the credibility of information on novel foods. Online focus group discussions reveal that both groups share similar motivations for assessing the credibility of information on novel foods (e.g. personal relevance and concerns about the impact of unverified information on others). However, they differ in the barriers they encounter during the assessment of information credibility. Both groups employ analytical (e.g. evaluating content quality) and intuitive methods (e.g. looking at source credibility) to assess the credibility of novel food-related information. However, they differ in the cues used for credibility assessment. Laypersons tend to rely on superficial heuristics (e.g. social endorsement cues or surface features), whereas experts rely more on content features and scientific knowledge to evaluate information credibility. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Social endorsement influences the continued belief in corrected misinformation.

Social endorsement influences the continued belief in corrected misinformation.

Does it matter how I stream? Comparative analysis of livestreaming marketing formats on Amazon Live

Livestreaming commerce has become a shopping option following the outbreak of COVID-19, and many sellers have adopted livestreaming marketing to increase their sales and market share. Although livestreaming marketing offers many opportunities, sellers face the challenge of identifying an effective product demonstration format to attract more viewers and increase engagement behaviors during livestreaming sessions. Based on social capital and signaling theories, this study evaluates the relationships among social capital acquisition, social endorsement, and consumer engagement constructs across three different livestreaming marketing product demonstration formats. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) multivariate analysis shows that social capital acquisition and endorsement positively affect consumer engagement across all livestreaming formats. A cross-case assessment based on Henseler’s bootstrap-based multigroup analysis reveals that although the preference for the interview livestreaming marketing format is lower, it is more efficient in attracting consumer engagement than the tutorial and behind-the-scenes livestreaming marketing formats. This study is thus the first in the scientific literature to examine consumer engagement’s antecedents across different livestreaming marketing formats.

Effects of social media affordances on knowledge contribution in online Q&A communities: a self-determination perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of social media affordances, specifically social engagement and social endorsement, on knowledge contribution in online Q&A communities. Building on self-determination theory, this research seeks to tackle the issue of under-provision of knowledge in these communities.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a sample collected from a popular social Q&A community in China and uses linear panel data models along with multiple robustness checks to test the research model.FindingsThe findings reveal that both social engagement and social endorsement have a positive effect on users' knowledge contribution to the online Q&A community. However, the impact of social engagement is mitigated by social endorsement.Originality/valueThis paper makes a valuable contribution to the field by filling the research gap on the role of social engagement behaviors and their interaction with social endorsement in online Q&A communities. The results provide insights into how social media affordances can be leveraged to enhance knowledge contribution in these communities.

Facts are hard to come by: discerning and sharing factual information on social media

Abstract How credulous are we when engaging information on social media? Addressing this question, this article aims to understand how individuals’ epistemic vigilance, a set of cognitive mechanisms that comprise our system of precaution in social interactions, may operate and fall short. Reporting findings from two survey experiments (Study 1, N = 413; Study 2, N = 392), we show that participants tended to be skeptical toward social media news, were reasonably successful in identifying true news, and reported a tendency to share true rather than false news. In one study, social endorsement enticed a higher accuracy rating of news posts. In both studies, people judged attitudinally congruent news posts as being more accurate and reported a higher likelihood to share them. Individuals’ propensity to reflective thinking measured by cognitive reflection test potentially operated as a restraint on sharing inaccurate information and bolstered veracity anchoring in their information engagement.

Believing and Sharing False News on Social Media: The Role of News Presentation, Epistemic Motives, and Deliberative Thinking

ABSTRACT How vulnerable are we to misinformation on social media? To address this question, this study examines not only how well (or poorly) individuals discern true and false news on social media, but also how contextual factors in news presentation and individual’s cognitive and motivational tendencies might shape the patterns of their beliefs in and likelihood to engage online news. We conducted an online survey experiment on a sample of Chinese social media users recruited from a national panel (N = 481). The results show that, first, people generally perceived social media news as accurate and were better at correctly identifying truthful news than false news, revealing both a truth bias and a veracity effect. Second, social endorsement cue and news content slant could affect how individuals judge the veracity of a news post and engage it online. Third, evidence was mixed on how individuals’ deliberative thinking propensity and epistemic motive operated. While our primary goal is to present evidence from a non-Western society to shed lights on the psychology of false news on social media, we also strive toward teasing out some implications specific to the China context.