Social Interaction Ties Research Articles

SNS citizenship behavior based on D&M information system success model and social capital theory: Mediating role of subjective well-being

Social media has become integral to contemporary society, with online behaviors impacting individual experiences and the wider community. In Bangladesh, a developing country, SNS have played a pivotal role in the nation's digitalization efforts. This study explores the relationship between social capital theory, D&M Information System Model, subjective well-being, and SNS Citizenship Behavior (SCB) among active social media users in Bangladesh. Data was collected from 418 participants through an online survey, and hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that the items of the D&M model positively influenced the aspects of social capital theory, excluding service quality. In contrast, social interaction ties and shared values were positively associated with SCB, although social trust did not exhibit a significant relationship. Additionally, subjective well-being mediated the connection between social capital and SCB. This research offers valuable insights into the factors influencing online prosocial behavior and provides practical implications for cultivating a positive communication culture in the digital era. The model proposed in this study holds significant implications for Bangladesh's policymakers and social networking site authorities, guiding their efforts in implementing technology-based initiatives.

Social Live-Streaming Use and Well-Being: Examining Participation, Financial Commitment, Social Capital, and Psychological Well-Being on Twitch.tv

This study examines how active participation, financial commitment, and passive participation in the leading social live-streaming service, Twitch.tv, relate to individuals’ psychological well-being. The three dimensions of social capital—structural, relational, and cognitive—as well as parasocial relationship are explored as mediators. Cross-sectional survey data from 396 respondents was analyzed by comparing two fully saturated structural equation models. Findings indicate actively participating in a favorite streamers’ Chat is positively associated with increased well-being. Structural social capital, or having more social interaction ties, positively mediates the relationship between active participation and well-being, as well as financial commitment and well-being. Greater cognitive social capital, or shared values and goals with a favorite streamer, is related to decreased well-being. Parasocial relationship does not significantly mediate the relationship between use and well-being. Our results demonstrate the importance of tangible social ties over the perceived relationships or identification with a favorite streamer.

Modeling pathway linking mobile social media intensity to attitude towards electronic word-of-mouth and engagement: The significant role of social trust and perceived homophily

Along with the rapid development of diversified social media, WeChat has become a prevalent social tool in mainland China which allows users to connect and communicate with others spanning time and distance. Although a great deal of empirical literature has explored the antecedents of electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) and indicated that a link exists between social capital and e-WOM engagement, the specific dimensions of social capital are still rarely probed and investigated, especially in the mobile social media setting. The present research takes a social capital perspective and aims to systematically clarify three distinct dimensions of social capital, attitude towards e-WOM and their association with WeChat users' e-WOM engagement behaviors. The current research analyzes variables and their influence using structural equation modeling. The statistical sample was obtained from 365 young people who have used WeChat in mainland China. The obtained results demonstrate that WeChat usage intensity can positively influence social interaction ties, social trust, and perceived homophily. Additionally, social interaction ties, social trust, and perceived homophily can positively predict WeChat users' e-WOM engagement. Furthermore, attitude towards e-WOM can partially mediate the effect of social capital on e-WOM engagement. These new findings may enrich the existing research body of social capital theory and provide fresh insights for scholars and managers to further understand individuals' attitudes and e-WOM engagement behaviors in the contemporary new media environment.

Adoption of Sustainability Practices by Smallholders: Examining Social Structure as Determinants

Global palm oil consumption, registering at 77 million metric tons annually, presents a significant ecological challenge. The importance of fostering sustainable production is paramount. Yet, issues of deforestation and other unsustainable practices cast doubt over this objective. Sustainable certification schemes such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) aim to improve sustainable practices among stakeholders, including smallholders. A low achievement rate of only 30% certified smallholders suggests impediments beyond financial constraints. This study investigates the impact of social structure, specifically communication elements like social interaction ties and shared identity, on smallholders’ adoption of sustainable certification—a viewpoint aligned with innovation diffusion theory. Employing a quantitative design and a questionnaire survey, data was collected from 300 independent smallholders and analyzed via Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings illuminate that communication through social interaction ties and shared identity significantly influences the adoption of sustainable-certified schemes by smallholders. This suggests that innovation diffusion within this sector is socially motivated, emphasizing the influential role of communication in facilitating adoption of sustainable practices among small farmers. This novel understanding offers valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in utilizing social dynamics to endorse sustainable practices within the palm oil industry. Keywords: Sustainable certification, communication, smallholders, innovation diffusion, social structure.

Predictors of Purchase Decision on Products Advertised on WhatsApp: Perspectives from Postgraduate Students at Selected Universities in Lagos State, Nigeria

This study identified social media commitment, normative and informational social influences, social interaction ties, trust in online vendors, and purchase intention as factors predicting purchasing decisions on products advertised on WhatsApp. Monthly upkeep, sex and age of postgraduate students were moderating variables in the study. A survey was conducted using an online questionnaire administered to 314 postgraduate students from three purposively selected universities - the University of Lagos, Lagos State University and Pan Atlantic University. Using a multistage sampling technique, a population of users of the WhatsApp social platform was selected from two homogenous faculties with 12 departments. The study applied descriptive statistical procedures to answer five research questions and linear regression analysis to test three hypotheses using SPSS version 26. Findings revealed that social interaction ties, normative social influence, trust in online vendors, monthly upkeep and sex significantly predicted postgraduate students' purchase decisions on products advertised on WhatsApp. It was recommended that business owners and marketers should intensify their efforts to advertise products on WhatsApp, and also ensure timely delivery of products and services. Keywords: E-commerce, Online advertisement, Postgraduate students’ purchase decision, Predictors, Products, Social media, WhatsApp, Lagos State, Nigeria Journal Reference Format: Ogunsola K. & Mohammed S.B. (2023): Predictors of Purchase Decision on Products Advertised on WhatsApp: Perspectives from Postgraduate Students at Selected Universities in Lagos State, Nigeria. Social Informatics, Business, Politics, Law, Environmental Sciences & Technology Journal. Vol. 9, No. 2. Pp 43-64. dx.doi.org/10.22624/AIMS/SIJ/V9N2P3. www.isteams/socialinformaticsjournal

Public Interest in Islamic Equity Crowdfunding

Equity Crowdfunding is an alternative investment instrument. Indonesia, with the largest Muslim population, is a potential market for Islamic Equity Crowdfunding. The purpose of this study is to identify the motivation of investors to invest in this instrument. There are three subject sizes, namely, related to project funding (network externality and perceived informativeness), related to a platform (perceived accreditation, structural assurance, and third-party seal) related to fundraising (Islamic value congruence, social interaction ties). Belief perspective is divided into cognitive and affective. The sample used is 101 investors spread across Indonesia in a national equity crowdfunding company with Islamic-based management. The data was processed using the structural equation modeling technique using the WarpPLS 7.0 tool. The results of this study prove that cognitive and affective beliefs and network externalities directly influence investor interest. Trust is proven to be able to mediate perceived informativeness on interest. The form of investor cognitive trust is perceived accreditation and third-party seal. The shapers of an investor's affective trust are perceived informativeness, structural assurance, and Islamic value congruence. This finding can be used as the basis for how startup companies in Sharia-based equity crowdfunding instruments build trust and interest.

Factors Affecting Users' Continuous Usage in Online Health Communities: An Integrated Framework of SCT and TPB.

Online health communities (OHCs) provide a new channel for users to obtain more health-related information and support, playing an important role in alleviating hospital congestion and uneven medical resource distribution, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. An in-depth study of users' continuous usage is of great value for the long-term development of OHCs. The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that influence users' continuous usage in online health communities based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and social cognitive theory (SCT). Data from 480 users with experience in online health communities were collected through a questionnaire survey, and structural equations were applied to verify the model hypotheses empirically. Self-efficacy and controllability have significant effects on users' continuous intention; attitude has a significant relationship with continuous intention; social norms have a positive effect on continuous intention. Moreover, the relationship between continuous intention and behavior is positive. Self-efficacy and outcome expectations have significant positive associations with continuous usage. Finally, system quality, information quality, and social interaction ties have significant and positive relationships to continuous usage. To improve the level of user's continuous usage, online health service providers can improve the quality of the community by organizing the website's page layout, navigation menus, and site elements to ensure users quickly search and find what they want meanwhile try to change people's cognition gradually, in addition, decision and policymakers should provide more favorable policies to stimulate and help provider in building and managing strategic plans for sustaining a thriving online community. A supportive climate in society through public service advertisements and others for the sake of OHCs is necessary. (1) This study collected data through a cross-sectional survey. Thus, it lacked the process of capturing the changes in participants' attitudes toward all variables. (2) The environmental factors in SCT theory need to be more comprehensive, containing online factors without offline factors. (3) The dates were obtained from China, which neglects the different cultural content.

Revisiting the determinants of knowledge-sharing behavior in organizations: a meta-analytic structural equation model application

Purpose The existing literature on knowledge-sharing (KS) behavior in the organizational context demonstrates that there is diversity, if not divergence, in understanding KS. Thus, this paper aims to integrate social cognitive theory and social exchange theory to construct a research model for determining the incentive for knowledge sharing among individuals in organizations based on past empirical results. Design/methodology/approach Accordingly, the methodology adopted in this study is the meta-analytic structural equation modeling based on the data gathered from 78 studies (80 samples, n = 29,318). Findings The most significant predictors of KSB were organizational support and social interaction ties, whereby KS intention and attitude were most optimally predicted by organizational commitment, knowledge self-efficacy, social interaction ties, organizational expectancy and reciprocal benefit. This study carried out a moderation analysis to look into potential causes of inconsistent results. Originality/value This meta-analysis shows the most influencing factors that trigger KSB in organizations. Moreover, this study clarifies the possible reasons for the inconsistent findings of the previous studies. Thus, it contributes to the KS literature.

Examining Users’ Contribution in Open Source Software Communities

ABSTRACT Open source software (OSS) communities rely on the high-quality codes contributed by community members. However, users often tend to acquire codes from the community and are reluctant to contribute their knowledge. Integrating the motivational theory and social capital theory, this article intends to explore users’ contribution in OSS communities. A mixed method of SEM and fsQCA was used to perform data analysis. We found that intrinsic motivations (flow experience and self-efficacy), extrinsic motivations (perceived reputation and reciprocity), social interaction ties, community identification, and common language positively affect users’ contribution intention. Trust has no effect on the contribution intention. The fsQCA results indicated that flow experience, perceived reputation, reciprocity and trust are the common core conditions of four configurations leading to contribution intention. The results suggest that OSS communities need to be concerned with users’ motivations and develop social capital in order to encourage their contribution.

Impact of social capital, knowledge sharing on Innovation Capability: The case of office staff in Ho Chi Minh City

This research investigates the relationship between social capital, knowledge sharing and innovation capacity among office staff in Ho Chi Minh City. The survey was carried out using a questionnaire to collect data by convenient sampling method. Inheriting from previous studies, the research team conducted expert interviews to adjust the scale and questionnaire to match the research object. We propose and test a theoretical model based on the data collected from 586 questionnaires distributed to full-time employees from private companies in Ho Chi Minh City. The research hypotheses were tested using the Linear structural model (SEM). The research results show that Social interaction ties, Trust, Reciprocity, Identify and Shared goals all have an impact on Knowledge collecting and Knowledge donating. In addition, Knowledge collecting and Knowledge donating both have a positive effect on the Innovation capacity of office staff. With the results achieved, this research helps companies and businesses realize the importance of social capital in helping employees constantly innovate, which contributes significantly to the development of companies and businesses.

Physician engagement in online medical teams: A multilevel investigation

Given the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence technologies in the healthcare industry, efficient healthcare delivery has become increasingly important. In creating a patient-centered and engaging technology, the omnichannel healthcare model has expanded to allow consumers access to online health communities, including physician-led online medical teams (OMTs). To help ensure the continued growth of this emerging omnichannel touchpoint, we develop a three-level theoretical model using a combination of hierarchical linear modeling and panel data identification to analyze a large-scale longitudinal dataset consisting of 2,185 physicians across 1,400 OMTs. In line with self-determination theory, we identify physician-level (i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic) and team-level (i.e., social interaction ties) motivational drivers of physician engagement, along with managerially relevant boundary conditions. Based on our findings, we suggest a multi-level strategy for ensuring the continued growth and success of OMTs in facilitating value co-creation between health providers and patients.

Public Interest in Islamic Equity Crowdfunding

Equity Crowdfunding is an alternative investment instrument, Indonesia with the largest Muslim population is a potential market for Islamic Equity Crowdfunding. The purpose of this study is to identify the motivation of investors to invest in this instrument. There are three subject sizes, namely; related to project funding (network externality and perceived informativeness), related to a platform (perceived accreditation, structural assurance, and third-party seal) related to fundraising (Islamic value congruence, social interaction ties). Belief perspective is divided into cognitive and affective. The sample used is 101 investors spread across Indonesia in a national equity crowdfunding company with Islamic-based management. The data was processed using the structural equation modeling technique using the WarpPLS 7.0 tool. The results of this study prove that investor interest is directly influenced by cognitive and affective beliefs and network externalities. Trust is proven to be able to mediate perceived informativeness on interest. The form of investor cognitive trust is perceived accreditation and third-party seal. The shapers of investor's affective trust are perceived informativeness, structural assurance, and Islamic value congruence. This finding can be used as the basis for how startup companies in sharia-based equity crowdfunding instruments build trust and interest. Keywords : Equity Crowdfunding, Trust, willingness to invest, project, platform, fundraiser.

Smallholders participation in sustainable certification: The mediating impact of deliberative communication and responsible leadership

The initiative to ensure oil-palm smallholders around the world participate in sustainable certification is increasing. Different efforts were strategised including increasing awareness and providing financial support. Despite that, the number of smallholders’ participation in sustainable certification is relatively low. This study embarked on the objective to identify the role of social structure, namely social interaction ties in affecting smallholders’ participative behaviours. Moreover, this study is also looking on the mediating impact of deliberative communication and responsible leadership in explaining the relationship between the two previously stated constructs. Using a quantitative research design, this study collected data from 440 smallholders as its respondents. Samples were randomly selected, and questionnaires were distributed to obtain their responses. Data collected were then analysed using PLS-SEM to test the developed hypothesis. Accordingly, the findings indicate that social interaction ties have a significant impact on smallholders’ decisions to participate in sustainable certification. Furthermore, both deliberative communication and responsible leadership were proven to be significant mediators. This study provides insights on how smallholders’ participation in sustainable certification can be improved by tapping on the social structure elements as well as adopting deliberative communication and responsible leadership as a method to communicate and lead with the smallholders. This shall expand literature related to organisation psychology in rural areas and sustainability.

Continuance Intention of Online Healthcare Communities

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the continuance usage intention on online healthcare community (OHC) platform for patients and examine the "doctor-OHC-patient" relationship. The proposed model attempted to integrate social interaction ties, shared value, trust with the indirect effects on the relationship between the determinants and continuous usage intention of the OHC platform. The empirical results showed that perceived critical mass, social identity, and para-social interaction would strengthen continuance intention via the social interaction ties. In addition, this study found that the shared values and trust increase users' willingness to continue usage of OHC. This study provides OHC platform managers with an in-depth understanding of the "doctor-OHC-patient" online social interaction. The results of this study may also help hospitals, health policy makers, and related healthcare practitioners to improve the way they use the web for advocacy and guidance, and provide insight into the intent of promoting the ongoing use of OHC platforms.

The Use of Crowdfunding and Social Media Platforms in Strategic Start-up Communication: A Big-data Analysis

ABSTRACT Utilizing big-data analytics for crowdfunding platforms (e.g., AngelList and Crunchbase) and social media sites (e.g., Facebook and Twitter), this study investigates the impact of social media marketing on the start-up fundraising success through the lens of social capital theory. The results show that cognitive, structural, and relational dimensions of social capital sources served as predictors of fundraising for start-ups. Specifically, shared values (e.g., the number of followers, the number of investors of start-up companies) and attention (e.g., product/service descriptions and videos), which account for the cognitive dimension, positively led to the increased amount of investor funding. Trust (e.g., the quality rating, the number of rounds of funding, and the number of investors) as the subconstruct of the relational dimension was a determinant of fundraising. Social interaction ties (e.g., the number of likes, the number of social media followers) were found to increase the amount of funding as an aspect of the structural dimension. The results of a further analysis demonstrate a process of social capital formation by examining the effect of social interaction ties on the amount of funding mediated by shared values and trust. The current study contributes to extend knowledge on the start-up communication aligned with a resource-driven view of strategy.

Can WeChat really foster young people's civic engagement? Unraveling an underlying mechanism from the social capital theoretical perspective

PurposeBuilding upon social capital theoretical foundation, the principal purpose of present research is to construct a conceptual research model and uncover the intricate relationships between WeChat usage, social capital and civic participation behaviors among young people.Design/methodology/approachA large cross-sectional valid data from 1,238 young people in mainland China were gathered to examine the hypothesized research model. Descriptive analyses, correlation analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were sequentially undertaken to determine dynamic interrelationships among main constructs.FindingsThe empirical findings demonstrate that WeChat usage positively impacts young people's social interaction ties, the guanxi network and shared goals. Moreover, social interaction ties and shared goals are positively associated with their online civic engagement. Furthermore, the guanxi network is positively associated with both online and offline civic engagement.Research limitations/implicationsTheoretically, this research is the first to explicitly explore the influence mechanism of WeChat use intensity on different dimensions of individual-level social capital and civic engagement. Practically, these obtained results can be beneficial to the comprehending of whether and how WeChat is a resource for social capital and civic involvement.Originality/valueDespite mobile social media, especially WeChat, has achieved immense popularity in contemporary mainland China, the potential influence of this emerging technology use on individuals' differential dimensions of social capital and civic engagement has not been systematically investigated. The study may not only offer fresh insight into innovative features of WeChat but also contribute to broader controversies regarding the impact of mobile-mediated communication on individuals' daily civic lives.

Social capital, knowledge sharing and innovation ability for production activities of farmers households in Ben Tre province

Based on the results of previous studies on social capital, this study aims to propose and test a theoretical model of the relationship between social capital, knowledge sharing and innovation capacity for production activities of farmer households in Ben Tre province. The survey was carried out using a questionnaire to collect data by convenient sampling method. The study collected 263 questionnaires from farmer households in 4 districts of Chau Thanh, Binh Dai, Thanh Phu and Ba Tri in Ben Tre province. The hypotheses of the research model are verified by the linear structural model (SEM) through the software SPSS and AMOS. Research results show that Social interaction ties, Trust, Reciprocity and Shared goals all have an impact on Knowledge collecting and Knowledge donating of farm households. In addition, Knowledge collecting and Knowledge donating both have a positive effect on the Innovation capacity of farm households. With the obtained results, the study proposes policy implications for expanding social capital through the structure of social networks and the quality of social networks in order to enhance the ability of farmer households to innovate activities in Ben Tre province.

Social interaction ties drive students participate in flipped civic education continuously

ABSTRACT Flipped civic education has attracted many educators’ attention, because it can be employed to increase students’ interest in learning civic literacy. However, very few researches investigated students’ continuance intention to participate in flipped civic education. It is a truly important issue since flipped civic education can be more effectively applied and developed if the factors behind students’ continuance intention can be identified. Therefore, in order to identify these key factors, this study adopted social cognitive theory to devise a research model. The research findings showed that social interaction ties occupy a dominant role in affecting students’ continuous participation in flipped civic education through hedonic and utilitarian outcome expectations. The results suggested that fostering the collaborative activities like debates or discussions is the top priority for teachers who want to promote students’ engagement in flipped civic education, because it will help students construct knowledge and experience pleasure from interpersonal interaction.

How Personality and Social Capital Affect Knowledge Sharing Intention in Online Health Support Groups?: A Person-Situation Perspective

ABSTRACT Members’ knowledge sharing is essential in order for online health support groups (OHSGs) to provide informational support, but factors influencing knowledge sharing intention in OHSGs have not been sufficiently explored. This study provides some insights by adopting a person-situation interactionist perspective and developing a model that synthesizes the five-factor model of personality traits and the three dimensions of social capital – structural (social interaction ties), relational (trust), and cognitive (shared vision). Structural equation modeling was used to test the model, drawing on online survey data collected from OHSGs in China (N = 546). Three main findings were revealed. First, sharing intention is promoted by social interaction, trust, and shared vision, although trust has the largest effect size. Second, trust promotes social interaction and shared vision. Third, the five personality factors can be categorized into three groups of personality: interactive (extraversion), trusting (conscientiousness, openness to experience), and cooperative (agreeableness and neuroticism). These findings suggest three mechanisms behind knowledge sharing intention in OHSGs via the three social capital dimensions, with trust being the most important factor.

Social capital and consumer happiness: toward an alternative explanation of consumer-brand identification

The purposes of this study are to integrate organizational social capital theory and consumer happiness in a prior brand identification model and test the antecedents and consequences of consumer-brand identification over time. In the context of professional football, we collected data from 374 panel registrants of an online research service firm throughout a season. The results indicated consumer-brand identification was impacted to a greater extent by two social capital factors: (1) social interaction ties and (2) shared vision, than by brand prestige and brand distinctiveness. Both social interaction ties and consumer-brand identification were also predictive of future behavioral loyalty and purchase frequency. Further, our moderation analysis revealed the impact of consumer-brand identification on behavioral loyalty was contingent on consumer happiness. The proposed framework and results reinforce the importance of consumer-to-consumer social capital and consumer happiness and add new insights into the dynamics of consumer-brand identification, consumer happiness, and enduring consumer loyalty.