Abstract: Based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study examined how rewards weaken intrinsic motivation to use a retail loyalty program. Two experiments were conducted. Study 1 revealed that individuals who received a salient reward (an explicit requirement and deadline for reward achievement and no reward options) reported lower intrinsic motivation to engage in the loyalty program than those who received a non-salient reward (a less explicit requirement, no deadline, and reward options). Study 2 found that the salient reward presented in the gamified form using interactive, graphical feedback enhanced the lowered intrinsic motivation. Implications for designing effective loyalty programs are discussed.
Tag: conference paper
A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Media Context on Ad Attitudes
Abstract: The role of media context in advertising engagement has been the subject of interest for advertisers and media practitioners over the past 50 years. However, there remains a lack of understanding and clarity on the relationship between media context and ad effectiveness. To unify previous literature and provide a bigger picture of the relationship, this study meta-analytically examined the relationships between media context and consumers’ attitudes toward the ad/brand/product (ad attitudes hereafter) as one of the ad effectiveness outcome measures. A total of 31 years of researchfindings (i.e., 75 studies) were synthesized. Overall, media context and ad attitudes were moderately and positively correlated, but the effect differed by study characteristics and specific media context as well as types of ad attitudes. The findings suggest that different media contexts leverage consumers’ ad attitudes differently. This implies the need for academic researchers to continue to research this area and for practitioners to pay close attention to media contexts in media decisions.
A Social Networks Approach to Online Social Movement:
Abstract: The movement to free Al Jazeera journalists (#FreeAJStaff), imprisoned by Egyptian authorities, utilized Twitter over almost two years, between 2014 and 2015. This study applied a social networks approach to study patterns of information flow, social mediators, and clusters, formed by the #FreeAJStaff movement on Twitter.Analysis of 22 months of data found social mediators (actors who connect two clusters) to be primarily core movement actors (e.g., Al Jazeera) or elites (e.g., politicians), rather than grassroots actors. Furthermore, core actors exhibited more reciprocal relationship with other users than elite actors. In contrast, elite actors were more successful evoking an exchange of messages. Last, this study identified the mechanism used to create a Spillover Effect between social movements (e.g., #FreeAJStaff and #FreeShawkan), finding that mediated content, which travels across clusters, was more likely to include non-FreeAJStuff movement hashtags, than siloed content, which remains within a cluster. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Organizational Conflicts and Emotions on Social Media
Abstract: For employees, conflicts can be very emotional encounters (Jones, 2000), causing stress, anger, fright, sadness, and anxiety. Increasingly, organizational issues and conflicts are discussed on social media (Meriläinen & Vos, 2011) and social media use can help employees express their emotions and cope with the stress caused by conflict situations (Neubaum et al., 2014). While social media have been studied as a means for reputation- and issue management, emotions have largely been neglected. Therefore, this project aims to increase our understanding of the role of emotions in employees’ social media use during an organizational conflict. Our new theoretical framework proposes: 1) Sense making processes underlie employees’ emotional responses to conflict situations; 2) Emotional responses are more pronounced when an employee identifies strongly with conflict actors, or when the outcomes of the conflict are personally relevant; and 3) Employees use social media to cope with conflict-related emotions, although to a lesser extent when they consider social media use risky.
Treading Troubled Water
Abstract: Institutional knowledge and collective learning are invaluable resources for the corporate communications profession. How corporations and government agencies have historically communicated with publics provides historical parameters for developing public communication competencies and ethical standards. Through the lens of organizational learning and historical analogy, this study examines public relations in the era of the Great Depression, as a historical, economic crisis. Grounded in the Cultural Economic Model, the cultural processes in business, public relations, and government during the Great Depression are explored through archival data retrieved from the Museum of Public Relations, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library. Themes from the archival research suggest how organizational learning via historical analogy can inform ethical and effective crisis communication practice and equip today’s public relations practitioners with resources for crisis preparedness in the future. Artifacts examined will be available for viewing during the presentation.
Romantic motivations for social media use, social comparison, and online aggression among adolescents
Abstract: This study examines whether adolescent motivations for social media use, social comparison tendencies and gender are related to online aggression victimization and/or perpetration. Results of a hierarchical multiple regression conducted on data from a national cross-sectional survey of middle adolescents (N = 340) reveals that social media use, romantic motivations, social belongingness motivations and greater social comparison tendencies predicted online aggression victimization (R2 = .38). Information motivations and entertainment motivations negatively predict online aggression perpetration, but romantic motivations, social comparison, and social media use were positive predictors (R2 = .34). Further examination of interactions and indirect effects reveal that romantic motivations for social media use are an important predictor of involvement in online aggression among adolescents.
Image and framing effects on perceptions of self-efficacy and body satisfaction
Abstract: This study, in the context of encouraging participants to enroll in a company’s employee wellness program, uses gain-loss framing (Rothman & Salovey, 1997) and social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954) to examine the effects of messages on participant perceptions of self-efficacy for maintaining a healthy weight, consuming healthful foods and body satisfaction. A 2 (framing: gain vs. loss) x 2 (images: professional model vs. everyday person) x 1 (control group) between-subjects experiment (N = 204) revealed no significant main effects. Interaction effects for predicting maintaining a healthy weight and body satisfaction were significant. Simple effects analysis shows that the loss-framed messaging accounts for the effects, whereby loss frames with imagery of the everyday person leads to higher self-efficacy and higher body satisfaction, compared to imagery of a professional model after accounting for related covariates.
Advertising a Health Product Brand on Facebook
Abstract: The current study examined the effects of 3 types of Facebook reaction icons (positive, neutral, negative) and valence of comments (positive, neutral, negative) on brand attitude, trust, information seeking, purchase intention, and eWOM intention towards a health brand. Additionally, the study also assessed potential moderating effects of social media use on the relationship between Facebook reaction icons and eWOM intention. A 3 (reaction icons: positive vs. neutral vs. negative) x 3 (valence of comments: positive vs. neutral vs. negative) between-subjects experiment with a sample of college students (N = 306) from a large public university in the U.S. was conducted. The findings indicated that positive Facebook reaction icons (i.e. like and love) significantly influenced brand attitude, trust, purchase intention and eWOM intention. Moreover, positive and neutral post comments significantly impacted brand attitude and trust. However, degree of SNS use negatively moderated between valence of reaction icons and eWOM intention. Implications for future research are discussed.
E-Cigarette Marketing on Social Networking Sites
Abstract: Applying elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and extant literature on consumer-brand engagement (CBE), this study examined exposure to three types of electronic cigarette (e-cig) marketing messages (sponsored ads, brand pages, user-created groups) on social networking sites (SNSs), and their joint influence on brand- and health-related outcomes. Results (N=1016) indicated that e-cig users who joined user-created e-cig brand groups had significantly more negative attitudes towards quitting, lower perceived behavioral control, intention to quit and self-efficacy than those exposed to sponsored ads or following brand pages, while also having significantly greater brand involvement, self-brand connection, brand usage intent and eWoM intention. Exposure to two or more types of e-cig marketing messages had an additive effect on health- and brand-related outcomes. Social identification, attention to social comparison and subjective norms also moderated between exposure to e-cig marketing messages and key dependent measures. Implications for marketers and regulators are discussed.
Effects of Message Framing on Influenza Vaccination
Abstract: The current study examined the effects of framing in promotional health messages on intention to vaccinate against seasonal influenza virus. The findings of the experimental study (n=86) indicated that exposure to both benefits and side effects of vaccination (gain-framed with risk disclosure message) led to lower intention to receive the flu vaccine. This relationship was mediated by both perceived vaccine efficacy and felt ambivalence in sequential order, revealing the underlying psychological mechanisms important for understanding health related behaviors. Theoretical implications of constructing sub-framed messages are discussed and the concept of second-order framing is introduced.
Abstract: The current study examined the effects of framing in promotional health messages on intention to vaccinate against seasonal influenza virus. The findings of the experimental study (n=86) indicated that exposure to both benefits and side effects of vaccination (gain-framed with risk disclosure message) led to lower intention to receive the flu vaccine. This relationship was mediated by both perceived vaccine efficacy and felt ambivalence in sequential order, revealing the underlying psychological mechanisms important for understanding health related behaviors. Theoretical implications of constructing sub-framed messages are discussed and the concept of second-order framing is introduced.