The direct and indirect effects of advertising on materialism of college students in China

In this study, we propose a theoretical framework through which we examine the direct and the indirect effects of advertising on college students’ materialistic attitudes in China. The framework is built on the influence-of-presumed-influence model, which allows us to examine how advertising and peer influence interact with each other and exert joint effects. We conducted a survey of 210 undergraduate students aged from 17 to 24 in Beijing, China. Results of the survey suggest that, in addition to its direct effect, advertising produces an indirect effect on college students’ materialism via their presumed advertising influence on peers. The findings of this study have practical implications for both educators and marketers.     

Connecting social media use with gaps in knowledge and participation in a protest context: the case of candle light vigil in South Korea

This study sheds light on the recent use of social media for protests, with the 2016 South Korean candle light vigils as the case study. An extensive amount of literature has explored social media’s potential for informing and mobilizing the public to engage in protest activities. Previous research has mainly focused on the direct effect of social media on protest engagement. Moving beyond the direct effect, this paper sought a better understanding of social media’s role in the democratic process by examining how social media affects political knowledge and protest participation, depending on an individual’s political interest level. To test these relationships, this study used survey data collected in South Korea during the mass candlelight vigils in South Korea in 2016 (N?=?922). Findings suggest that the knowledge gap narrowed amongst those with high social media use, mainly due to a greater knowledge drop for those with high political interest. On the other hand, when it comes to participation, the participation gap widened amongst those with high social media use, largely due to a greater increase in participation for those with high political interest. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Social Network Sites and Political Engagement: Exploring the Impact of Facebook Connections and Uses on Political Protest and Participation

Past studies have shown positive relationships between use of social network sites (SNSs) and political engagement, but an understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship is limited because the studies often did not take into account the diverse affordances of SNSs that can influence participation in different ways. Adopting the O-S-R-O-R (Orientation–Stimulus–Reasoning–Orientation–Response) model of political communication effects, this study examined the roles of Facebook network size, connections with public political actors, use for news, and political expression on political attitudes, protest, and participation. Structural equation analyses were conducted based on data from a national sample in Hong Kong, a city-state with one of the world’s highest Facebook penetration rates. Results showed that Facebook network size and connections with public political actors exhibit both direct and indirect effects on participation through Facebook news, expression, and efficacy. Facebook news exhibited indirect effects primarily though political expression. A discriminant function analysis also showed that age, education, and online news exposure were the most influential variables for distinguishing Facebook users and nonusers. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

企业信息系统用户接受行为影响因素研究——以ERP系统为例

构建企业信息系统用户接受概念模型,并以ERP系统作为企业信息系统为例进行实证研究,采用结构方程分析方法对概念模型中结构变量间的关系假设进行验证。研究结果表明,模型中提出的多数变量对持续使用意图具有直接或间接影响,对于了解企业信息系统使用中的用户行为作用具有重要意义。     

Emotional Contagion or Symbolic Cognition? A Social Identity Perspective on Media Events

This study aims to understand the psychological mechanisms of the generation of viewers’ emotional reactions in successful media events and the role of social identity in the process. An online survey was conducted among Chinese viewers shortly after an important national ceremony was broadcast in China. A direct route between viewers’ media consumption and emotional arousal and a mediated route between them through cognition of the symbolism in the event were found. However, high-nationalist viewers were only aroused through symbolic cognition, while low-nationalist viewers gained emotions through both the direct and the indirect routes. The findings suggest two psychological mechanisms of ritual communications moderated by social identities and clarify the role of social identity in media ritual theories.     

知乎问答社区回答者知识贡献行为受同伴效应影响研究

社会化问答社区的出现改变了原有的问答模式并拓展了知识获取的途径。回答者作为知识的主要贡献者,是促进问答社区内知识传递的核心要素。现有关于问答社区用户的研究普遍以用户的属性数据为依据,较少考虑使用个体连接所形成的关系数据进行分析。本文以中文问答社区"知乎"为研究对象,爬取了"流行音乐"和"英语学习"两个话题下的大规模数据,通过构建回答者关注关系网络,定义和量化直接连接和间接连接两类同伴关系,使用网络自回归模型探究同伴效应对知识贡献行为的影响。研究发现,回答者的知识贡献行为会受到直接和间接连接同伴效应的正向影响,但是间接连接同伴效应会随着回答者网络密度的增加而逐渐减弱甚至消失,聚类系数对回答者的知识贡献行为有负向影响。     

Measuring and Evaluating Reciprocal Journalism as a Concept

Building on research proposing reciprocal journalism as a concept underlying participatory practices and norms in journalism, this study examines how reciprocity might meaningfully be measured in a journalistic context. Using a survey of US journalists, this study adapts measures of reciprocal attitudes and behaviors to journalistic practices. It also develops measures of direct, indirect, and sustained reciprocity as applied to journalism, and explores the relationship between each of these reciprocal forms and one type of participatory behavior: interacting with audiences online. The results indicate that some measurements of positive reciprocity can be meaningfully translated to a journalistic environment and may help to predict forms of audience interaction. For future research, the findings point to the potential for forms of reciprocity to be explored as antecedents for other journalistic norms and practices.     

News use,nationalism, and Internet use motivations as predictors of anti-Japanese political actions in China

Although the rise of nationalistic activism in the Chinese online sphere has drawn much scholarly attention, few studies have examined how nationalism, usages, and motivations of the Internet affect nationalistic actions among general Internet users in China. Using Sino-Japanese diplomatic disputes as a testing ground, this study investigates the effects of news use from traditional and new media, nationalistic attitudes, and motivations for Internet use on anti-Japanese political behaviors such as boycotting and protest participation. Analyses of online survey data revealed that nationalism is positively correlated with information-seeking and social-interaction motivations for Internet use regarding Sino-Japanese disputes. Results also showed that the stronger the motivation for using the Internet to discuss topics associated with Sino-Japanese disputes, the more likely respondents engaged in anti-Japanese behaviors. This study indicates that nationalistic attitudes and motivations involved in the use of new media technologies have significant effects on mobilizing supporters for anti-Japanese actions.     

企业内部社会网络对知识共享行为的影响机制研究

在现有文献的基础上,基于社会认知理论,从组织环境层面出发,对企业内部社会网络对知识共享行为的影响机制进行研究,构建一个概念模型。研究发现,企业内部社会网络不仅对知识共享行为产生直接影响,而且还通过影响个体的自我效能和结果预期,进而对知识共享行为产生间接影响。最后,根据该模型,从企业内部网络角度以及个体的自我效能和结果预期方面,提出促进知识共享的相关对策。     

Mapping contentious discourse in China: activists’ discursive strategies and their coordination with media

Discursive strategy in social movements in China has received limited scholarly attention. This paper systemically examines the way in which contentious discourse in China is informed by its cultural repertoire and illustrates how activists strategically frame their culturally informed discourse in coordination with the usage of media platforms. We analyzed 143 slogans and banners from 22 environmental and land requisition protests, and found that activists in China draw heavily on Chinese cultural repertoire. They embed family values in a rank system that is mapped onto two axes – space vs. time and us vs. them – with family/self at the center, to frame diagnostic, motivational, and prognostic collective action frames. In order to unpack the dynamic process of strategic framing, we paid special attention to activists’ coordination mechanisms with media in our analyses drawn from extensive participatory observation and interviews in two protest cases. We found strategic framing (such as frame bridging, amplification, extension, transformation and borrowing) was used in coordination with both traditional and new media in an effort to adjust their contentious discourse to achieve consensus mobilization, action mobilization, and social mobilization at various stages of protest. This study brings cultural repertoire back into the study of contentious discourse in China and highlights the dynamic nature of strategic framing that is often practiced in coordination with media.     

The prediction of Internet utilization behavior of undergraduate agricultural students: An application of the theory of planned behavior

Abstract

The theory of planned behavior has received significant attention more recently. This study used a survey to apply the theory of planned behavior to predict the Internet utilization behavior among 214 undergraduate agricultural students in Iran. Coefficient correlations and linear regressions were employed to analyze relationships among constructs. Results revealed that subjective norm and intention were the strongest predictors of the Internet utilization behavior, which explained 57% of the variance. Perceived behavioral control was the most significant predictor of the Internet use intentions. Subjective norms, to a lesser degree also had important influences on intention. Attitude did not surface as an effective direct predictor of the Internet utilization behavior. Finally, the theory of planned behavior was supported as an effective model explaining the Internet utilization behavior. The most prevalent reason to stop using the Internet was that they were experiencing problems getting access to the Internet.     

In Defense of “Mass Communication” and Other Stuff

A consistent news frame that deligitmizes and depicts most social protests as "police vs. protesters" has been identified in studies of news coverage of social movements. This study used an experimental design to examine the extent to which photographs and prior attitudes toward protests and protesters in general contribute to previously identified framing effects of protest news. Results indicated that for the protest issue of interest evaluations of the protest and protesters were more negative when photos depicting higher levels of conflict were shown. The amount of conflict shown in the photos did not affect evaluations of the protest and protesters when the issue was of less interest to participants. Additionally, participants who had more positive prior attitudes toward protesting in general were more likely to identify with the protesters in the stimulus story and to perceive that the protest was more effective than were those with more negative prior attitudes. Findings suggest the need to address possible nuances associated with the visuals alone and to incorporate prior attitudes when examining effects of news coverage of protests.     

Cartoon planet: the cross-cultural acceptance of Japanese animation

Japanese animation, the un-Disney, represents a major challenge to US global entertainment dominance. Through interviews, survey research and content/ratings analysis, this study discovered two facets of between-nation differences: (1) Japan's favorite anime (e.g., ‘Sazae-san’) differ from those of overseas audiences, and (2) overseas audiences’ favorites differ (‘Doraemon’ in Asia, but not in the West). Regional factors rather than cultural proximity account for anime being more popular in Asia than in the West. Ironically, overseas exports may save an industry that has up to now (despite characters’ Caucasian look) been aimed at a domestic base.     

Apps and Autonomy: Perceived Interactivity and Autonomous Regulation in mHealth Applications

Thousands of smartphone apps geared toward monitoring health behaviors are released regularly. Even as developers flood the market with mHealth apps, consumers seem overwhelmed with choices and report lack of sustained use, which raises questions about their efficacy. An online survey (N = 513) found that perceived interactivity not only has a direct effect but also exerts an indirect effect via greater autonomous regulation on users’ attitudes and behavioral intentions toward mHealth apps. Frequency of tracking and updating personal data showed significant effects on behavioral intentions. Theoretical and practical suggestions for the design and evaluation of mHealth apps are discussed.     

Marginalization Devices in U.S. Press Coverage of Iraq War Protest: A Content Analysis

Although a great deal of research has identified ways in which mass media can delegitimize social protest groups, little effort has been given to examining the relative prevalence of each of these mechanisms (labeled marginalization devices in this study) in media coverage of protest movements. By employing an innovative typology, the author examined the prominence of these devices in noneditorial coverage of Iraq War protest in 3 major U.S. newspapers over a 1-year period. In addition to gauging the prevalence of each device, the study also determined which specific devices were associated with either a positive or negative overall story tone toward the protesters. Although coverage in general was not more likely to be either negative or positive toward war-protest groups, stories containing the most commonly implemented devices were more likely to be negative in overall tone. Practical and scholarly implications are discussed in scrutinizing the mass media's role in shaping interpretations of sociopolitical issues.     

From Mass to Elite Protests: News Coverage and the Evolution of Antigovernment Demonstrations in Brazil

In 2013, small demonstrations against bus fares evolved into a series of large protests expressing generalized dissatisfaction with leftist president Dilma Rousseff in Brazil. Communication research has long examined the “protest paradigm,” a pattern of news coverage delegitimizing social movements. The Brazilian context provided a chance to assess the extent to which the paradigm holds when protests take on a conservative elite-supported narrative contesting the government. Through a quantitatively driven mixed-methods approach combining content analysis and interviews with mainstream journalists, this study revealed that when grievances evolved into coherent antigovernment demands, official sources from opposition parties served to legitimize the movement. As such, this study departed from an understanding of protest coverage as paradigmatic toward a complex view of the relationship between protestors and the press. Findings showed that when elite opposition groups supported protests, journalistic norms and routines validated demonstrations.     

From Wall Street to Wellington: Protests in an Era of Digital Ubiquity

The Occupy movement is said to represent a new generation of post-Seattle protests, driven by social networking, and breaking from organizing practices in previous eras. This study analyzes the Occupy Wellington protest to shed light on the role of protests in an era of digital media ubiquity. Based on the participant observation as well as 76 brief interviews, the study explores how activists used digital media, and examines the broader institutional logics that shaped organizing dynamics at the protest. The analysis discusses digital media saturation and the multiple institutional logics that activists drew from in their organizing, including collective action, connective action, aggregation, and networking. We argue that digital ubiquity marks the onset of a profound hybridity rather than an abrupt change in activist organizing practices.     

Social media,legacy media and gatekeeping: the protest paradigm in news of Ferguson and Charlottesville

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the site of intersection between legacy and social media, whereby it asks how local legacy media (St Louis Post-Dispatch and Richmond Times-Dispatch) invoked social media (Facebook and Twitter) discourse within their coverage of the Ferguson (2014) and Charlottesville (2017) events. It thus explores how gatekeeping is manifested and, consequently, how the protest paradigm emerged in a news landscape of proliferating social media. Thematic textual analysis indicates that coverage of Charlottesville and Ferguson clearly relied on indulging the social media sphere in important ways. Common themes of social media as multipurpose platforms, as interfacing with law and order, and as reconciling material and digital modes culminating in social activism were revealed. The study shows that the protest paradigm that has long characterized legacy media’s coverage of social protest is not as “pure” as it may once have been, since a social media component is helping define the contours and content of legacy media’s landscape.     

网络传播与认知风险:社交媒体环境下的风险信息搜索行为研究

在风险社会中,科技的发展不仅是衡量现代性的核心要素,同时也是催生不确定性的重要原因。社交媒体的发展很大程度改变了风险传播的景观,使得风险认知和媒介信息之间的关系更加复杂。本研究采用问卷调查法对临近核电站建设区域社交媒体用户进行调查,旨在探讨社交媒体环境下的信息对受众风险信息搜索行为的影响。本研究采用结构方程模型的分析方法,从社会认知理论出发考察社交媒体环境中信息的质量对受众反应的作用过程。结果显示信息质量可以通过影响用户的风险认知、风险知识水平和自我效能三个变量影响其风险信息搜索行为,从而证明社交媒体所构建的信息环境会显著作用于人们对于风险的认知和行为反应。本研究的发现期待可以为风险传播中的有效公众沟通策略以及线上风险信息管理提供参考。