The role of the mPFC in the social influence of majority and expert opinion

Purpose Several studies have shown that superstitious beliefs, such as beliefs in “lucky” product attributes, influence consumer purchase behaviour. Still, little is known about how social influence, in particular mere social presence, impacts consumer superstition-related purchase decisions. Drawing on impression management theory, this paper aims to investigate the effect of social presence on consumer purchase decisions of products featuring lucky charms including the role of anticipated embarrassment as a mediator of the social presence effect. Design/methodology/approach In three studies, participants select products that feature or do not feature a lucky charm. They make these selections under varying conditions of social presence, as induced by the shopping setting in the scenario or through the use of confederates or fellow participants observing them make a real product selection. Participants are students from Australia and China. Findings The studies show that social presence makes consumers less likely to select products that feature a lucky charm. This suppressing effect is mediated by the consumers’ anticipated embarrassment. Research limitations/implications The study investigates the effect of social presence but does not investigate different parameters of social presence such as the number of people present and their familiarity. The study investigates effects for purchase settings but does not include effects of usage and neither does it look into differences across product types or lucky charm types. Practical implications Marketers should be careful to not make lucky charms too publicly salient. Online settings are more suitable than mortar-and-brick settings for selling products featuring a lucky charm. Originality/value The present research is the first to investigate consumer purchase behaviour for a product featuring a lucky charm. It is also the first to investigate the impact of social influence on superstition-based decision-making.

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Incidental Similarity Facilitates Behavioral Mimicry

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335.40.2.88 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

pp. 88-92 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Nicolas Guéguen ◽

Angélique Martin

Keyword(s):

Social Interaction ◽

Social Influence ◽

Nonverbal Behavior ◽

Similarity Condition ◽

Total N ◽

The Social ◽

Behavioral Mimicry

Research has shown that mimicry increases the social influence of the mimicker and leads to greater liking of the mimicker. It has been proposed that mimicry is exhibited to create affiliation and rapport during social interaction. In two experiments (total N = 95) we manipulated the role of incidental similarity between two individuals on mimicry behavior. Undergraduates who believed they had (vs. did not have) the same first name (Study 1) or same subject of study (Study 2) as a target presented on videotape were more likely to mimic the target’s nonverbal behavior. Results support the notion that mimicry helps to create affiliation and rapport because the desire to build such a relationship is higher in the similarity condition.

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The Effects of the Social Influence Approach on Swift Guanxi, Trust and Repurchase Intention When Considering Buyer Dependence

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13147777 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (14) ◽

pp. 7777

Author(s):

Wen-Kuei Wu ◽

Shu-Chin Huang ◽

Hsiao-Chung Wu ◽

Maw-Liann Shyu

Keyword(s):

Social Influence ◽

Least Squares ◽

Online Survey ◽

Research Model ◽

Repurchase Intention ◽

Partial Least Squares Analysis ◽

Positive Effects ◽

The Social ◽

Identification Approach

This study explores how social influence approaches alter buyer–seller swift guanxi, trust in the seller and repurchase intention when considering the influence of buyer dependence. Based on the results of an online survey in three cities of Taiwan, we empirically test the research model using partial least squares analysis. We found that buyer dependence exerts different but positive effects on each social influence approach usage and only the identification approach contributes to buyer–seller swift guanxi, trust in the seller and repurchase intention. The buyer–seller swift guanxi also mediates the effects of the identification approach and trust in the seller on repurchase intention. This study clarifies the role of buyer dependence on the seller’s social influence approaches and buyer–seller swift guanxi in the online C2C marketplace context. A seller should exploit buyer dependence, learn how to use each social influence approach and develop close buyer-seller swift guanxi, then repurchase intention can be secured.

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Tobacco use among urban Aboriginal Australian young people: a qualitative study of reasons for smoking, barriers to cessation and motivators for smoking cessation

Australian Journal of Primary Health ◽

10.1071/py13157 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 334 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Suzanne Cosh ◽

Kimberley Hawkins ◽

Gemma Skaczkowski ◽

David Copley ◽

Jacqueline Bowden

Keyword(s):

Smoking Cessation ◽

Young People ◽

Social Influence ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Smoking Initiation ◽

The Social ◽

Motivation To Quit ◽

As Stress ◽

Sporting Performance

Smoking prevalence among Aboriginal Australian young people greatly exceeds the prevalence in the broader population of Australian young people, yet limited research has explored the social context in which young Aboriginal Australians smoke. Four focus groups were conducted in 2009 with South Australian Aboriginal smokers aged 15–29 years residing in urban areas (n = 32) to examine attitudes and experiences surrounding smoking and quitting. The primary reasons for smoking initiation and maintenance among Aboriginal Australian young people were identified as stress, social influence and boredom. Motivators for quitting were identified as pregnancy and/or children, sporting performance (males only), cost issues and, to a lesser extent, health reasons. The barriers to cessation were identified as social influence, the perception of quitting as a distant event and reluctance to access cessation support. However, it appears that social influences and stress were particularly salient contributors to smoking maintenance among Aboriginal Australian young people. Smoking cessation interventions targeted at young urban Aboriginal Australian smokers should aim to build motivation to quit by utilising the motivators of pregnancy and/or children, sporting performance (males only), cost issues and, to a lesser extent, health reasons, while acknowledging the pertinent role of social influence and stress in the lives of young urban Aboriginal Australian smokers.

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

10.1101/2022.01.11.22269032 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Lucila Gisele Alvarez Zuzek ◽

Casey M Zipfel ◽

Shweta Bansal

Keyword(s):

Social Influence ◽

Empirical Data ◽

Social Dynamics ◽

Spatial Clustering ◽

Herd Immunity ◽

Social Processes ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Social Selection ◽

The Social

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 on 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.

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We distance most when our close circle does, not when we think we should

10.31234/osf.io/u74wc ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Bahar Tuncgenc ◽

Marwa El Zein ◽

Justin Sulik ◽

Martha Newson ◽

Yi Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Influence ◽

Collective Efficacy ◽

Social Influences ◽

Behavioural Change ◽

Bayesian Regression ◽

Human Sciences ◽

Regression Analyses ◽

The Social ◽

The Right

Why do we adopt new rules, such as social distancing? Although human sciences research stresses the key role of social influence in behaviour change, most COVID-19 campaigns emphasise the disease’s medical threat. In a global dataset (n= 6675), we investigated how social influences predict people’s adherence to distancing rules during the pandemic. Bayesian regression analyses controlling for stringency of local measures showed that people distanced most when they thought their close social circle did. Such social influence mattered more than people thinking distancing was the right thing to do. People’s adherence also aligned with their fellow citizens’, but only if they felt deeply bonded with their country. Self-vulnerability to the disease predicted distancing more for people with larger social circles. Collective efficacy and collectivism also significantly predicted distancing. To achieve behavioural change during crises, policymakers must emphasise shared values and harness the social influence of close friends and family.

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'OK Boomer': Internet Memes as Consciousness Building

The Radical Teacher ◽

10.5195/rt.2020.746 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 118 ◽

Author(s):

Morgan Anderson ◽

Gabriel Keehn

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Social Influence ◽

Economic Conditions ◽

The Political ◽

The Internet ◽

Public Pedagogy ◽

Political Landscape ◽

The Social ◽

Political Organizing

While the role of the internet and social media in influencing political organizing has gained the attention of scholars in recent years, less attention has been paid to the social influence of internet memes specifically. Internet memes, generally understood as an image overlaid with a word or series of words, have become a ubiquitous form of communication, especially for younger generations. A recent notable example is the emergence of the “OK Boomer” meme. Meant to express the political frustration of Millennials and younger generations with what they see as a fundamentally inequitable and hostile political landscape, the OK Boomer meme has become a shorthand way of signaling one’s understanding of the deepening structural inequalities that present unprecedented challenges for our nation’s youth. By outlining the sociopolitical and economic conditions that precipitated the OK Boomer meme, we argue that internet memes can be understood as consciousness building work that is a necessary precondition for political organizing. Lastly, we discuss the OK Boomer meme as a form of public pedagogy.

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Social Representations and Commitment

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040/a000317 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 233-249 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Eric Bonetto ◽

Fabien Girandola ◽

Grégory Lo Monaco

Keyword(s):

Social Representations ◽

Social Representation ◽

Second Line ◽

Review Of The Literature ◽

First Line ◽

Research Perspectives ◽

The Social ◽

Bibliographic Search ◽

English Articles

Abstract. This contribution consists of a critical review of the literature about the articulation of two traditionally separated theoretical fields: social representations and commitment. Besides consulting various works and communications, a bibliographic search was carried out (between February and December, 2016) on various databases using the keywords “commitment” and “social representation,” in the singular and in the plural, in French and in English. Articles published in English or in French, that explicitly made reference to both terms, were included. The relations between commitment and social representations are approached according to two approaches or complementary lines. The first line follows the role of commitment in the representational dynamics: how can commitment transform the representations? This articulation gathers most of the work on the topic. The second line envisages the social representations as determinants of commitment procedures: how can these representations influence the effects of commitment procedures? This literature review will identify unexploited tracks, as well as research perspectives for both areas of research.

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