Silence in the crowd: The spiral of silence contributing to the positive bias of opinions in an online review system

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 1811-1829 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A Askay
Keyword(s):  
Online Review ◽  
Spiral Of Silence ◽  
Positive Bias ◽  
Review System ◽  
The Spiral Of Silence

The Spiral of Silence Revisited

2015 ◽  
pp. 88-102
Author(s):  
Christiane Eilders ◽  
Pablo Porten-Cheé
Keyword(s):  
Spiral Of Silence ◽  
The Spiral Of Silence

Students’ Spiraling Silence and Willingness to Communicate about Religion in the United States: An Exploration of the Media’s Role in Stigmatizing Religion

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Mariam F. Alkazemi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Survey Methods ◽  
Media Exposure ◽  
The United States ◽  
Willingness To Communicate ◽  
Spiral Of Silence ◽  
Majority Opinion ◽  
Silence Effect ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Spiral Of Silence

The spiral of silence effect describes individuals’ tendency to silence minority opinions, whilst using the media to gauge majority opinion. While the spiral of silence effect has been explored in controversial political contexts, the phenomenon has not been scrutinized in its relation to religious communication. The current study applies this concept to further the current understanding of communication as it applies to religion. A questionnaire was distributed electronically to 94 students at a large university in the southeastern United States. Using survey methods, this paper finds that religiosity is positively correlated to willingness to communicate about religion. This paper also finds that media exposure is not related to either willingness to communicate about religion or religiosity.

scholarly journals A comparison of hotel ratings between verified and non-verified online review platforms

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-171
Author(s):  
Paolo Figini ◽  
Laura Vici ◽  
Giampaolo Viglia
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Time Windows ◽  
Structural Difference ◽  
Online Review ◽  
Review System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Platform Comparison ◽  
Fake Reviews ◽  
Early Phases

Purpose This study aims to compare the rating dynamics of the same hotels in two online review platforms (Booking.com and Trip Advisor), which mainly differ in requiring or not requiring proof of prior reservation before posting a review (respectively, a verified vs a non-verified platform). Design/methodology/approach A verified system, by definition, cannot host fake reviews. Should also the non-verified system be free from “ambiguous” reviews, the structure of ratings (valence, variability, dynamics) for the same items should also be similar. Any detected structural difference, on the contrary, might be linked to a possible review bias. Findings Travelers’ scores in the non-verified platform are higher and much more volatile than ratings in the verified platform. Additionally, the verified review system presents a faster convergence of ratings towards the long-term scores of individual hotels, whereas the non-verified system shows much more discordance in the early phases of the review window. Research limitations/implications The paper offers insights into how to detect suspicious reviews. Non-verified platforms should add indices of scores’ dispersion to existing information available in websites and mobile apps. Moreover, they can use time windows to delete older (and more likely biased) reviews. Findings also ring a warning bell to tourists about the reliability of ratings, particularly when only a few reviews are posted online. Originality/value The across-platform comparison of single items (in terms of ratings’ dynamics and speed of convergence) is a novel contribution that calls for extending the analysis to different destinations and types of platform.

A Cross-cultural Test of the Spiral of Silence Theory in Singapore and the United States1

2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waipeng Lee ◽  
Benjamin H. Detenber ◽  
Lars Willnat ◽  
Sean Aday ◽  
Joseph Graf
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Spiral Of Silence ◽  
The Spiral Of Silence

Why Do Partisan Audiences Participate? Perceived Public Opinion as the Mediating Mechanism

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shira Dvir-Gvirsman ◽  
R. Kelly Garrett ◽  
Yariv Tsfati
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Media Exposure ◽  
Positive Outcome ◽  
Selective Exposure ◽  
Spiral Of Silence ◽  
Behavioral Measures ◽  
The Spiral Of Silence ◽  
Partisan Media ◽  
The One

The bulk of current literature on partisan media explores its various detrimental influences on the democratic sphere. This study highlights a possible positive outcome of partisan media consumption: enhanced political participation. It is hypothesized that consumption of congruent partisan media will tilt perceptions of opinion climate so that it is viewed as more supportive of one’s views, while consumption of incongruent partisan media is viewed as less supportive. Consequently, consumers of congruent partisan media will participate more, and vice versa. The hypotheses are tested using two panel studies: the first conducted during the 2012 U.S. presidential elections ( N = 377) whereas the second, during the 2013 Israeli election ( N = 340). In the Israeli case, survey data are supplemented with behavioral measures. All hypotheses are supported except the one regarding the effects of incongruent partisan media exposure. The results are discussed in light of the spiral of silence theory and the selective exposure hypothesis.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document