Perceiving online public opinion: The impact of Facebook opinion cues, opinion climate congruency, and source credibility on speaking out

2020 ◽  
pp. 146144482093105
Author(s):  
Alisius D Leong ◽  
Shirley S Ho
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Source Credibility ◽  
Spiral Of Silence ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Speaking Out ◽  
The Spiral Of Silence ◽  
The Impact

The novel affordances and unique features on social media have transformed the way people assess public opinion. Drawing on the spiral of silence (SOS) theory, this study examines the roles that user-generated comments (UGCs) and aggregated user representations (AURs), represented by reaction emojis, play in shaping perceptions of the opinion climate. It also investigates how features on the platform trigger perceptions of source credibility to influence willingness to speak out. Results from a 3 (opinion cues: UGCs-only vs AURs-only vs UGCs and AURs) × 2 (opinion climate congruency: congruent vs incongruent) × 2 (source credibility: high vs low) between-subjects experimental design revealed that audiences perceived reaction emojis to reflect public opinion. Source credibility was found to affect willingness to speak out and moderate opinion climate congruency. The findings extend the SOS theory by highlighting the significant role that novel affordances have on SOS components operating online. Implications of the findings were discussed.

scholarly journals Can online exemplars trigger a spiral of silence? Examining the effects of exemplar opinions on perceptions of public opinion and speaking out

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1034-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Zerback ◽  
Nayla Fawzi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Spiral Of Silence ◽  
The Public ◽  
Speaking Out ◽  
Modern Media ◽  
Media Environments ◽  
The Public Sphere

In modern media environments, social media have fundamentally altered the way how individual opinions find their way into the public sphere. We link spiral of silence theory to exemplification research and investigate the effects of online opinions on peoples’ perceptions of public opinion and willingness to speak out. In an experiment, we can show that a relatively low number of online exemplars considerably influence perceived public support for the eviction of violent immigrants. Moreover, supporters of eviction were less willing to speak out on the issue online and offline when confronted with exemplars contradicting their opinion.

Who Speaks and Why? An Examination of Outspokenness on Social Networking Sites and a Reflection on Assessing Public Opinion Online

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella C Chia
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Spiral Of Silence ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Speaking Out ◽  
The Spiral Of Silence ◽  
Attitude Extremity

Abstract Incorporating the spiral of silence theory and the model of corrective behavior, this study utilized a national survey (N = 373) to investigate the questions of who chooses to speak out on social networking sites (SNSs) and for what reasons in the context of same-sex marriage in Taiwan. Strong partisans were found the most outspoken; they spoke out to prevent media influence that might sway public opinion to the disagreeable side. Only respondents of low attitude extremity would refrain themselves from speaking out on SNSs when perceiving opinion incongruence. Nonpartisans who held a neutral stand could be motivated to speak out when perceiving majority’s support for same-sex marriage. The roles that opinion stances or attitude extremity each play in public opinion process online are discussed.

Should I suggest this YouTube clip? The impact of UGC source credibility on eWOM and purchase intention

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mazzini Muda ◽  
Muhammad Iskandar Hamzah
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Structural Equation Modeling ◽  
Purchase Intention ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Source Credibility ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

PurposeIn spite of the increasing organic and interactive marketing activities over social media, a general understanding of the source credibility of voluntary user-generated content (UGC) is still limited. In line with the social identity theory, this paper examines the effects of consumers' perceived source credibility of UGC in YouTube videos on their attitudes and behavioral intentions. Additionally, source homophily theory is included to predict the antecedent of source credibility.Design/methodology/approachThree hundred and seventy two Generation Y respondents were interviewed using snowball sampling. Data were analyzed with component-based structural equation modeling technique of partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsFindings confirmed that perceived source credibility indirectly affects purchase intention (PI) and electronic word-of-mouth via attitude toward UGC. Besides, perceived source credibility mediates the effect of perceived source homophily on attitude toward UGC.Practical implicationsSince today's consumers have begun to trust and rely more on UGC than company-generated content on social media when making purchase decisions, companies may reconsider democratizing certain aspects of their branding strategies. Firms may fine-tune their marketing communication budgets – not only just by sponsoring public figures and celebrities but also by nurturing coproductive engagements with independent content creators who are ordinary consumers. Endowed with their imposing credibility, these micro-influencers and prosumers have high potentials to be uplifted to brand ambassadors.Originality/valueWhile consumers' purchase outcome can be measured easily using metrics and analytics, the roles of source homophily in stages leading up to the purchase is still elusive. Drawing on the rich theoretical basis of source homophily may help researchers to understand not only how credibility and attitude are related to PI but also how this nexus generates positive word of mouth among UGC followers within the social media circles.

The Impact of the Greek Indignados on Greek Politics

2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paris Aslanidis ◽  
Nikos Marantzidis
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Party System ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The Impact

The burden of this paper is to assert the significance of the 2011 movement of the Greek indignados for Greek politics during the Great Recession. Acknowledging the systematically feeble analysis of the nexus between non-institutional and electoral politics in social movement literature, the authors analyze the emergence, development, and heritage of the Greek indignados, focusing squarely on their impact on public opinion and the domestic party system, both at the level of interparty, as well as intraparty dynamics. The authors’ conclusions are drawn mainly from an analysis of political party discourse, public opinion data, and interviews conducted on the field, catering equally for the supply and demand side of the novel political claims that surfaced during the first years of the Greek sovereign debt crisis. The authors point to the crucial contribution of the movement’s discourse in facilitating voter defection from the traditional two-party system that ruled Greece for more than thirty years, and argue that the indignados functioned as a beacon of populist discursive tropes, which cemented the emergence of a new divide in Greek society between pro- and anti-bailout citizens. Conclusively, the authors take the position that the imprint of the indignados on the Greek psyche has had tremendous repercussions in consolidating a new party system, by undermining traditional political forces and legitimizing new, anti-establishment contenders.

scholarly journals The impact of credibility of influencers recommendations on social media on consumers behavior towards brands

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 181-196
Author(s):  
Piotr Kwiatek ◽  
Radoslav Baltezarević ◽  
Stavros Papakonstantinidis
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Consumer Attitudes ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Target Market ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Purchasing Decisions ◽  
The Impact

Companies are becoming increasingly aware of the importance and opportunities provided by social media in order to communicate faster and more efficiently with their consumers. In order to convey the message about the value of their brands to their target market, organizations hire influential people who are considered to be the creators of public opinion in a virtual environment. Nowadays, social media are crowded with micro and macro influencers, or at least those who present themselves as such. Their main job is to represent and recommend brands to other users (their followers) and thus influence consumer attitudes about brands and possibly strengthen their purchasing decisions. Very often, influencers on social media are hired by companies to promote their brands for a fee. In order to have more control over their communication activities, companies provide them, in advance, with the content they want to be conveyed to consumers, but also the time frame when the message should be launched. In this way, organizations try to reduce the risk of turning electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM) communication into a negative one. In order for consumers to trust the recommendations of influencers on social media, these people need to have significant expertise in a certain area, charisma and respect from other users, so that their credibility affects the value of content and recommendations they place in the online environment. The aim of this paper is to present the attitudes of respondents who use social media websites about the impact of the credibility of influencers' recommendations on social media, and their opinion on whether and in what way their credibility influences consumer attitudes towards brands.

scholarly journals A Complete VADER-Based Sentiment Analysis of Bitcoin (BTC) Tweets during the Era of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Toni Pano ◽  
Rasha Kashef
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Prediction Model ◽  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Financial Sector ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
Text Preprocessing ◽  
The Impact

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many research studies have been conducted to examine the impact of the outbreak on the financial sector, especially on cryptocurrencies. Social media, such as Twitter, plays a significant role as a meaningful indicator in forecasting the Bitcoin (BTC) prices. However, there is a research gap in determining the optimal preprocessing strategy in BTC tweets to develop an accurate machine learning prediction model for bitcoin prices. This paper develops different text preprocessing strategies for correlating the sentiment scores of Twitter text with Bitcoin prices during the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore the effect of different preprocessing functions, features, and time lengths of data on the correlation results. Out of 13 strategies, we discover that splitting sentences, removing Twitter-specific tags, or their combination generally improve the correlation of sentiment scores and volume polarity scores with Bitcoin prices. The prices only correlate well with sentiment scores over shorter timespans. Selecting the optimum preprocessing strategy would prompt machine learning prediction models to achieve better accuracy as compared to the actual prices.

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.

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