An Analysis of the Dynamics of the Legitimation Processes of Innovations in Open Source Software:

Within the Open Source Software (OSS) literature, there is a lack of studies addressing the legitimation processes of innovations that are born in OSS. This study sets out to analyze the legitimation processes of innovations within the deliberations of the Drupal project. The data set constitutes 52 rational deliberation cases discussing innovations that were proposed by members of the community. Habermas’s Ideal Speech Situations (ISS) is used as the framework to view Drupal’s rational deliberations from; in fact within the 52 cases that are examined in this thesis, there were no violations to the guidelines of the ISS in the deliberations. The Communicative Action Theory, Influence Tactics theory and the theory of Validity Claims are aspects of the framework that is used to code and analyze the conversations. These aspects allow for an effective conceptualization of the dynamics of the Drupal deliberations. This thesis was able to find that legitimation processes of innovations in open source software were influenced by the type, complexity and implications of the innovations on the rest of the community. Also, bug fixes, complex innovations and innovations that have implications on the rest of the software will result in a long (in terms of number of comments) legitimation process. Also, it is empirically backed in this study that in open deliberations that aim at achieving mutual understanding towards a common goal, the communicative action type and the rational persuasion influence tactic are the most common methods for innovators to interact with the community.

An Analysis of the Dynamics of the Legitimation Processes of Innovations in Open Source Software:

Within the Open Source Software (OSS) literature, there is a lack of studies addressing the legitimation processes of innovations that are born in OSS. This study sets out to analyze the legitimation processes of innovations within the deliberations of the Drupal project. The data set constitutes 52 rational deliberation cases discussing innovations that were proposed by members of the community. Habermas’s Ideal Speech Situations (ISS) is used as the framework to view Drupal’s rational deliberations from; in fact within the 52 cases that are examined in this thesis, there were no violations to the guidelines of the ISS in the deliberations. The Communicative Action Theory, Influence Tactics theory and the theory of Validity Claims are aspects of the framework that is used to code and analyze the conversations. These aspects allow for an effective conceptualization of the dynamics of the Drupal deliberations. This thesis was able to find that legitimation processes of innovations in open source software were influenced by the type, complexity and implications of the innovations on the rest of the community. Also, bug fixes, complex innovations and innovations that have implications on the rest of the software will result in a long (in terms of number of comments) legitimation process. Also, it is empirically backed in this study that in open deliberations that aim at achieving mutual understanding towards a common goal, the communicative action type and the rational persuasion influence tactic are the most common methods for innovators to interact with the community.

An Empirical Study on Reverse Psychology Applied in Advertising Messages

Reverse psychology, also known as psychological reactance, is a social influence tactic that encourages people to act the opposite of what it is suggested. This technique has been applied by marketers in advertising in which a negative message or tagline (e.g., “you don’t buy the product) is used to motivate consumers to make purchase. Psychological reactance theory advocates that reactance occurs when people react to restore a freedom when it is eliminated or threatened to be eliminated. The expected response to an advertising message of not doing something is to do it. An experiment was designed to measure if 52 subjects were comfortable with negative advertising messages yet felt interested in them. Results showed that 49.7% of subjects were interested in these messages, although 76.6% of them were uncomfortable with the negative advertising messages. Results suggested that the application of reverse psychology tactic in advertising enable marketers to create awareness and raise interest of consumers. It is also interesting to find out that 40.8% of subjects were uncomfortable with the messages but showed interest in them. The practical way of using reverse psychology in advertising is discussed at the end of paper with an example for illustration.

Creating University Spaces of Inspiration

Our review and research examines the power bases and influences university lecturers can deploy to motivate their students to learn. Lecturers are in similar situations as leaders, that is, to be successfully they must secure scarce resources. In other words, lecturers must convince students to deploy their scarce resources of time and effort to the task of learning. The research examines which (a) workplace ideas can be applied to a university learning space, (b) key environmental influences, (c) the core influence tactic to gain and influence the attention of students, (d) the supplementary tactics to gain and influence the attention of students, and finally, (e) five case studies are present which demonstrate how space for inspiration can be created. This research attempts to provide an in-depth understanding of how power and influence exist in the learning environment and can be used to create university space for inspiration. Simply put, for inspiration to occur the politics and environment must be enabling rather than inhibiting.

The Moderating Effect of Helping Behavior on the Relationship Between Ingratiation and Supervisor Satisfaction

This study investigates the combined effect of ingratiation and helping behavior on supervisor satisfaction in the workplace. Based on a sample of 168 supervisors and 453 employees working in Pakistan’s hospitality sector, we find that the effect of ingratiation is insignificant at lower levels of helping behavior. However, the relationship between ingratiation and supervisor satisfaction becomes significant as helping behavior increases. This suggests that a combination of ingratiation and helping tactics is more effective in achieving supervisor satisfaction than relying on a single influence tactic.

Gebruik van invloedtactieken door de OR: Duitsland en Nederland vergeleken

Works councils' use of influence tactics: A comparison between Germany and the Netherlands The relationship between works council and management is of great importance for works councils' performance. In this study, we focus on the influence tactics used by works councils to obtain more voice and influence in decision-making processes. We distinguish between the following six influence tactics: consulting the labor union, cooperating, blocking, exchange, upward appeal, and emphasizing legitimacy. We study the differences between German and Dutch works councils, and between business with different levels of internationalization. We perform regression analyses on information from 500 Dutch and 853 German questionnaires. The use of influence tactics is positively related to voice and influence. In Germany, formal tactics, such as emphasizing legitimacy and consulting the labor union, are effective, as well as cooperating with management. In the Netherlands, cooperation is most effective. Organizations with foreign headquarters are least likely to be influenced, compared to those that are operating independently and those with domestic headquarters. These organizations benefit from the tactics of cooperating and consulting the labor union. In Germany, there are no differences in voice and influence between different levels of internationalization. In organizations with a domestic owner, influence tactics are most effective. Cooperation is an effective influence tactic in both countries, mostly in organizations that do not operate independently.

“Oh, stop! You flatter me”: ingratiation in retail settings

Purpose – Even though there has been anecdotal evidence regarding the use of ingratiation techniques in retail salesperson-shopper interactions, surprisingly, there has been limited research on the nature of these ingratiatory techniques and their impact on consumers’ perceptions and attitudes. The research reported here was conducted to determine the extent to which different ingratiation techniques that have been identified as techniques used in non-retailing domains are also used by retail salespersons in salesperson-shopper interactions. In addition, it sought to assess whether there are additional ingratiation techniques used by retail salespersons in salesperson-shopper interactions that have not been identified in existing ingratiation literature. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Two studies, drawing on research on ingratiation in other domains, were conducted in pursuit of realising the purpose. Study 1 was a survey involving a sample of 282 participants, which yielded 267 useable critical incident reports and 283 discrete examples of ingratiatory behaviours. Participants responded to various questions including a critical incident question. Cross-tabulations were, for the main part, used in assessing responses. A second survey involving 158 participants was undertaken as a verification study. This Study 2 yielded 144 useable responses. Findings – Based on a critical incident technique (CIT), other enhancement: compliment and praise was the ingratiation technique most frequently cited by participants in the first sample, with product-customer enhancement being second and favour-rendering third. The Study 2 confirmed other enhancement: compliment and praise and product-customer enhancement as the top two techniques. Four new categories of ingratiatory behaviours emerged in retail salesperson-shopper interactions, and many of the ingratiatory behaviours previously identified in non-retailing contexts also exist in this retailing context. Research limitations/implications – Both samples are US samples, and the method used was the CIT. Though the US samples are appropriate for this study, the study could be extended to other groups and across cultures, to see whether cultural differences in the use of, and consumer responses to, ingratiation techniques exist. The study also did not look at the retail salespeople’s perspectives regarding the use of these techniques. Hence further research should address dyadic interpretations of a single ingratiatory encounter; and efforts should also be made to assess how consumers respond to ingratiation in retailing. Practical implications – The studies result in a classification of the influence techniques used most often in retail settings in the USA. Retailers should be aware that customers may, therefore, expect certain kinds of influence tactics and may not respond in the same way when there is a departure from a “customary” influence tactic. Originality/value – Not much research has explored the different kinds of ingratiation techniques used in retail contexts; nor has the stream of research sought to categorise them.

Self-Presentation and Social Influence

Self-presentation is a social influence tactic in which people engage in communicative efforts to influence the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of others as related to the self-presenter. Despite theoretical arguments that such efforts comprise an automatic component, the majority of research continues to characterize self-presentation as primarily involving controlled and strategic efforts. This focus is theoretically challenging and empirically problematic; it fosters an exclusionary perspective, leading to a scarcity of research concerning automatic self-presentations. With the current chapter, we examine whether self-presentation involves an automatic cognitive mechanism in which such efforts spontaneously emerge, nonconsciously triggered by cues in the social environment.