Ongoing Information Search Motivation: An Influencer of Users’ Approval of Facebook Banner Adverts

Facebook is a leading social network site worldwide and Facebook users use this social medium for several interactional reasons like to socialize or access and share informative content with others. Several users participate in Facebook to fulfil their ongoing information needs. The current research investigates the ongoing information search motivation (OISM) as an influencer of users’ approval of Facebook banner advertising. To investigate the study phenomenon, primary data was collected through online survey questionnaires from 230 Facebook users in Pakistan. Structural Equation Modeling was conducted to examine the construct validity and to test the model and hypotheses. The results showed OISM as an important influencer of users’ attitude towards Facebook banner advertising. Moreover, the analysis also revealed that the Facebook banner ad informativeness mediated the relationship between users’ OISM and their attitudes toward Facebook banner advertising. Additionally, attitude towards Facebook banner advertising was also found to be influencing the users’ Facebook banner ad-click behavior. These findings can be beneficial to social media marketers and marketing managers to organize user-relevant Facebook banner ad content. The study findings can specifically be implied to social media customers in Pakistan.

Redes sociales: una herramienta de distribución promocional del marketing turístico

El proceso de comunicación en el sector turístico se ve influenciado por reseñas, comentarios u opiniones generados en las plataformas digitales. Este factor puede influenciar a los compradores y ser percibida de manera positiva o negativa. El objetivo de la investigación fue evaluar los efectos de las redes sociales en la industria turística, mediante el modelo de aceptación y tecnología (TAM). La metodología utilizada fue cuantitativa, porque permitió la recopilación de información con el fin de describir el problema y señalar las correlaciones causales del inadecuado uso de redes sociales en el sector turístico. La población de estudio pertenece a la provincia de Tungurahua. De allí, se utilizó un muestreo aleatorio-simple de 384 personas bajo el criterio de selección de economía activa (PEA). El resultado demostró que las redes sociales como Facebook, Instagram y WhatsApp son idóneas para realizar promoción turística. Se concluye, que la promoción del sector turístico tiene mayor influencia en la plataforma de Instagram, puesto que, muestra mayores beneficios y desventajas alarmantes al socializar contenido frente a otro medio social. Palabras clave: distribución promocional, marketing turístico, redes sociales. Abstract he communication process in the tourism sector is influenced by reviews, comments or opinions generated on digital platforms. This factor can influence buyers and be perceived positively or negatively. The objective of the research was to evaluate the effects of social networks in the tourism industry through the acceptance and technology model (TAM). The methodology used was quantitative, because the collection of information in order to describe the problem and point out the causal correlations of the inappropriate use of social networks in the tourism sector. The study population belongs to the province of Tungurahua. From there, a simple-random sampling of 384 people was used under the active economy selection criterion (PEA). The result showed that social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are ideal for promoting tourism. It is concluded that the promotion of the tourism sector has a greater influence on the Instagram platform, since it shows greater benefits and alarming disadvantages when socializing content compared to another social medium. Keywords: promotional distribution, tourism marketing, social networks.

Robots as an interactive-social medium in storytelling to multiple children

This paper investigates the effects of group interaction in a storytelling situation for children using two robots: a reader robot and a listener robot as a side-participant. We developed a storytelling system that consists of a reader robot, a listener robot, a display, a gaze model, a depth sensor, and a human operator who responds and provides easily understandable answers to the children’s questions. We experimentally investigated the effects of using a listener robot and either one or two children during a storytelling situation on the children’s preferences and their speech activities. Our experimental results showed that the children preferred storytelling with the listener robot. Although two children obviously produced more speech than one child, the listener robot discouraged the children’s speech regardless of whether one or two were listening.

The “Lucky Money” That Started It All—The Reinvention of the Ancient Tradition “Red Packet” in Digital Times

In August 2020, President Trump attempted to ban WeChat, indicating the growing impact of the most widely used social medium in China. WeChat enjoys a monthly active user base of 1.2 billion, but the Internet giant’s story started with a humble function, “Red Packet.” The function of Red Packet paved the way for WeChat to intelligently integrate into the Chinese financial sphere. This study examines the cultural, economic, and relational implications of the digital reinvention of traditional red packet gifts, and monetary giving that represents good luck and well wishes in festive situations. Drawing upon Mauss’ conceptualization of gift economy within the context of contemporary China and the art of social relationships, “ guanxi,” the author closely examines Tencent’s annual report and conducts semi-structured interviews to study WeChat Red Packet (hereafter WCRP) gifting. This article concludes that (1) the obligatory feeling of guanxi management renders WCRP giving, receiving, and reciprocity compulsory practices; (2) WCRP facilitates “immediate reciprocity,” in which, instrumental guanxi may be produced and dissolved instantaneously; (3) the phenomena of social comparison and social hierarchy are mirrored in virtual groups; (4) with platformed sociality and monetizing connectivity, WCRP paved the way for alternative economic practices within Chinese authoritarian capitalism; and (5) WCRP contains characteristics of a personalized gift and materialist commodity.

Authentic Deception or the Ethos Paradox of Social Media Influencers: Female Emirati Consumers’ Perception of Instagram Models

Instagram is the fastest rising social medium used by young people in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and therefore constitutes a superb means for companies to advertise their brands. To better inform the selection of the most well-targeted and effective models for advertising products, this research first analyzed UAE-based Instagram posts to explore the types of models used for different types of advertising content on Instagram. Individual interviews were then conducted with Emirati women consumers to determine the criteria they use when reviewing Instagram models in terms of the intention to purchase. Results reveal that there are three archetypal models connected with product ranges relating to (1) beauty, (2) health, and (3) fashion. Four determining factors in purchase decisions emerged, namely, (1) product effect, (2) product display, (3) the modesty of the models, and (4) the pose of the models. These last two, and most notably, the modesty of the model, is perhaps somewhat uniquely relevant to the region given the primacy of female modesty within the Islamic canon. Moreover, the majority of women interviewed stressed that they favor models who exemplify a realistic lifestyle and authentic beauty. While the goal of effortless perfection is a common one, this objective may be more dominant in this socio-cultural region, given the Islamic prescriptions on female modesty. Such a desire for an effortless perfection and authentic deception characterizes the essence of the ethos paradox of Instagram models. The value of this empirical investigation is that it highlights a potential pitfall for advertisers in making the assumption that featuring strong influencers in their advertising is necessarily an enhancement of sales potential. Moreover, it illustrates how Instagram endorsement functions in this geopolitical context and offers guidelines for optimizing Instagram advertising.

Framing of visual content shown on popular social media may affect viewers’ attitudes to threatened species

Content published on social media may affect user’s attitudes toward wildlife species. We evaluated viewers’ responses to videos published on a popular social medium, focusing particularly on how the content was framed (i.e., the way an issue is conveyed to transmit a certain meaning). We analyzed videos posted on YouTube that showed vultures interacting with livestock. The videos were negatively or positively framed, and we evaluated viewers’ opinions of these birds through the comments posted. We also analyzed negatively framed videos of mammalian predators interacting with livestock, to evaluate whether comments on this content were similar to those on vultures. We found that the framing of the information influenced the tone of the comments. Videos showing farmers talking about their livestock losses were more likely to provoke negative comments than videos not including farmer testimonies. The probability of negative comments being posted on videos about vultures was higher than for mammalian predators. Finally, negatively framed videos on vultures had more views over time than positive ones. Our results call for caution in the presentation of wildlife species online, and highlight the need for regulations to prevent the spread of misinformed videos that could magnify existing human-wildlife conflicts.

Technology as a socio-historical phenomenon

The article reveals the authors' vision of the essence of the technology as a sociohistorical phenomenon. It is based on the idea that technology is not only a set of technical devices but a segment of the general system – a society – located between a social medium and its natural surroundings in the form of a peculiar social technosphere, which simultaneously separates and connects them. The main objective purpose of the technosphere is to promote the effective rendering of society-generated entropy outwards; it defines the features of the technosphere as a sociohistorical phenomenon. The analogues of such material formations take place also in wildlife (from the spider-web to the beaver dam) but are very few and arise from the implementation of instinctive programs of the species. In a person's consciousness, such programmes are not given by “nature”, they are formed on the basis of “desobjectivation” of technical objects available in society. In the process of “desobjectivation” the essence, the “logic of the subject” becomes the achievement of a person and due to his abilities is filled with new meaning. As a result, the technology is a materially ideal phenomenon: on the one hand, it is a set of technical objects and on the other hand – technical thinking of a person, the highest manifestation of which is technical sciences nowadays. Properly technical objects are created by society to meet the individual and social needs of a person. These are primarily consumption items; due to their manmade nature, the question of production means development arises, which over time becomes increasingly important, especially by virtue of their significant impact on social relations (which in time also require certain technical devices for their implementation). The complex of these devices forms the techno sphere of society as a compound integrity. Not only groups of different in application technical objects become the constituent parts of the technosphere, but also their conglomerates designed to perform certain functions, which, similar to the biological branch, were called techno enosis; in the latter at the account of a peculiar “competition”, the development of these components in particular and the technosphere integrally takes place. However, despite consistency, the technosphere is a subsystem of a society, therefore, there is no perspective of creating certain laws of its development and an appropriate coherent periodization. For this reason, the scientific periodization of the development of technology as such is connected with the purpose of the given research and is defined by it.

Einblick- A Sentimental Analysis And Opinion Mining System For Mobile Networks

Sentimental analysis and popular legal opinion mining are one among the foremost agile research areas in natural language processing and is additionally widely studied in data processing, web mining and text mining. The growing grandness of sentimental analysis coincide with the rise of social medium like reviews, forum discussion, blog, micro blog, Twitter and social electronic networks. A system to implement this technology in mobile network sectors can be very much helpful for any mobile network for quicker interaction with their subscribers as well as enriching their reach of advertisement. Thus ensuring effective and optimized use of their resources to yield desired public response within a proposed time limit.Sentimental analysis helps to decide whether a statement is positive ,neutral or negative. It also helps data analyst to collect public opinion and do research based on that. In sentimental analysis we breakdown text into small parts and then we will identify each statement bearing phrase or components and will assign a score to each component.

Making fans go "GAGA": intimacy, identity and brand building through Twitter

While the use of digital platforms has harmed some aspects of the music industry, it has also created new opportunities for artists to prosper in terms of marketing, branding, communication and to ultimately become cultural entrepreneurs. Twitter in particular is a social networking service (SNS) that is ideal for studying fan celebrity interactions, as it is a safe space for celebrities to market, brand and communicate with fans through strategic discourse in an informal environment. With SNS such as Twitter, fans now have the opportunity to build seemingly intimate relationships with celebrities, becoming cocreators of content. Widely acknowledged for her unparalleled relationships and interactions with fans on Twitter, singer Lady Gaga, has achieved success and long term viability amidst digitalization through her strategic use of online platforms to not only promote and strengthen her brand, but to build intimate relationships with her fans. Lady Gaga exemplifies how the digitalization of the music industry and growth of online platforms drive artists to take on new roles as entrepreneurs marketers and as conversationalists with fans. As such, this paper presents a review of the extant literature of studies that have explored the connection between celebrity brand building and representation on social media and how fan identification, interaction and intimacy are forged via social media discourse. This is followed by a qualitative discourse analysis of 904 tweets and retweets collected from Lady Gaga’s Twitter account from May 31st, 2015 until April 31st, 2016. This analysis serves to develop an understanding of how language is being used actively, persuasively and to isolate patterns in Lady Gaga’s Twitter discourse. This includes key terms, phrases and overall frequency of these. In analyzing how Lady Gaga uses strategic discourse on Twitter, we can build a greater understanding of how this social medium is used to build intimacy with fans. From this knowledge, both artists and marketers can emulate this model for effective brand management on social media, particularly on Twitter.

Making fans go "GAGA": intimacy, identity and brand building through Twitter

While the use of digital platforms has harmed some aspects of the music industry, it has also created new opportunities for artists to prosper in terms of marketing, branding, communication and to ultimately become cultural entrepreneurs. Twitter in particular is a social networking service (SNS) that is ideal for studying fan celebrity interactions, as it is a safe space for celebrities to market, brand and communicate with fans through strategic discourse in an informal environment. With SNS such as Twitter, fans now have the opportunity to build seemingly intimate relationships with celebrities, becoming cocreators of content. Widely acknowledged for her unparalleled relationships and interactions with fans on Twitter, singer Lady Gaga, has achieved success and long term viability amidst digitalization through her strategic use of online platforms to not only promote and strengthen her brand, but to build intimate relationships with her fans. Lady Gaga exemplifies how the digitalization of the music industry and growth of online platforms drive artists to take on new roles as entrepreneurs marketers and as conversationalists with fans. As such, this paper presents a review of the extant literature of studies that have explored the connection between celebrity brand building and representation on social media and how fan identification, interaction and intimacy are forged via social media discourse. This is followed by a qualitative discourse analysis of 904 tweets and retweets collected from Lady Gaga’s Twitter account from May 31st, 2015 until April 31st, 2016. This analysis serves to develop an understanding of how language is being used actively, persuasively and to isolate patterns in Lady Gaga’s Twitter discourse. This includes key terms, phrases and overall frequency of these. In analyzing how Lady Gaga uses strategic discourse on Twitter, we can build a greater understanding of how this social medium is used to build intimacy with fans. From this knowledge, both artists and marketers can emulate this model for effective brand management on social media, particularly on Twitter.