Do social media platforms develop consumer panic buying during the fear of Covid-19 pandemic

There is inadequate understanding of how social media can shape fear and consumer responses in the manner of consumer panic buying while Covid-19 is spreading across the world. Through taking a social constructionism position this research focused on what people think and feel at an individual and collective level on the role of social media to create panic behaviour. Data have been collected from thirty-four consumers who have minimum one active social media account. These participants are contacted through telephonic interview due to maintaining the social distancing. Findings reveal that uncertainties and insecurities proof, buying as persuasion, product unavailability proof, authorities' communication, global logic, and expert opinion are some of the causes on social media platforms that developed the situation of consumer panic buying during Covid-19 crises. Furthermore, the unprecedented level of real-time information on Covid-19 at users' fingertips can give them the tools they need to make smart decisions, but also make them more anxious about what is to come; experts say that may lead to panic buying or stockpiling of products. The study has tried to develop understanding about how social media generates social proof and offers a window into people's collective response to the coronavirus outbreak and shapes panic buying reaction. The study has provided a consumer panic buying theory based on the results of this study and on existing theories, such as global capitalism/information society risk society, social influence, and social proof. These theories help to understand how global logic is built due to the use of social media and how different social proofs are generated which developed the behaviour of consumer panic buying due to Covid-19 pandemic.     

“时间总长假设”对广告媒体策划的启示

认知心理学中的“时间总长假设”（Total Time Hypothesis）认为，人们掌握（主要指记忆）一定的信息所需要的时间是基本固定的。当总的时间长度固定时，对于这段时间的分配方式并不影响记忆的效果。本文对这个假设在广告行业中的应用进行了论证。文中所分析的数据采集于对美国观众在2002、2003和2006年进行的有关“超级碗”球赛广告的电话访谈。研究结果显示，当广告的时间总长固定时，广告重复的次数对广告的传播效果没有显著影响，从而印证了时间总长假设。文章对如何在广告媒体策划中应用这一结论也进行了相应的讨论。     

Insight into everyday media use with multiple screens

ABSTRACT

Multiscreening has been shown to affect consumers' brand attitudes and their memory of advertisements. However, little is known about the prevalence of using multiple screens simultaneously. The aim of this study is to provide insight into multiscreening by examining its prevalence, the composition of screens, and who is likely to multiscreen. A diary study with a representative sample of the Dutch population (n = 2,399) was conducted. First, the results showed that almost 60% of the participants multiscreened at least once. They multiscreened on average three days a week, mostly on Sundays, and on average more than 80 minutes per day. Second, the most prevalent screen combinations were TV-smartphone, TV-laptop, and TV-tablet. Third, multiscreeners were on average 41 years old, predominantly female, have a higher than average education, and own on average more than four screens. Finally, it was found that, in general, younger participants multiscreened longer than older participants.     

Social media and sustainable purchasing attitude: Role of trust in social media and environmental effectiveness

The role of social media in promoting sustainable attitudes is currently understudied. Underpinned by social learning theory, this study unveils the effect of social media usage and browsing on sustainable purchasing attitude, the underlying mechanism, and the boundary condition. Drawing on a sample of 693 experienced respondents analyzed using structural equation modeling, this study reveals that social media usage and browsing have a significant positive association. Both constructs significantly impact sustainable purchasing attitudes with complementary partial mediation of the drive for environmental responsibility. Further, trust in social media and perceived environmental effectiveness significantly moderate the relationships belongs to the browsing and drive for environmental responsibility. Contrary to the theorization, moderating constructs cannot substantially impact the proposed associations of social media usage. In this manner, the present research is innovative and provides valued knowledge to comprehend social media's role in encouraging sustainable attitudes.     

电视媒体在品牌传播中的背书效应分析——以中央电视台为例

本文将研究视角聚焦于电视媒体的背书效应,以中央电视台为例,力图通过分析消费者品牌偏好与媒介偏好之间的关系,探讨新营销传播图景之下传统大众媒体在广告主品牌传播活动中的角色与价值,以期为广告主更好地控制品牌信息、提高传播效率提供借鉴。     

Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the influence of word-of-mouth on purchasing decisions?

The COVID-19 outbreak has led to drastic changes in influential media for purchasing decisions. Which media have been used more frequently after COVID-19? Do these changes differ between product types? To provide insights into these questions, we analyzed 12,000 respondents between 2018 and 2021. The results show that the influence of word-of-mouth on purchase decisions decreased after COVID-19, while the influence of social media advertising increased. We also find that the influence is moderated by product type; for example, video advertising, a subset of social media advertising shows a higher influence for search goods than for experience goods.     

青少年文化消费行为对传统家庭的影响——以手机媒体为背景的探讨与研究

从20世纪后半期开始,印刷术时代没落,随之而来的是电视、广播、互联网乃至手机媒体的蒸蒸日上。以手机为代表的新媒体开始以全时、全速、全域、全民的特点充斥在快速成长的青少年生活中,青少年作为主流文化消费者在文化消费中所表现出来追求时尚、注重体验、忽略发展性消费的特点在一定程度上对传统文化家庭的消费决策产生影响。这种影响从根本上不可逆转地改变了传统家庭交流方式,家长被青少年感染,变身孩童化大人,青少年在相对自由的环境中真正得到了身份认同。由此看来,青少年的流行风格与传统家庭文化的碰撞,技术的发展和创新有利于推动传统文化机制的现代化创新。     

The impact of media fragmentation on audience targeting: An empirical generalisation approach

With increasing fragmentation, advertisers are choosing media based upon their ability to deliver specific target markets to maximise return on media expenditure. In doing so, they rely upon the claims of media providers (whether in part or in full) about how their audiences differ from those of competing offerings. In this paper we consider just how successful media have been at attracting specialist audiences. We seek empirical generalisation by including a very broad range of audience member characteristics, multiple media types, two countries and three years of data in our analysis. We find that while there are some differences in the audiences that competing media deliver, these differences are largely inconsequential when (a) considered in light of the audience differentiation claims made by the media themselves and (b) that implicit in the audience targeting concept is the notion that media audiences are highly segmented. This research will challenge advertisers' entrenched assumptions about audience targeting and provide useful benchmarks for advertisers who place any credence on media selling propositions.     

Social networks and social media: Understanding and managing influence vulnerability in a connected society

Influence vulnerability has recently become a concern across society and in business. Such vulnerabilities increase as social networks are leveraged by different entities, oftentimes through social media, to affect how we think and behave. While many instances of social influence are positive and beneficial, others can be quite negative and lead to harmful outcomes for organizations and individuals such as reputational damage and an inability to control desirable thoughts, narratives, and behaviors. In general, they can decrease people’s freedom of thought and behavior. This article draws on the concepts of social embeddedness and network commitment to outline people’s influence vulnerabilities. It then proposes three guidelines to help reduce influence vulnerabilities based on the concepts of trustworthiness, network commitment, and self-management.     

The role of time preference and credit card usage in compulsive buying behaviour

College students represent a lucrative market for businesses selling a wide array of goods and services, including credit. One area of concern regarding credit debt is its association with compulsive buying behaviour. This study analysed compulsive buying behaviour within an economic framework using a college student sample. Data were collected from 7342 students enrolled in a major Midwestern university. Regression analysis revealed that income, rate of time preference, money attitudes, credit card usage and gender were significantly related to compulsive buying. This study provides useful information for developing, or revising, university policies regarding financial education and counselling, as well as curriculum considerations.     

Timed intervention in COVID-19 and panic buying

In view of 2020 outbreak of the pandemic COVID-19, the paper examines the relationship between government measures for combating the pandemic and their side effects. Panic buying is identified as one such side effect. Among various models and measures undertaken by government to manage the pandemic, timed-intervention policy is commonly practiced by most countries. This paper examines the timing effect between government measures and panic buying. Three studies were undertaken to understand the timing effect and identify a connection between timed measures and consumer behaviours. Semantic analysis, secondary data search, and big data analytics were deployed to address the research aim. Although claiming a causal relationship is cautioned, the findings reveal a connection between timing of government measures and panic buying. These findings are discussed with the support of real-life evidence. Implications for researchers and practitioners conclude this paper.     

Gender and Hedonic Usage Motive Differences in Social Media Site Usage Behavior

ABSTRACT

This study investigates how the user's gender and hedonic usage motive differences influence evaluation and usage of social media sites. This study develops and tests a conceptual model that captures the relationship among four social media site usage determining factors, social media involvement, satisfaction, and usage intention. The moderating role of two user characteristics on the social media site usage behavior is also empirically tested. Structural equation analysis results show significant moderating effects of gender and the hedonic usage motive of users on the evaluation and usage behavior of social media sites. Managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Social media influencers: A route to brand engagement for their followers

Social Media Influencers (SMIs) are micro‐celebrities with large followings on social media platforms who engage consumers and hold the potential to promote customer‐brand relationships across different product categories. SMIs have an existing relationship of trust with consumers, and consumers seek out the content created by SMIs for valuable information and advice. This study explores the process of brand engagement between consumers and brands in the digital content marketing environment, specifically examining the research question: Do SMIs act as a route to brand engagement for their followers? The context for this study is the beauty community on YouTube; over 60,000 user comments were analyzed through automated text analysis. This study is among the first to provide empirical evidence that SMIs do act as a route to brand engagement through the three dimensions of cognitive processing, affection and activation.     

中国媒介调研行业反思与前瞻

中国改革开放以来,作为市场调查研究的一部分的媒介调研行业有了巨大的发展。但是目前在学术界,比较少见到从行业历史的角度对于中国媒介研究的历史进行学术性的回顾,以及在此基础上对中国市场调查研究行业的问题进行总结并对未来进行展望的研究成果。作为中国广告学术史研究的重要内容和组成部分,本文尝试对中国市场调查研究行业的发展过程、重要课题、问题和展望进行梳理和分析。     

采用改进细菌觅食优化算法的无人机航迹规划

针对现有的无人机航迹规划方法收敛速度较慢、效率不高、易陷入局部最优等问题,构建了基于改进细菌觅食优化算法的无人机航迹规划结构,从三个方面改进算法：一是将固定步长改为自适应步长;二是游动时嵌入粒子群算法学习因子思想;三是将固定迁徙概率改为自适应迁徙概率。同时,提出了飞行代价目标函数,通过函数寻优进行无人机航迹规划,并由数字高程数据建立三维环境,对比基本细菌觅食优化算法和粒子群算法进行仿真。结果表明,基于改进细菌觅食优化算法优化的无人机航迹规划结构具有路径长度更短、路径更平滑和收敛速度更快的特点。     

Leveraging consumer personality and social media marketing to improve a brand's social media equity

Consumer personality traits impact consumer actions, preferences, online behaviour and shopping motives. This study examines personality traits as drivers of social media equity by addressing the mechanisms under which consumer personality traits influence social media equity. We aim to combine consumer-level information with brand-level metrics to advance our understanding of consumers' associations with brands on social media and how specific consumer personality traits can be leveraged to improve a brand's social media equity. Using a self-administered survey, a total of 418 respondents from an online consumer panel participated in this study. The results from structural equation modelling revealed that while extraversion, openness to experience and neuroticism personality traits are positively associated with brand engagement and brand advocacy, agreeableness and conscientiousness are significantly associated with brand advocacy and not with brand engagement. This study advances theory by examining how consumer personality traits influence social media equity via brand engagement and brand advocacy as mediators. The findings provide rich practical insights into underlying mechanisms through which marketers can increase social media equity using consumer personality traits.     

Social media revolutions: The influence of secondary stakeholders

Traditionally, firms have tried to listen to primary stakeholders (e.g., customers, suppliers, creditors, employees) but have paid little attention to the concerns of secondary stakeholders (e.g., the general public, communities, activist groups). This is because primary stakeholders were perceived to have power, legitimacy, and urgency behind their requests, while secondary stakeholders had little or no leverage. With the coming of the Internet and social media this asymmetry of influence has changed. Today, secondary stakeholders have to be managed as adroitly as primary stakeholders. In this installment of Marketing & Technology, we show managers how social media and the Internet have amplified the influence of secondary stakeholders, and offer guidance on how to manage these groups effectively.     

Preference aggregation and repeat buying in households

Marketing researchers have long used brand switching analyses and Markov transition matrices to gain insights into managerial problems. Almost without exception, this work makes (inappropriate) inferences about individual consumers by analyzing household-level data. This paper presents a procedure based on the distribution of run lengths in household level panel data that allows more insights into the choice behavior of the individuals in the household. We test these procedures in a large simulation study by attempting to recover the underlying (known) structure of the process generating a string of panel data. Finally, we use the procedure to classify the purchase behavior, with respect to powdered soft drinks, of a set of households in a panel. Our results show that marketing scientists have the potential to learn and test more hypotheses about the individuals in a household by examining the distribution of run lengths.We gratefully acknowledge Professor Bari Harlam of the University of Rhode Island for providing the panel data.     

The mechanism by which social media influencers persuade consumers: The role of consumers’ desire to mimic

We explore the mechanism through which social media influencers (SMIs) persuade consumers to adopt brands. Guided by the influence framework, we propose and test empirically SMIs’ influence mechanism, which occurs in four principal stages: (a) a SMI's influence attempts (showcasing H1: attractive; H2: prestigious; H3 and H4: expert; H5: informative; and H6: interactive Instagram contents); (b) target consumers’ attitudinal response to the influence exercised (evaluating the SMI as a H7: taste and H8: opinion leader); which, in turn, affects (c) the targets’ desire to comply (the desire to mimic); and ultimately (d) their favorable behavioral outcomes (H9: social media word‐of‐mouth and H10: purchase intentions). On the basis of the survey data from 395 respondents, we used structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses and proposed model. We verified the robustness of our results using an ordered probit regression model and analyzed the mediating role of consumers’ desire to mimic SMIs in the influence mechanism. Our results confirm that the five aspects of influencing posts affect consumers’ attitudes positively and significantly, which in turn leads to positive behavioral outcomes through their desire to mimic SMIs. We discuss the results’ important implications for both scholars and practitioners.     

Helping workers understand and follow social media policies

While social media can have significant benefits for organizations, the social media presences and postings of employees can be problematic for organizations. This is especially true when employees have connections to co-workers and managers. Workers posting content deemed inappropriate or detrimental to the organization has led to a significant number of workers being fired for their social media behavior. To avoid such situations, organizations should create social media policies to guide employee content. Organizational implementation of social media policy is on the rise, but serious questions remain as to how to make it effective. One crucial question is how well employees know and understand their employer's policy. In this article, we discuss how to communicate social media policies to workers and help their understanding. To inform our recommendations, we draw on exploratory data from a sample of young adult workers regarding their knowledge of their own company's social media policies.