This study explored the impact of commitment tactics and individual differences in personality on change-agent participation in a peer-to-peer intervention. The intervention involved approaching bicyclists on campus, discussing the importance of helmet use, and rewarding them with a coupon for a discounted helmet if they signed a promise to wear one. Change-agent volunteers (n = 82) were trained in one of three commitment conditions to explore their relative impact on approaching a set number of bicyclists. Specifically, change-agents were asked to commit to a personal goal of number of targets they would approach in private, in public to a small group of people, or in public to a large group of people. In addition, change-agents completed measures of the "Big Five" personality traits and susceptibility to social influence tactics to explore their potential influence on intervention performance variables. No statistically significant differences were found in goal attainment between the commitment conditions. However, 10% more of the change-agents making a public, group commitment met their goal when compared to those who made an individual, private commitment. No significant relation was found between the Big Five personality traits and the number of bicyclist targets approached. However, the Big Five predicted 19% of the variance in the rate of obtaining signed promise cards from bicyclists. Of the susceptibility to social influence variables, only the Ingratiation score was shown to be useful for predicting change-agent effort, accounting for 18% of the variance in the number of targets approached. The peer-to-peer intervention was not successful in increasing bicycle helmet use on campus. Limitations of the intervention in comparison to a successful helmet program are discussed. / Ph. D.

This research studied the efficacy of enhancing information-based appeals with social influence strategies in order to encourage environmental activism and efficiency behaviors in response to global warming. A secondary goal was to study the relationship between pro-environment attitudes as measured by the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) and the activism/efficiency behaviors. After hearing a 15-minute presentation about the threat of global warming, 270 participants were encouraged to take relevant action by (a) signing web-based petitions asking automakers to build more environmentally friendly cars, (b) sending web-based letters to their state senators asking them to pass legislation to curb global warming, and (c) replacing their own inefficient incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). The primary independent variable was the intervention technique used to encourage the three behaviors. The Information Only condition received a standard informational presentation, and a Social Influence condition received a presentation enhanced by the social psychological principles of authority, social validation, and consistency. A third group—Social Influence and Commitment—received the social influence manipulations and also signed a commitment statement. Overall compliance was relatively low, with 30.7% of participants across all conditions completing one or more activism/efficiency behavior. Statistical comparisons of the compliance rates of the three groups were insignificant, and thus failed to support the efficacy of the social influence approach. Participants who held stronger pro-environment attitudes were more likely to complete the tasks. Those who completed at least one of the environmental actions scored significantly higher on a pre-presentation NEP (m = 54.9) than those who completed none (m = 50.3). In addition, political conservatism was negatively related to the NEP and task compliance. Finally, individuals who completed at least one of the requested behaviors showed a significant increase in pro-environment attitude on a second (post intervention) NEP, while the NEP scores of non-compliers remained unchanged. / Ph. D.

<p dir="ltr">The current research took a new look at social influence by considering how personality may predict different types of conformity and the mediating motivational mechanisms involved. Across three studies (<i>N</i> = 2,121), I established whether agreeableness and conscientiousness predicted two different forms of conformity and whether each of these relationships were mediated by different motives. First, I hypothesized that agreeableness would predict conformity mediated by the motivation to affiliate, suggesting that it may be related to normative influence. Second, I hypothesized that conscientiousness would predict conformity mediated by the motivation to be accurate, suggesting that it may be related to informational influence. Study 1 tested whether there was an initial correlational relationship among agreeableness, conscientiousness, and self-reported conformity. Study 2 explored the effect of the mediators, the motives to affiliate and to be accurate, in predicting normative and informational influence, respectively. Finally, Study 3 tested the full mediational model of agreeableness and conscientiousness predicting conformity mediated by the motives to affiliate and to be accurate, respectively. The findings showed that agreeableness and conscientiousness significantly predicted conformity as measured behaviorally and by self-report. The results were less clear, however, about the role of the mediators of the motivation to affiliate and be accurate in these relationships. These findings extend the social influence literature beyond its traditional situational focus by examining how personality shapes conformity and the possible mechanisms involved in those relationships.</p>

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The Bass model has been used extensively and globally to forecast the first purchases of new products. It has been named by INFORMS as one of the top 10 most influential papers published in the 50-year history of Management Science. Most models for the diffusion of innovation are deeply rooted in the work of Bass (1969). His work provides a framework to model the underlying process of innovation adaption among first-time customers. Potential customers may be connected to one another in some sort of network. Prior research has shown that the structure of a network affects adoption patterns (Dover et al. 2012; Hill et al. 2006; Katona and Sarvary 2008; Katona et al. 2011; Newman et al. 2006; Shaikh et al. 2010; Van den Bulte and Joshi 2007). One approach to addressing this issue is to incorporate network information into the original Bass model. The focus of this study is to explore how to incorporate network information and other micro-level data into the Bass model. First, I prove that the Bass Model assumes all potential customers are linked to all other customers. Through simulations of individual adoptions and connections among individuals using a Random Network , I show that the estimate of q in the Bass Model is biased downward in the original Bass model. I find that biases in the Bass Model depend on the structure of the network. I relax the assumption of the fully connected network by proposing a Network-Based Bass model (NBB), which incorporates the network structure into the traditional Bass model. Using the proposed model (NBB), I am able to recover the true parameters. To test the generalizability and to enhance the applicability of my NBB model, I tested my NBB model on the various network types with sampled data from the population network. I showed that my NBB model is robust across different types of networks, and it is efficient in terms of sample size. With a small fraction of data from the population, it accurately recovered the true parameters. Therefore, the NBB model can be used when we do not have complete network information. The last essay is the first attempt to incorporate heterogeneous peer influence into the NBB model, based on individuals' preference structures. Besides the significant extension of the NBB (Bass) Model, incorporating high-quality data on individual behavior into the model leads to new findings on individuals' adoption behaviors, and thus expands our knowledge of the diffusion process.

This dissertation analyzed customers’ intention to repurchase a smartphone based on an analysis of previous research. In particular, this study examined whether social influence directly affects the intention to repurchase, whether positive and negative social influence have differential effects on intention to repurchase, and the effects of habit on intention to repurchase and their role as a mediator. The study focused on two customer groups, customers who bought a smartphone of the same brand as their current smartphones, and customers who bought a different brand of smartphone. Previous studies have suggested that customer satisfaction leads to brand loyalty, which, in turn, leads to repurchase. However, this paper looks at customers’ intentions to repurchase by considering social influence, customer satisfaction, emotion loyalty, and the moderating effects of customer habit. In addition, statistical analysis was conducted to investigate customers' intention to repurchase and their causal relationships. Customer satisfaction and emotional loyalty were studied as mediators. The results showed that for both customer groups, positive social influence affects customer satisfaction, and customer satisfaction affects 'intention to repurchase'. This paper also found that customer habit moderates the relationships among customer satisfaction, emotional loyalty, and intention to repurchase (the latter in the customer group who repurchased the same brand smartphone). The customer group who repurchased the same brand smartphone showed that positive social influence affected customer satisfaction and emotional loyalty. Additionally, both customer satisfaction and emotional loyalty had positive effects on intention to repurchase. In addition, customer habit had a positive effect on intention to repurchase, and habit moderated the relationship between customer satisfaction and emotional loyalty and intent to repurchase (the customer group who repurchased the same brand smartphone). These results suggest that companies should strengthen their customer loyalty programs and subscription business strategically to induce customers to repurchase. If customer satisfaction and emotional loyalty have mediating effects, then companies should establish differentiated marketing strategies considering customer satisfaction and emotional loyalty. Customers' habits should be strategically utilized to induce them to continuously use the same brand of products. Customer repurchases are based on a satisfactory experience of customers' consumption behavior. However, the results of this study show that customer habits also play a role in moderating customer satisfaction in a negative direction. In other words, habit can be an important factor in inducing customers to repurchase smartphones unconsciously, rather than making reasonable decisions. / Business Administration/Management Information Systems

Instagram har blivit en integrerad del av samtida resande där vi ständigt får insyn i människors upplevelser och äventyr. Tidigare forskning har utforskat de motiv som driver delning av resor och turistinformation på sociala medieplattformar genom kvantitativa metoder. Denna studie ämnar därför att utforska fenomenet resedelning på sociala medier, mer specifikt Instagram, genom en kvalitativ ansats, för att bidra och fördjupa forskningen inom ämnet. Tio semistrukturerade intervjuer och två fokusgrupptillfällen genomfördes bland backpackers i Costa Rica med en undersökningspopulation i åldrarna 18–30 år. Eftersom vi befann oss på plats i Costa Rica hade vi möjligheten att inte bara träffa deltagarna över hela världen, utan även fånga deras tankar och erfarenheter i realtid. Resultaten av studien visar på förekomsten av olika strategier för resedelning på Instagram. Medan vissa påverkas av sociala sammanhang i sin delning, agerar andra av mer personliga motiv. Dessutom framkommer det bland respondenterna att Instagrams olika funktioner används i olika syften för att förmedla olika budskap. För att diskutera resultaten integreras tidigare forskning om Instagram och resedelning i sociala medier, samt teorier om personligt varumärke och socialt inflytande. Deltagarna visar en medvetenhet om plattformens betydelse och använder den för att skapa och förmedla sina personliga varumärken. Deras motiv för att dela resor sträcker sig från att interagera med följare till att dokumentera minnen och dela upplevelser med nära och kära. / Instagram has become an integral part of today's travel, where we constantly gain insight into people’s experiences and adventures. Previous research has explored the motivations driving the sharing of travel and tourist information on social media platforms through quantitative methods. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the phenomenon of travel sharing in social media, specifically Instagram, through a qualitative approach, to contribute to and deepen research in the field. Ten semi-structured interviews and two focus group sessions were conducted among backpackers in Costa Rica with a sample population aged 18–30. Being in Costa Rica provided us with the opportunity not only to meet participants from around the world but also to capture their thoughts and experiences in real-time- The results of the study indicate the presence of various strategies for travel sharing on Instagram. While some are influenced by social context in their sharing practices, others are driven by more personal motives. Additionally, it emerges among respondents that Instagram’s different features are used for different purposes to convey different messages. To discuss the results, previous research on Instagram and travel sharing on social media, as well as theories of personal branding and social influence, are integrated. The participants demonstrate an awareness of the platform's significance and utilize it to create and convey their personal brands. Their motivations for sharing journeys range from engaging with followers to documenting memories and sharing experiences with loved ones.

Power issues in the relationship between service users and clinical psychologists have received little attention from a postmodern perspective. The recovery approach and the scientist-practitioner model as recommended in best practice guidelines creates an argument for investigating power dynamics in academic and practical disseminations. This study aimed to investigate the social construction of service users and clinical psychologists in articles. Twelve articles and opinion pieces written by clinical psychologists and service users were sampled from publications of the Clinical Psychology Forum. A Foucauldian Discourse Analytic method was used to identify dominant discourses and counter-discourses. The discourses were linked to the power dynamics in play between relevant institutions. The analysis identified an economic discourse, a technical-rational discourse and an expert discourse as constructing service users and clinical psychologists. Clinical psychologists were found to have more discourse availability than service users, and in a position to make choices, whereas service users were found to have availability to a limited number of discourses with fewer options of subjectivity. A need for clinical psychologists to make conscious choices in practice was implied.

Popular messages not only illuminate many of the struggles people experience wrestling with the tensions between work and home life, but these popular texts also influence the behaviors of those who consume them. They not only reflect organizational members' experiences, but they also shape what they do. The following dissertation provides a theoretical discussion that conceptualizes and locates popular messages within dominant cultural patterns and explores the role of popular discourse in socializing organizational members. Next, "work-life" research is understood in terms of enactments and construals of time. This discussion not only develops a temporal perspective for "work-life" research, but also highlights inequalities embedded in the current "work-life" research. A narrative approach is offered as a theoretical perspective and methodological tool for uncovering perspectives. Sixty-seven participants are interviewed, and findings suggest differing perspectives on work-life balance, work-life expectations, and the role popular messages play in shaping work-life expectations vary along gender, socioeconomic, and generational lines. Further, analyses of interview data reveal gender and socioeconomic inequalities exist within the "work-life" construct and differing construals of time. / text

The legend is a permanent fixture of human societies. Though the legends themselves are permanent, their functions and meanings can fluctuate as the context in which they are told and retold shifts. As societies move through history, certain authoritative institutions create narratives that direct those societies and frame debates within them. Issues neglected by these institutions yet experienced by members of the population can be said to be unconstructed. Social problems that have achieved some level of construction inevitably provoke those who dissent from those constructions. In these situations, members of a society look for alternative means for talking about these problems. Often they turn to the contemporary legend for this purpose. This study reviews a sample of the most popular legends in the early part of 2012 to determine the ways members of American society were dealing with the unconstructed social problems of that time.