Yes / Big data has been discussed extensively in existing scholarly works but scant consideration is given to customers’ willingness to generate and leave big data digital footprints on social media, especially in the light of the profusely debated issue of privacy and security. The current paper endeavours to address this gap in the literature by developing a conceptual framework. In doing so, this paper conducts a systematic review of extant literature from 2002 to 2017 to identify and analyse the underlying factors that influence customers’ willingness to leave digital footprints on social media. The findings of this review reveal that personal behaviour (intrinsic psychological dispositions), technological factors (relative advantage and convenience), social influence (social interaction, social ties and social support) and privacy and security (risk, control and trust) are the key factors that influence customers’ willingness to generate and leave big data digital footprints on social media. The conceptual framework presented in this paper advances the scholarship of technology adoption and use and provides useful direction for future empirical research for both academics and practitioners.

Social media is becoming an increasingly studied phenomenon in recent years, with a rise in users and the wide variety of content. Political socialization covers mass media and social media, though it only discusses the implications of how attitudes are developed from media forms. While politics and political content occur on different social media platforms, the literature and research of this subject is lacking. Life-altering events can work to change one's political outlook, where motherhood, traumatic experiences, and first-time experiences can affect political opinions. Converging the two together, with specific groups on social media platforms discussing politics, will help to expand the knowledge of how politics and social media work with one another. This study seeks to examine first-year teachers and teachers on social media platforms, the types of content they post, the types of political content they post, and how they work to discuss political topics. I scraped different first-year teacher posts on social media platforms, coded the posts into different categories, and analyzed the trends in these posts. Then I take these first-year teacher posts and compare them with Florida teachers in the same context. This will help to understand how each of these groups vary from another in discussions of political content. With these findings working to expand the previous knowledge of how political socialization is within social media, how different teachers discuss political content, and the types of possible interactions work to socialize children in schools.

Background: As consumer behavior evolves, the influence of ethical considerations on purchasing decisions becomes more significant, especially in the face of international conflicts. This thesis delves into the relationship between consumer activism and corporate ethical practices within the food industry, explaining how boycotts are used as strategic tools for advocating change. It explores the multifaceted role of boycotts in shaping corporate policies, driven by consumers' unwillingness to support companies whose practices conflict with their ethical standards. The study seeks to understand the broader implications of consumer choices in the context of ongoing geopolitical conflicts, highlighting how these choices impact corporate behavior and contribute to broader social movements.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to delve into the specific mechanisms through which individual perceptions and beliefs about geopolitical conflicts influence consumer decisions to engage in boycotts within the food industry. It focuses on understanding the role of personal values, social media, identity, and social influence in shaping these decisions in the context of the Israel/Palestine conflict.   Method: This study employed a qualitative methodology to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that influence consumer boycotting behaviors. We conducted semi-structured interviews with Generation Z consumers in Jönköping, Sweden, from which we gained valuable insights into their perspectives and experiences. The data collected were analyzed using thematic analysis to explore the factors impacting consumer behavior toward boycotting.   Conclusion: The results show and further supports that consumer decisions to participate in conflict-oriented boycotts are shaped by social media, social influence, customer values and identity. Other factors were also discovered to be drivers to this behavior in the context of Israel/Palestine conflict. Boycotting behavior is found to be a complex interaction of emotional responses, identity, ethical considerations, and others which is heavily influenced by collective social dynamics. Lastly, the findings indicate that boycotting within the food industry is not just a temporary response to conflicts but may evolve into brand avoidance.

The overall aim of the present research was to explore what makes leadership behaviour to be perceived or judged as appropriate behaviour by followers and thus as influential on followers. Based on the Relational Models Theory, which postulates four elementary relationships people engage in and defines what motivates and constitutes morally guided behaviour within these relationships, we hypothesised that leadership behaviour is more influential the more its implementation corresponds with the dominant elementary relationship of the leader-follower relationship. More specifically, we hypothesised that leaders are perceived to be more influential when they are in a communal sharing relationship with their followers and demonstrate leadership behaviour based on the moral principle of unity or when they are in an authority ranking relationship with their followers and demonstrate leadership behaviour based on the moral principle of hierarchy. Four experimental studies were conducted to test our hypotheses using a business context (Study 1 and 2) and student context (Study 3 and 4) and presenting these contexts either as a scenario to be imagined (Study 1 and 2) or as a bogus post on Facebook (Study 3 and 4). Although our findings did not support our overall hypothesis, they imply that leaders who are in a communal sharing relationship with their followers or demonstrate leadership behaviour based on unity are relatively more influential. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology (Research Consultation))

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychological Sciences / Gary Brase / Although fertility decision-making has been the source of considerable theoretical and empirical investigation, the effect of several contextual variables on individuals’ fertility decision-making processes are not yet understood. For example, are individuals more strongly influenced by social forces that are informational or normative? Also, do individuals change their fertility intentions based on their current and developmental economic conditions? Further, how ‘shared’ are reproductive decisions within a couple, are males or females more likely to get what they want? This 3-study program of research used both experimental and exploratory qualitative methods to elucidate the nature of these unresolved issues within the domain of fertility decision-making. Study 1 (N = 344, M[subscript]age = 23, SD[subscript]age =6.41, 59.3% female) found that highly motivated individuals’ fertility intentions were more susceptible to informational, compared to normative messages (the opposite was true for unmotivated participants). Study 2 (N = 249, M[subscript]age = 24, SD[subscript]age =6.10, 61.4% female) found that exposure to mortality primes up-regulated fertility intentions for individuals with “fast” life history strategies, but facilitated the down-regulation of fertility intentions for individuals with “slow” life history strategies. Interestingly, resource scarcity primes were associated with the postponement of fertility plans in individuals’ with “fast” life history strategies. Study 3 (N = 120, M[subscript]age = 21, SD[subscript]age =4.96, 50% female) found that, contrary to predictions, the similarity of couples’ gender role attitudes, career-orientations, and education levels did not significantly predict the frequency of their use of statements coded as compromise and agreement or persuasion and disagreement in their discussions regarding their future reproductive plans. Findings do suggest that individuals with higher levels of education were more likely to use persuasion and disagreement statements in their child timing and number discussions with their romantic partner, indicative of greater decision-making power in that particular social exchange. Further, men and women in study 3 were equally likely to use statements coded as compromise and agreement, persuasion and disagreement, and concession when discussing both their future fertility plans as well as their future financial plans.

There is a consistent research base that shows that class and inequality is associated with poorer mental health and experiences of distress. Various explanations for this link have been proposed, including psychological, social, structural, material and political factors. Experiences of powerlessness and oppression have also been implicated. Nevertheless psychology focuses predominately on explanations and interventions at the individual level. To explore this incongruence, a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis was completed of texts produced by Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), related to the development and practice within IAPT and supervision sessions of high-intensity therapists practicing in IAPT. The emerging discourses are discussed.

This case study evaluates government communication practices at Superfund sites. I describe agency communication practices in Superfund communities, paying particular attention to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Seven Cardinal Rules of Risk Communication and its role as a model for federal agencies engaged at these sites. Situating the study within a theoretical milieu that includes sensemaking and symbolic interactionism, I examine whether current practices deepen divisions among stakeholders, reducing the possibility for communicative convergence. I implement textual analysis and narrative inquiry to examine written and spoken communication about the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant National Priorities List Superfund site. Through crystallized analysis of media coverage, public comments, focus group transcripts, and local blogs, I address the following research questions: RQ1: How does the enactment of accepted agency risk communication practices affect relationships among stakeholders, specifically: • how do stakeholders (including federal agency personnel) characterize past and present agency risk communication practices, and • how do stakeholders (including federal agency personnel) characterize each other in relation to these communicative practices? RQ2: What are the related implications for improving agency risk communication approaches? The study concludes with recommendations for improving existing agency risk communication guidelines, as well as the creation of a new communication model to promote convergent communication at Superfund sites.

The main objective of this thesis was to examine gender differences in co-rumination using observational, experimental, and diary methods. At the start of this project there were no existing studies which had assessed co-rumination in this way and this thesis intended to be an exploratory investigation of co-rumination using these methods. Rose (2002) defined co-rumination as ‘excessively discussing problems within a dyadic relationship’ (p. 1830) and used it to explain why females have closer, more supportive, friendships (Rose & Rudolph, 2006) but are also more susceptible to depression (Weissman & Klerman, 1977). Her findings suggest that co-rumination has maladaptive outcomes for females (increased depression and anxiety) but not for males. The six studies within this thesis aimed to investigate the outcomes of co-rumination using adult (Studies 1- 4), adolescent (Studies 5 and 6) and child samples (Study 6). The first three studies within this thesis assessed co-rumination using dyadic analyses of observational and experimental data. The results of these studies indicated that scores from the co-rumination questionnaire (CRQ) and the co-rumination coding scheme (CRCS) were associated with affect, but that the co-rumination manipulation used in Study 3 had no effect on levels of affect. CRCS was mainly predictive of depressive outcomes whereas CRQ was predictive of both depressive and anxious outcomes. The research indicated that CRQ scores positively correlated across the two dyad members. However, each dyad member’s score showed different associations with affect, depending on whether the dyad member was presenting his or her own problem for discussion. The diary studies indicated that co-rumination was best assessed using daily items which were more predictive of changes in positive and negative affect than the CRQ. It was clear from the studies within this thesis that co-rumination did not only have negative outcomes for females, and that future research should examine the outcomes of co-ruminative discussions for males and females. It was suggested that future researchers should conduct similar experimental research to Study 3 but that they should include multiple co-ruminative interactions and more immediate assessments of co-rumination in the days following a co-ruminative interaction.

Nesta tese desenvolvemos modelos de apreçamento de ativos financeiros baseados no conceito de influência social, analisamos também algumas das consequências destes modelos e comparamos com os modelos correspondentes clássicos. Por meio das funções de utilidade generalizadas exponencial e quadrática, deduzimos o CAPM com influência social. Obtivemos que o coeficiente beta da fórmula do CAPM depende de uma aversão ao risco efetiva do mercado que depende da distribuição de riqueza dos agentes do mercado. Supondo que distribuição de riqueza dos agentes do mercado segue uma distribuição de Pareto, fomos capazes de conectar, aversão ao risco média efetiva do mercado, volatilidade e distribuição de riqueza dos agentes, estabelecendo a previsão empírica de que a volatilidade aumenta com a concentração da distribuição de riqueza dos agentes do mercado, a qual foi corroborada por meio de análise estatística. Através da função generalizada tipo potência são feitas algumas considerações sobre alguns \"puzzles\" econômicos bem conhecidos (o \"Equity Premium Puzzle\" e o \"Riskfree Rate Puzzle\") que mostram que a modelagem da influência social pode ter impacto no esclarecimento destes \"puzzles\". / In this thesis we develop pricing models for financial assets based in the concept of social influence, we analyze too some of consequences of this models and we compare with the corresponding classical models. By means of the exponential and quadratic generalized utility functions, we deduce the CAPM with social influence. We obtained that the coefficient beta from the formula of the CAPM depends of a market effective risk aversion that depends of the wealth distribution of the market agents. Supposing that the wealth distribution of the market agents follows a Pareto distribution, we were able to connect, market effective average risk aversion, volatility and wealth distribution of the agents, establishing the empirical forecasting that the volatility grows with the concentration of the wealth distribution of the market agents, which was corroborated by means of statistical analysis. Through the generalized power function are made some considerations about some economic puzzles well-known (the Equity Premium Puzzle and the Riskfree Rate Puzzle) that show us that the modeling of the social influence can to have impact in the clarification these puzzles.

Social phenomena have been studied extensively in small scales by social scientists. With the increasing popularity of Web 2.0 and online social networks/media, a large amount of data on social phenomena have become available. In this dissertation we study online social phenomena such as social influence in social networks in various contexts. This dissertation has two major components: 1. Identifying and characterizing online social phenomena 2. Leveraging online social phenomena for economic and commercial purposes. We begin the dissertation by developing multi-level revenue sharing schemes for viral marketing on social networks. Viral marketing leverages social influence among users of the social network. For our proposed models, we develop results on the computational complexity, individual rationality, and potential reach of employing the Shapley value as a revenue sharing scheme. Our results indicate that under the multi-level tree-based propagation model, the Shapley value is a promising scheme for revenue sharing, whereas under other models there are computational or incentive compatibility issues that remain open. We continue with another application of social influence: social advertising. Social advertising is a new paradigm that is utilized by online social networks. Social advertising is based in the premise that social influence can be leveraged to place ads more efficiently. The goal of our work is to understand how social ads can affect click-through rates in social networks. We propose a formal model for social ads in the context of display advertising. In our model, ads are shown to users one after the other. The probability of a user clicking an ad depends on the users who have clicked this ad so far. This information is presented to users as a social cue, thus the click probability is a function of this cue. We introduce the social display optimization problem: suppose an advertiser has a contract with a publisher for showing some number (say B) impressions of an ad. What strategy should the publisher use to show these ads so as to maximize the expected number of clicks? We show hardness results for this problem and in light of the general hardness results, we develop heuristic algorithms and compare them to natural baseline ones. We then study distributed content curation on the Web. In recent years readers have turned to the social web to consume content. In other words, they rely on their social network to curate content for them as opposed to the more traditional way of relying on news editors for this purpose -- this is an implicit consequence of social influence as well. We study how efficient this is for users with limited budgets of attention. We model distributed content curation as a reader-publisher game and show various results. Our results imply that in the complete information setting, when publishers maximize their utility selfishly, distributed content curation reaches an equilibrium which is efficient, that is, the social welfare is a constant factor of that under an optimal centralized curation. Next, we initiate the study of an exchange market problem without money that is a natural generalization of the well-studied kidney exchange problem. From the practical point of view, the problem is motivated by barter websites on the Internet, e.g., swap.com, and u-exchange.com. In this problem, the users of the social network wish to exchange items with each other. A mechanism specifies for each user a set of items that she gives away, and a set of items that she receives. Consider a set of agents where each agent has some items to offer, and wishes to receive some items from other agents. Each agent would like to receive as many items as possible from the items that she wishes, that is, her utility is equal to the number of items that she receives and wishes. However, she will have a large dis-utility if she gives away more items than what she receives, because she considers such a trade to be unfair. To ensure voluntary participation (also known as individual rationality), we require the mechanism to avoid this. We consider different variants of this problem: with and without a constraint on the length of the exchange cycles and show different results including their truthfulness and individual rationality. In the other main component of this thesis, we study and characterize two other social phenomena: 1. friends vs. the crowd and 2. altruism vs. reciprocity in social networks. More specifically, we study how a social network user's actions are influenced by her friends vs. the crowd's opinion. For example, in social rating websites where both ratings from friends and average ratings from everyone is available, we study how similar one's ratings are to each other. In the next part, we aim to analyze the motivations behind users' actions on online social media over an extended period of time. We look specifically at users' likes, comments and favorite markings on their friends' posts and photos. Most theories of why people exhibit prosocial behavior isolate two distinct motivations: Altruism and reciprocity. In our work, we focus on identifying the underlying motivations behind users' prosocial giving on social media. In particular, our goal is to identify if the motivation is altruism or reciprocity. For that purpose, we study two datasets of sequence of users' actions on social media: a dataset of wall posts by users of Facebook.com, and another dataset of favorite markings by users of Flickr.com. We study the sequence of users' actions in these datasets and provide several observations on patterns related to their prosocial giving behavior.