Technology-Mediated Dangerous Behaviors as Foraging for Social-Hedonic Rewards: The Role of Implied Inequality

MIS Quarterly ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 1249-1286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ofir Turel ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Private Information ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Risk Sensitivity ◽  
Total N ◽  
Risk Appetite ◽  
Dangerous Behaviors ◽  
Role Of Information

Technology-mediated dangerous behaviors (TMDBs), such as posting selfies while driving or posting private information, are prevalent and potentially require interventions. Knowledge about the drivers of these, and specifically the role of information in stimulating such behaviors, is limited. To address this gap, this paper turns to foraging and risk-sensitivity theories. These theories suggest that animals engage in more dangerous behaviors when their perceived need for calories is high. Similarly, humans increase financial risk-taking when they perceive dissatisfaction with what they have. Importantly, inequality information can increase such perceptions and change people’s risk-taking propensity. Adapting these ideas, the paper postulates that TMDBs resemble food-seeking in animals in that they are goal oriented, can be dangerous, and yield unknown (probabilistic) rewards. Therefore, TMDBs are explained using foraging and risk-sensitivity theory angles. Focusing on social media users (Studies 1-4; four experiments; total n = 2,504), I argue that (1) it is reasonable to view users as foraging the “fields of social media” for social-hedonic rewards, (2) it is possible to alter their risk appetite and TMDBs through inequality information and upward comparison mechanisms, (3) this process can be mediated not only through cognitions, but also emotions, and (4) perceived scarcity of rewards and social comparison orientation affect this process. With Study 5, the paper extends the core aspects of this theoretical perspective to the U.S. state level and argues that objective financial inequality can explain differences between states in terms of TMDBs such as texting while driving and relative interest in TMDBs such as prank videos. The findings largely support these assertions. They illuminate the role of information, notably inequality, in driving TMDBs, extend prior research focused on basic needs (e.g., physiological needs in the case of food intake decisions) to an evaluation of higher-order human needs (e.g., needs for belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization) catered to by nonphysiological, social-hedonic rewards, and point to important mechanisms that translate inequality into TMDBs.

Understanding destination evangelism: a social media viewpoint

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Purvendu Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Structural Equation Models ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviors ◽  
Role Of Information

PurposeThe present research aims to introduce and understand the promising nature of destination evangelism in the context of social media-based tourism communities (SMTCs). Further, factors that influence evangelism and information-seeking behaviors on SMTCs are examined.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model is developed that features an interplay of destination distinctiveness, destination evangelism, travel commitment and information-seeking engagement. Data were collected from 215 active users of SMTCs and analyzed using structural equation models.FindingsThe research findings indicate that destination distinctiveness and information-seeking positively lead to destination evangelism. Information-seeking is found to mediate the relationship between (1) destination evangelism and travel commitment and (2) destination evangelism and distinctiveness.Research limitations/implicationsThe research offers meaningful insights into exploring constituents of destination evangelism. The research also understands and highlights the critical role of information-seeking engagement about distinct destinations.Practical implicationsThis research highlights key areas to build, improve and inspire destination evangelism on SMTCs.Originality/valueThis study offers a fresh contribution to tourism literature by investigating destination evangelism and its drivers. This is explained by closely uniting vital research streams of evangelism, tourism and engagement. It further highlights the dual mediating role of information seeking, suggesting that these engagements are critical to evangelizing destinations.

scholarly journals Beyond “fake news”: The role of analytic thinking in the detection of inaccuracy and partisan bias in news headlines

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M Ross ◽  
David Gertler Rand ◽  
Gordon Pennycook
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Analytic Thinking ◽  
Total N ◽  
Partisan Bias ◽  
News Content ◽  
Political Bias ◽  
Political Partisanship ◽  
News Headlines

Why is misleading partisan content believed and shared? An influential account posits that political partisanship pervasively biases reasoning, such that engaging in analytic thinking exacerbates motivated reasoning and, in turn, the acceptance of hyperpartisan content. Alternatively, it may be that susceptibility to hyperpartisan misinformation is explained by a lack of reasoning. Across two studies using different subject pools (total N = 1977), we had participants assess true, false, and hyperpartisan headlines taken from social media. We found no evidence that analytic thinking was associated with increased polarization for either judgments about the accuracy of the headlines or willingness to share the news content on social media. Instead, analytic thinking was broadly associated with an increased capacity to discern between true headlines and either false or hyperpartisan headlines. These results suggest that reasoning typically helps people differentiate between low and high quality news content, rather than facilitating political bias.

scholarly journals Pupils’ Use of Social Media and Its Relation to Mental Health from a School Personnel Perspective: A Preliminary Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 9163
Author(s):  
Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland ◽  
Viktor Schønning ◽  
Bodil Elisabeth Valstad Aasan ◽  
Randi Træland Hella ◽  
Jens Christoffer Skogen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Total N ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Use Of Social Media

The extent of mental health problems among adolescents seems to be on the rise, and this observed trend has often been linked to a coinciding increase in social media use. The goal of the current preliminary study was to investigate how senior high school personnel experience the role of social media in relation to the mental health of their pupils. Two focus group interviews (total n = 11) were completed and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, resulting in 4 themes and 11 subthemes. The results illustrate that school personnel experience social media as a tool for communication, but also as a potential cause of mental health issues and reduced academic performance among pupils. The participants called for schools to become better equipped to meet the opportunities and challenges of social media.

scholarly journals Modeling the Revolving Revolution: The Debt Collection Channel

2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 897-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukasz A. Drozd ◽  
Ricardo Serrano-Padial
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Private Information ◽  
Credit Cards ◽  
Consumer Debt ◽  
Widespread Adoption ◽  
Debt Collection ◽  
Role Of Information

We investigate the role of information technology (IT) in the collection of delinquent consumer debt. We argue that the widespread adoption of IT by the debt collection industry in the 1990s contributed to the observed expansion of unsecured risky lending such as credit cards. Our model stresses the importance of delinquency and private information about borrower solvency. The prevalence of delinquency implies that the costs of debt collection must be borne by lenders to sustain incentives to repay debt. IT mitigates informational asymmetries, allowing lenders to concentrate collection efforts on delinquent borrowers who are more likely to repay. (JEL D14, D82, G21, L84, M15, O33)

scholarly journals Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in Emerging Economies: a Conceptual Model

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haya Ajjan ◽  
Stefanie Beninger ◽  
Rania Mostafa ◽  
Victoria L. Crittenden
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Women Entrepreneurs ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
New Information ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Role Of Information

Cyberfeminism is a woman-centered perspective that advocates women’s use of new information and communications technologies for empowerment. This paper explores the role of information technologies, in particular the role of social media, in empowering women entrepreneurship in emerging economies via increased social capital and improved self-efficacy. A conceptual model is offered and propositions are explicated.

scholarly journals Humans Against Virus or Humans Against Humans: A Game Theory Approach to the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Forero-Alvarado ◽  
Nicolás Moreno-Arias ◽  
Juan J. Ospina-Tejeiro
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Private Information ◽  
Health Economy ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Welfare Losses ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
The Us ◽  
Containment Measures ◽  
Role Of Information

Externalities and private information are key characteristics of an epidemic like the Covid-19 pandemic. We study the welfare costs stemming from the incomplete information environment that these characteristics foster. We develop a framework that embeds a game theory approach into a macro SIR model to analyze the role of information in determining the extent of the health-economy trade-off of a pandemic. We apply the model to the Covid-19 epidemic in the US and find that the costs of keeping health information private are between USD $5.9$ trillion and USD $6.7$ trillion. We then find an optimal policy of disclosure and divulgation that, combined with testing and containment measures, can improve welfare. Since it is private information about individuals' health what produces the greatest welfare losses, finding ways to make such information known as precisely as possible, would result in significantly fewer deaths and significantly higher economic activity.

scholarly journals The Role of Information in Innovation and Competition

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 828-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ufuk Akcigit ◽  
Qingmin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Private Information ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Welfare Losses ◽  
Dead End ◽  
Wrong Direction ◽  
Efficiency Losses ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Information Externality ◽  
Role Of Information

Abstract Innovation is typically a trial-and-error process. While some research paths lead to the innovation sought, others result in dead ends. Because firms benefit from their competitors working in the wrong direction, they do not reveal their dead-end findings. Time and resources are wasted on projects that other firms have already found to be fruitless. We offer a simple model with two firms and two research lines to study this prevalent problem. We characterize the equilibrium in a decentralized environment that necessarily entails significant efficiency losses due to wasteful dead-end replication and an information externality that leads to an early abandonment of the risky project. We show that different types of firms follow different innovation strategies and create different kinds of welfare losses. In an extension of the core model, we also study a centralized mechanism whereby firms are incentivized to disclose their actions and share their private information in a timely manner.

Bank Risk Appetite Communication and Risk Taking: The Key Role of Integrated Reports

Risk Analysis ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Mio ◽  
Marisa Agostini ◽  
Silvia Panfilo
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Bank Risk ◽  
Risk Appetite
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