Social Network Influence on Online Behavioral Choices

K. Hazel Kwon, Michael A. Stefanone, George A. Barnett
2014 American Behavioral Scientist  
Social media communication is characterized by reduced anonymity and off-to-online social interactions. These characteristics require scholars to revisit social influence mechanisms online. The current study builds on social influence literature to explore social network and gender effects on online behavior. Findings from a quasiexperiment suggest that both network-related variables and gender are significantly associated with online behavior. Perceived social environment, measured by personal
more » ... network exposure rate, is more significant than objective reality, measured by frequency of received social messages, in determining behavior. We discuss the implications of social contagion effects on web-based strategic communicationincluding advertising, political campaigns, and social mobilization. Data limitations and the difficulty of measuring social network influence via social media are also discussed. Keywords social influence, personal network exposure, social networking sites, online social networks, interpersonal influence, social contagion Social exchange via social networking site (SNS) challenge what nearly two decades of computer-mediated communication (CMC) research has revealed about the impacts of anonymity and reduced social cues, on the mechanisms of social influence. In the
doi:10.1177/0002764214527092 fatcat:vpp2klagkbcvzolniqwn43k6r4