Be Selling
I Really Know You: How Influencers Can Increase Audience Engagement by Referencing Their Close Social Ties
Jaeyeon (Jae) Chung, Yu Ding & Ajay Kalra
Journal of Consumer Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
Despite firms’ continued interest in using influencers to reach their target consumers, academic and practical insights are limited on what levers an influencer can use to enhance audience engagement using their posts. We demonstrate that posting stories with or about people whom they share close ties with -- such as family, friends, and romantic partners -- can be one effective lever. Content that incorporates close social ties can be effective for several reasons: it may increase perceptions of authenticity, enhance perceived similarity, increase the perception that the influencer possesses more warmth, and could satisfy viewers’ interpersonal curiosity. We analyze texts and photographs of 55,631 posts of 763 influencers on Instagram, and after controlling for several variables, we find robust support that consumers “like” posts that reference close social ties. Further, this effect enhances when first-person pronouns are used to describe special moments with these close ties. We supplement the Instagram data with an experimental approach and confirm the relationship between close ties and consumer engagement. Managerially, this is a useful insight as we also show that sponsored posts tend to be perceived negatively compared to non-sponsored posts, yet, embedding social ties on the sponsored posts can mitigate consumers’ negative responses.
“If I Could Turn Back Time”: Occupational Dynamics, Technology Trajectories, and the Reemergence of the Analog Music Synthesizer
Andrew Nelson, Callen Anthony & Mary Tripsas
Administrative Science Quarterly, forthcoming
Abstract:
There are numerous examples of the reemergence of old technology, such as vinyl records and film cameras. Yet, the literature on technology trajectories has focused almost exclusively on linear models of technology progression, and we have little understanding of the processes that may instead drive reemergence. In fact, no prior research has examined how users’ occupational considerations may shape technology trajectories, despite a large literature on how occupations condition interactions with technological tools. This article sheds light on these processes through an inductive study of the music synthesizer industry’s shifts from analog to digital and back to analog technology. Leveraging more than 40 years of data, we trace the relationship between technological developments and synthesizer players’ occupational meaning. While synthesists initially embraced the ease of use and novelty of digital’s black-boxed preset sounds, widespread adoption of digital sounds ultimately undermined musicians’ occupational goal of distinctive creative expression. In response, synthesists articulated preferences for technology that afforded control, enabling them to use their expertise to create sounds, and that provided an embodied connection with the tool. Synthesists associated these affordances with analog rather than digital instruments, leading to renewed demand for analog and the reemergence of a formerly displaced technology. Our work integrates occupational considerations into the literature on technology trajectories, uncovers new mechanisms that can underlie technology reemergence, and extends the literature on occupations and technology.
They Can’t All Be Stars: The Matthew Effect, Cumulative Status Bias, and Status Persistence in NBA All-Star Elections
Thomas Biegert, Michael Kühhirt & Wim Van Lancker
American Sociological Review, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study investigates the extent to and mechanisms through which Matthew effects create persistent status hierarchies. We propose a model that highlights the role of cumulative status bias in the feedback loop that leads from initial status allocation to status confirmation. We investigate the formalized process of repeated status allocation in annual elections to the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star game. Using detailed records on player performances allows us to isolate the Matthew effect from actual productivity differences to show that a previous All-Star nomination improves the chances to be re-nominated. We demonstrate that this Matthew effect is partly explained by improved productivity after an All-Star nomination, but voters’ evaluations are also directly biased by a player’s prior status. Multiple previous nominations further improve a player’s chances, confirming the importance of cumulative status bias. The resulting status-biased persistence of achieved status implies ever greater decoupling of productivity and status, undermining the meritocratic allocation of status and resources even more than the existing literature acknowledges.
The Effects of Delay in Bargaining: Evidence from eBay
Jessica Fong & Caio Waisman
University of Michigan Working Paper, March 2023
Abstract:
Delay in negotiations is common in many settings, but the effects of delay have rarely been studied empirically in the field. We measure the causal effect of delay using data from millions of negotiations on eBay. We find that for both buyers and sellers, the longer the bargaining party delays, the less likely the opponent is to continue the negotiation by countering. However, the downstream consequences vary. The more the seller delays, the more likely the negotiation will fail, but the more the buyer delays, the more likely the seller will accept the buyer's offer. The effects of delay are robust; they exist even under short amounts of delay (under 6 hours) and for negotiations for low-priced goods. We find that these effects are consistent with models of strategic delay, in which delay acts as a signal of bargaining power.
Risk perception in housing markets: Evidence from a fighter jet crash
Walter D'Lima, Timothy Komarek & Luis Lopez
Real Estate Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
In this study, we investigate the capitalization of flight accident risk in housing prices near military bases in Virginia from 2003 to 2016. We focus on a localized shock caused by a fighter jet crash into an apartment complex near the Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach. Although flight accident hazards were transparently disclosed by sellers and local governments years beforehand, the crash led to a temporary (approximately 3 years) decline in the prices of properties within accident potential zones (APZ) and by a lesser magnitude, properties slightly outside the APZ boundaries. This analysis sheds light on how market participants react after an extreme event, emphasizing the role of recency in the capitalization of risk.