Social Psychology of Social Media

Social Psychology of Social Media

Brian Cugelman, PhDOnline strategy and research consultant@cugelman

25 Feb 2012

Ryerson UniversityToronto, Canada

AGENDA1. We're Social Animals, However We Connect2. Digital Persuasion Equation3. Eight Spheres of Digital Influence4. Social Contexts, Offline & Online, Private & Public5. In-depth Look at Sphere Eight: Social Context6. Leveraging Social Context Factors for Social

Design7. Crowdsourced Analysis

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WE'RE SOCIAL ANIMALS, HOWEVER WE CONNECT

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MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

How many of these needs

can we satisfy without others?

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SHIFTING VIEWS ON THE INTERNET & SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPSBefore 2006• Internet keeps people at

home, away from friends and family

• The Internet is destroying relationships

• Using the Internet is anti-social

Beyond 2006• Pew Study, The Strength of

Internet Ties shows the net enhances social relations

• Texting helps long-distance couples stay connected (sexting too)

• Mobile phones for teens are not phones anymore, they're a social lifeline

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A QUICK POLL

• Have you ever donated to a cause, because the organization needed a bit more money to reach their funding goal?

• Have you ever purchased a product because of top star ratings? How about one star?

• Have you ever changed your views on an issue because of an online discussion?

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ASCH SOCIAL CONFORMITY EXPERIMENT (1958)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIh4MkcfJA

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THE SPREAD OF OBESITY IN A LARGE SOCIAL NETWORK OVER 32 YEARS

8http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa066082

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa066082

DIGITAL PERSUASION EQUATION

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DIGITAL PERSUASION EQUATION

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Motivation Persuasive Experiences

(8 spheres of digital influence)

Trigger ChangeAbility & Efficacy

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CHANGE

• Agreeing to something - Saying “yes”

• Buying more widgets

• Increasing support for a social cause

• Losing trust in a politician

• Deciding to quit smoking

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HOW CHANGE HAPPENS

Beliefs Attitudes Behaviours

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Not necessarily in this order. Behaviour can shape attitudes, and attitudes can shape beliefs.

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MOTIVATION

Behaviour is more likely when motivators outweigh

demotivators13

(+) Motivator: Goals, carrots, benefit, drivers

(-) Demotivaror: Costs, disincentives, barriers, effort

Value proposition

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ABILITY & EFFICACY

Ability or self-efficacy dictate what you will and won't do

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AbilityWhat you can or

can't do

Self-efficacyWhat you believe

you can or can't doSkill Confidence

Learned helplessness

TRIGGER (COVERT)

Triggering chickens with recordings of

chicks chirping

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Triggering humans with recordings of

people laughing (canned laughter)

Trigger. Reaction.

Chicken acts friendly towards a

threat

People laugh longer and harder, even at

bad jokes

TRIGGER (OVERT)

Call to action (CTA)PromptRequest

OfferProposal

Sales pitch

Click Here

Act now while quantities last.

The first 100 callers get a free gold

plated pen valued at over $50.

CALL 1 800 STUPID GIFT.

You were poked by Bob. Poke Bob back!

Download your free report

Click on this link now!

"Wow! That shirt makes you look 20 years younger. Would you like

to pay by cash or credit?"

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EIGHT SPHERES OF DIGITAL INFLUENCE

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PERSUASIVECOMMUNICATION MODEL

Cugelman, B., Thelwall, M., & Dawes, P. (2009). Communication-Based Influence Components Model. Paper presented at the Persuasive 2009, Claremont.

This system can integrate hundreds of influence components, but we'll just focus on the eight spheres.

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1. SOURCE

What it is: •The person, organization, or group behind a website, social media profile, ad, or message

Key principles: •Appealing to source credibility boosts persuasiveness

•Build on the three components of credibility:

1. Expertise2. Trustworthiness3. Visual appeal

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WHICH PHOTO CAN INCREASE TEXT CREDIBILITY?

NGUYEN, H. & MASTHOFF, J. (2007) Is it me or what I say? Source image and persuasion. Persuasive 07. Springer.

No photo

CREDIBILITY AND IMAGERY

Readers perceptions of text credibility is influenced by photo credibility

Don't underestimate the contribution of visuals towards perceived credibility

Photo Goodwill Trust

High credibility Higher Higher

No photo Middle Middle

Low credibility Lower Lower

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Featured by X, Y, Z.

Low credibility websites can borrow credibility from higher credibility sources.

2. MESSAGE ENCODING AND DECODING

What it is:•How you express an idea and how the person interprets it

•Expression can be spoken, written, symbolic

Key principles:•How you express something can strengthen or weaken what you say

•Encode messages so the audience can rapidly understand them

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Place the CTA where most eyes land

3. MEDIA CHANNEL

What it is:•The various media used to express something

•Eg. Written words, spoken dialogue, photos, video, interactive websites, email

Key principles:•Select the media channels most suited to your target audience

•Make it easy for them engage with the media

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4. AUDIENCE

What it is:•The person or organization you are trying to engage and influence

•It comprises their demographics, traits, and psychology

Key principles:•Understand your audiences' motivations and psychological hot buttons

•Frame interaction around motivations and leverage hot buttons

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HOW THE PSYCHOLOGY OF 30 HEALTH CHANGING WEBSITES INFLUENCES USERS' BEHAVIOUR

CUGELMAN, B., THELWALL, M., & DAWES, P. (2011) Online interventions for social marketing health behavior change campaigns: A meta-analysis of psychological architectures and

adherence factors. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 13(1), e17. http://www.jmir.org/2011/1/e17/

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d

http://www.jmir.org/2011/1/e17/

5. FEEDBACK ENCODING AND DECODING

What it is:•How the audience expresses and transmits their feedback to you, and how you interpret it

•Some of this is contributed voluntarily, but most is encoded automatically

Key principles:•Automate data collection whenever possible

•Incentivize requests for user information

•Just get what you need initially, then incentive data collection over time

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6. FEEDBACK MESSAGE

What it is:•The information an audience shares with the source that is used to tailor messages•In other words, any data collected about a user that is processed and acted upon•This is the foundation for relationship building

Key principles:•Leverage user data to tailor personalized and relevant messages

•Mine trends among populations to build processes that help individuals

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7. INTERVENTION MESSAGE

What it is:•What you express or do

•In other words, the tangible communication or action you express to an audience

Key principles:•Build your messages around your audiences' motivation, make it easy, and leverage persuasion

•Research will help you identify the influence components that matter

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8. SOCIAL CONTEXT

What it is:•The social environment in which a relationship occurs

•This includes society, whether virtual or "real"

Key principles:•Demonstrate group behaviour to leverage social norms and pressures

•Play on our competitive nature and scarcity

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The rest of this presentation will only look at this sphere.

SOCIAL CONTEXTS, OFFLINE & ONLINE, PRIVATE & PUBLIC

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SOCIAL CONTEXTS

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Offline Online

Classroom E-learning platform

Shouting out to people on the street Twitter

Sharing thoughts with friends during a night out Sharing thoughts Facebook

Academic conference networking Email discussion group

PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SPACES

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PrivatePublicControlled

Access

Twitter

Discussion group

Facebook

Email

SMS (txting) Lined in

PRIVATE VS. PUBLIC CONCERNS

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Living alone on a desert island

With a group of close & trusted

friends

In a large complex social environment

(school or work)

Care about your looks? Probably not Possibly Probably

Worry about your social status?

Probably not Possibly Probably

Care what others think? Possibly Possibly Probably

Willingness to say whatever you

think?Probably Probably not

SURVEILLANCE: MAKING PRIVATE MOMENTS PUBLIC

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Research biasSocially desirable

answers

Crime preventionDeterrence

EmployabilityNever posting

anything that could harm our reputation

Cameras | Internet usage tracking | Friends posting &

tagging your photo on Facebook.

70% of employers have rejected applicants due to online information.

Surveillance moves us from a private to a public social context.

Surfing the net at work

Cautious about the sites we visit

IN-DEPTH LOOK AT SPHERE EIGHT: SOCIAL CONTEXT

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CHANGE AGENTS: INTERPERSONAL & SOCIAL INFLUENCE

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Social proofThe principle that we determine what's correct by following what other people

show to be correct.

Interpersonal influenceThe persuasive experience resulting from

one-on-one interaction.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN PERSUADED OF

SOMETHING BECAUSE OF SOCIAL PROOF?

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SOCIAL PROOF EXAMPLES

• A 10 out of 10 star produce is rated 500 times. No doubt, it must be amazing.

• A nightclub forces people to line-up outside for hours. If they're enduring that to get in, it must be great.

• The "most popular" download software must be the "best".

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SOCIAL PROOF AND DONATIONS

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$1.50 $50 +

Opaque: people can't see the social norm

Empty: people don't see the social

norm in action

Primed: Starter tips show people

what to do

Donationswww.socialmediacafe.ca



MODELLING BEHAVIOUR

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DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS: HOW THINGS SPREAD

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Opinion Leaders

ROGERS, E. (2003) Diffusion of innovations. (5 ed.). New York: Free Press.

ONE-WAY COMMUNICATION

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Media Channel

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2

3

4

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Older, eroded model

TWO-STEP COMMUNICATION FLOW

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Media Channel

1

2

3

4

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Opinion LeaderKats and Lazerfeld (1955)

MULTI-STEP COMMUNICATION FLOW

Media Channel

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2

3

4

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Opinion Leaders

Opponent Opinion Leader

SupporterOpinion Leader

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Slightly updated model

VIRAL DIFFUSION

SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS AND INFLUENCE

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Common influence metrics• Degree Centrality• Closeness• Betweenness• Coreness

TOP WEBSITES ARE SOCIAL OR USE SOCIAL ALGORITHMS1. Google (Search)2. Facebook (Social media)3. YouTube (Social media)4. Yahoo! (Search)5. Windows Live (Search)6. Baidu.com (Search)7. Wikipedia (Social media)8. Blogger.com (Social

media)9. Twitter (Social media)10.QQ.COM (Search)

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•5 Search•5 Social media

Based on Alexa ranking retrieved 12 Oct 2010

THE SAME RECOMMENDATION CAN SPREAD AS TRUSTED ADVICE OR SPAM

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE

I don't like spam!

Trusted recommendation

Dishonestmarketing spam

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE

CREDIBILITY ASSESSMENT AND ACTIVE TRUST

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3. Advice from an unknown source

2. Advice from a trusted person, but

not an expert

1. Advice from a trusted expert

Credibility perception

High

Medium

Low

How recommendations are regarded

Valuable advice

Promising, but not fully

trustworthy

Marketing spam

A study on how source credibility and trust relate to user behaviour: Cugelman, B., Thelwall, M. & Dawes, P. (2009) The dimensions of website credibility and their relation to active trust and behavioural impact. Communications of the Association for Information Systems. http://wlv.openrepository.com/wlv/bitstream/2436/85974/4/Cugelman_2009_website_credibility.pdf

http://wlv.openrepository.com/wlv/bitstream/2436/85974/4/Cugelman_2009_website_credibility.pdf

SPAMMING REDUCES DIFFUSION

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Dishonest spamming techniques undermine viral diffusion

Differential Adaptive Diffusion: Understanding Diversity and Learning Whom to Trust in Viral Marketing

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61http://db.tt/kbT8BYY

SCARCITY

People assign more value to things that are less

available.

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Groucho Marx

“I don’t want to belong to any club that

will accept people like

me as a member.”

LEVERAGING SOCIAL CONTEXT FACTORS FOR SOCIAL DESIGN

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FROM SUPPER TO SOCIAL INFLUENCE

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Burger and fries Chicken Burger Chicken Salad

Bun

Beef patty

Chicken breast

Fries

Salad

FROM SUPPER TO SOCIAL INFLUENCE

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Beliefs Attitudes Behaviours

Pay influencers to push your idea

Testimonials from trusted experts

Show how popular it is Incentivize personal affiliate marketing

Make it rare and time bound

PSYCHOLOGICAL ARCHITECTURE OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Above the surface• What you see and experience• The total effect

Below the surface• Social proof• Modelling behaviour• Influencer endorsement• Viral spread leveraging

social trust• Scarcity

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BEWARE OF UNETHICAL ABUSES OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE

• Fake positive testimonials• Fake negative ratings of competitor

products• Tricking people into inviting their friends to

join social networks• Affiliate marketing portals that

masquerade as impartial and honest advisors

• An important email from a fried, which is really a virus exploiting your social trust

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CROWDSOURCED ANALYSIS

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THE SCIENCE BEHIND THIS PRESENTATION

This presentation is based on a multi-year study of online influence, that was published in the world's leading scientific

journal on eHealth, mHealth and medical informatics.

Get the study here:http://www.jmir.org/2011/1/e17/

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http://www.jmir.org/2011/1/e17/

Brian Cugelman, PhDOnline strategy and research consultant

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www.alterspark.com

@AlterSpark alterspark alterspark alterspark

Want to leverage psychology to make your websites,

campaigns, or digital products more engaging and

persuasive? Get in touch.

Social Psychology of Social Media

Design

components of credibility

social cause

social animals

increasetext credibility

social contexts

social design7

social context6

low credibility websites