MSGID: 1:317/3 6493ce6c   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Phone communication spurs a cascading effect on social influence    
      
     Date:   
         June 21, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Texas at Austin   
     Summary:   
         Social influence from phone communications is significant, reaching   
         as far as four degrees of separation from the original caller,   
         according to a new study.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   Social influence from phone communications is significant, reaching as   
   far as four degrees of separation from the original caller, according   
   to a new study from researchers at The University of Texas at Austin,   
   who developed a new framework to more precisely study the phenomenon.   
      
   The researchers created a framework that distinguishes between people   
   behaving in similar ways because of peer influence or because they've   
   sought out friends with similar behaviors and beliefs. It's an important   
   distinction to make for marketing and public health agencies looking to   
   effectively target communications and influence behavior.   
      
   Yan Leng, an assistant professor at the McCombs School of Business, and   
   colleagues also devised a new tool that marketers can use to identify   
   influencers: highly connected individuals who can start phone cascades.   
      
   The research is online in advance in the Journal ofInformation Systems   
   Research.   
      
   With Xiaowen Dong of the University of Oxford, Esteban Moro of the   
   University of Madrid and Alex Pentland of the Massachusetts Institute   
   of Technology, Leng tested the framework on mobile phone data collected   
   in a small European country with a single mobile provider to show how   
   phone communications affect people's decision to attend a cultural event.   
      
   The framework consists of three steps:   
      1. Identify people who initially adopt a behavior.   
      
      2. Use cellular phone data to build communication cascades, or   
      diagrams of   
         individuals who have direct phone calls or are indirectly connected   
         with initial adopters.   
      
      3. Gather the following data: a) locations people visited, b)   
      whether their   
         friends eventually adopted the behavior, and c) characteristics   
         of people's social networks, such as how connected they are to   
         their networks.   
      
   People who had direct phone contact with initial event attendees were   
   87.61% more likely to end up later attending themselves compared with   
   those who didn't receive a phone call from a contact. Those who were   
   two tiers away (friends of friends) from an initial adopter were 68.65%   
   more likely to attend if they received a call.   
      
   This effect persisted up to four degrees of separation, showing that even   
   being indirectly connected to a past attendee through a communications   
   network raises one's likelihood of future attendance. Third-tier contacts   
   were 53% more likely to go to the show and fourth tier 47% more likely.   
      
   While the researchers lacked details about the context of phone calls,   
   they assumed the topic of communications within 24 hours of the event   
   would include talk about the performance.   
      
   "And if people weren't talking about the event, then our estimate is   
   an underestimate," Leng said. "Our findings on the long-range effect   
   of social influence still hold."  The researchers used their results to   
   build a new tool, their so-called influence centrality, that shows which   
   people spread information more than others. This is important information   
   that can be used in targeting in marketing, as it could help companies   
   and public agencies promote new products and behaviors. Businesses   
   that have a new product they want people to adopt can use the framework   
   and tool, too. For instance, companies sending out sample products to   
   influencers are better off if they know who will most effectively spread   
   the word. Overall, the research shows that despite the preponderance of   
   social media, phones still matter for marketers.   
      
   "Phone communication is still a very important channel researchers should   
   study," Leng said.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Mind_&_Brain   
                   # Social_Psychology # Relationships # Behavior #   
                   Consumer_Behavior # Psychology # Perception #   
                   K-12_Education # Psychiatry   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Social_psychology o Macroeconomics o Social_cognition   
             o Phishing o Milgram_experiment o Social_movement o   
             Interpersonal_relationship o Cognitive_bias   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Texas_at_Austin. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Yan Leng, Xiaowen Dong, Esteban Moro, Alex Pentland. Long-Range   
      Social   
         Influence in Phone Communication Networks on Offline Adoption   
         Decisions.   
      
         Information Systems Research, 2023; DOI: 10.1287/isre.2023.1231   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230621105429.htm   
      
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