Social Influence on Digital Content Contribution and Consumption: Theories, Empirical Analyses, and Practices (Management for Professionals)

This book examines users' digital content contribution and consumption behavior from a social perspective. Digital content is everywhere—from search results on search engines to posts on social media. Incentivizing users to contribute abundant content and motivating users to engage in and pay for digital content are vital for online platforms, especially those relying on digital content generated by users. This book develops a theoretical framework to incorporate social influence, including social presence, social interaction, social comparison, social loafing, and social relationships, in users' digital content contribution and consumption decisions. Further, using a large volume of data from online platforms, the author empirically studies the role of social interaction in digital content provision and monetization from the supply side. Also, regarding the digital content demand side, this book explores how to boost content consumption via social motives and social norms. The book enriches the understanding of social influence in digital content contribution and consumption and provides practical suggestions for digital platforms' mechanism design. Preface 6 Acknowledgments 7 Contents 8 Part I Digital Content, PWYW Pricing, and Social Influence 11 1 Introduction to Digital Content 12 1.1 The Emergence of Digital Content 12 1.2 Social Media as a Channel for Digital Content Distribution 16 1.3 Digital Content in a Social World 20 1.4 Organization of Book 20 Reference 23 2 Incentives for Digital Content Contribution 24 2.1 Monetary Incentives for Digital Content Contribution 25 2.2 Non-monetary Incentives for Digital Content Contribution 32 References 45 3 Motives for Digital Content Consumption 50 3.1 Pay-What-You-Want Pricing 51 3.1.1 Buyer-Related Factors to PWYW 51 3.1.2 Seller-Related Factors to PWYW 55 3.1.3 Context-Related Factors to PWYW 57 3.2 Social Aspects of Digital Content Consumption 61 3.2.1 Social Presence 61 3.2.2 Social Influence 61 3.2.3 Social Comparison 62 3.2.4 Social Loafing 62 3.3 Motives for Digital Content Consumption for a Social Aspect 63 References 64 4 Digital Content Contribution and Consumption in Live Streaming 69 4.1 Live Streaming Industry 70 4.2 Stakeholders in Live Streaming 72 4.3 Related Literature 74 4.4 Data Description 76 4.4.1 Broadcaster Side Patterns 76 4.4.2 Viewer Side Patterns 77 4.5 Empirical Results 79 4.5.1 What Factors Are Associated with Gifting? 79 4.5.2 What Is the Relationship Between Gifting and Retention? 86 4.5.3 How is Live Streaming Development Influenced by Economic and Geographic Factors? 89 4.6 Summary 90 References 91 Part II Social Influence in Digital Content Contribution 93 5 Social Incentives and Digital Content Contribution 94 5.1 Introduction 94 5.2 Theoretical Background 95 5.3 Hypotheses Development 96 5.4 Empirical Background and Data 98 5.5 Analysis and Results 102 5.5.1 Short-Term Consequence of Social Incentives 102 5.5.2 Long-Term Consequence of Social Incentives 111 5.5.3 Robustness Checks 114 5.6 Summary 115 References 118 6 Dynamics of Digital Content Contribution, Monetary Incentive, and Social Interaction 122 6.1 Introduction 122 6.2 Theoretical Background and Hypotheses 124 6.3 Empirical Background and Data 125 6.4 Analysis and Results 127 6.4.1 Empirical Model 127 6.4.2 Main Results 129 6.4.3 Robustness Checks 133 6.4.4 Heterogeneity Analysis 133 6.5 Summary 135 References 138 Part III Social Influence in Digital Content Consumption 140 7 Social Interaction and Digital Content Consumption 141 7.1 Introduction 141 7.2 Theoretical Background 142 7.3 Hypotheses Development 144 7.4 Empirical Background and Data 145 7.5 Analysis and Results 146 7.5.1 Main Analysis 146 7.5.2 Robustness Checks 149 7.6 Summary 154 References 155 8 Dynamics of Digital Content Consumption and Social Norm 157 8.1 Introduction 157 8.2 Literature Review 159 8.3 Empirical Background and Data 162 8.3.1 Empirical Background 162 8.3.2 Data Description 163 8.4 Data Patterns and Potential Explanations 164 8.4.1 Data Patterns 164 8.4.2 Potential Explanations 166 8.5 Analysis and Results 170 8.5.1 Empirical Model 170 8.5.2 Day-Level Results 171 8.5.3 Session-Level Results 173 8.5.4 The Role of Social Norms 177 8.6 Summary 178 8.6.1 Theoretical Contribution 183 8.6.2 Managerial Implication 184 8.6.3 Limitation and Future Research Agenda 184 References 185 Part IV Discussion and Conclusion 188 9 Conclusion Summary 189 9.1 Theoretical Discussion 189 9.2 Empirical Conclusion 190 9.3 Practical Implications 192 References 193 10 Future Research Agenda 195 10.1 Recommendations for Research in Digital Content Contribution 195 10.2 Recommendations for Research in Digital Content Consumption 196 10.3 Recommendations for Research in Live Streaming 197 Reference 200