Article 4.1 Berger 2014 Flashcards
Impression management components
- Self-enhancement
- Identity-signaling
- Filling conversational space
Self-enhancement
People want to be perceived positively and are more likely to share things that make them look good
Identity-signaling
Talking about items or experiences that express who they are or aspire to be
Filling conversational space
Sharing accessible or relatable topics to avoid awkward silences.
How impression management drives what people share
Entertaining (funny video)
Self-concept relevant
Unique
Accessible
Useful
Status related (discussing luxury handbag)
Common ground (talking about a popular TV show)
Affecting the valence of content shared
Leading incidental arousal to boost sharing
Self-concept relevant things
Impression management should lead people to discuss identity-relevant information
When someone feels they know less about a topic than they’d like but want to seem knowledgeable or aspirational, they’re more likely to discuss it to bridge the gap and present themselves as the person they aim to be.
Emotional valence
People tend to share positive experiences because it helps them look good and feel good about themselves, reinforcing their image. Sharing happy or exciting news makes them appear fun or successful.
However, sharing negative experiences can also have benefits. For example, writing critical reviews can make people seem smart.
Incidental arousal
When people are energized or excited from an activity, they might mistakenly think this excitement comes from something they’re considering sharing, like a story or rumor.
This makes the content seem more interesting or engaging than it really is, leading them to share it
Emotion regulation
The ways people manage which emotions they have, when they have them and how they experience and express them
Word of mouth helps consumers regulate their emotions
How does sharing facilitate emotion regulation?
- Generating social support
- Venting
- Facilitating sense making
- Reducing dissonance (reducing feelings of doubt)
- Taking vengeance (punishing a company or individual for a negative consumption experience)
- Encouraging rehearsal (reliving positive emotions)
How emotion regulation drives what people share
- People sharing more emotional content
- Influencing valence of the content shared
- Sharing more emotionally arousing conent
Emotionality
Emotion regulation should lead to content high in emotional intensity being shared
Valence
Emotion regulation should impact the valence of what people share
Consumers share positive emotions to re-consume or extend the positive effect
Emotional arousal
Emotion regulation should lead to more emotionally arousing things to be shared
Negative high arousal emotions should increase the need to vent
Positive high arousal emotions should increase desires for rehearsal
Information acquisition
People use WOM to actively seek information
Sharing should enable information acquisition for…
Seeking advice
Resolving problems
How information acquisition drives what people talk about
- Risky, important or complex decisions
- Lack of trustworthy information
Social bonding
WOM helps us connect with others, as it can act as a ‘social glue’
Sharing facilitates social bonding through…
Reinforcing shared views
Reducing loneliness and social exclusion
How social bonding drives what people share
- Common ground
- Emotionality
Persuasion drives people to share tings that are…
More emotionally polarized
Arousing in nature
Polarized valence
If you want to persuade someone that something is good, you should share extreme rather than moderate positive information.
Separating functions from conscious deliberation
People share things for different reasons, like venting or trying to make sense of their feelings, but they often don’t consciously realize why they’re sharing.
People tend to discuss whatever is most accessible or comes to mind, especially in casual face-to-face conversations.
For example, someone might talk about a recent experience to process emotions or rehearse the event, without being fully aware that’s why they’re doing it.
Is WOM self-serving?
Sharing one’s own personal thoughts and feelings activates that same brain region that responds to things like food and money
Arguments against self-serving account
- Altruism: people share things to help others (unclear if it is to look smart or seem helpful)
- Audience tuning: people tailor what they share to the knowledge and interests of their audience, which helps in social bonding and self-presentation (partly self-serving)
How does audience and channel shape WOM?
- Tie strength
- Audience size
- Tie status
Tie strength
Impression management: motives are strong with both weak and strong ties as people want to be socially accepted
Emotion regulation: when experiencing negative emotions, people reach out to strong ties
Information acquisition: trust strong ties more for information
Social bonding: better with strong ties
Persuading others: better with strong ties
Audience size
Broadcasting: talking to a large audience
Narrowcasting: talking to small audiences
Audience size
Impression management: greater impact when communication to larger groups
Emotion regulation: less likely to share negative emotions with a large audience
Information acquisition: narrowcasting is better for acquiring detailed information
Social bonding: the larger the audience the less likely someone shares the same opinion
Persuasion: broadcasters may try to change opinions when social presence of others is not felt (online)
Tie status
People tend to share positive information with those of higher social rank to impress them, while they turn to high-status individuals for emotional support.
They may also try to persuade those of lower status more often, as part of managing their image and influence within the social hierarchy.
Communication channel
- Written vs oral
- Identifiability
- Audience salience
Written vs oral
Impression management: written communication leads people to talk about interesting things
Persuading others: written communication can facilitate persuasion
Emotional regulation and social bonding: oral communication, immediate feedback
Information acquisition: written communication, allows for time to collect useful information
Identifiability
Impression management: makes people more conscious of what they’re saying
Social bonding and persuading others: harder to bond with others if you don’t know who they are
Emotion regulation and information acquisition: little impact
Audience salience
When the audience is more prominent (face-to-face interactions), individuals are more likely to adjust what they share to manage their image.
In contrast, online communication often has less audience salience, which can influence how people share information
Impression management should play a larger role
