Chapter 2

Question 1

A major distinction among social media platforms as channels for spreading marketing information—either by companies, by customers, or both—is the…

Answer 1

…“social” nature of these platforms.

Question 2

a social graph

Answer 2

a typical way to draw a (very small) network

Question 3

network

Answer 3

made up of nodes (the blue circles) and ties (the black lines linking the blue circles)

Question 4

Nodes in social networks are…

Answer 4

…people.

Network nodes could represent any entities (not just people).

Question 5

The ties in a social network represent…

Answer 5

…relationships between pairs of people (i.e., dyadic relations).

Ties could represent other types of connections or links.

Question 6

multiple types of ties between nodes are possible; for example:

Answer 6

you can have friendship ties, romantic ties, professional ties, family ties, and more.

Question 7

Multiplicity

Answer 7

different types of ties between pairs of nodes

Question 8

Tie strength

Answer 8

the intensity of ties between pairs of nodes

Question 9

Ties can have varying levels of

Answer 9

“tie strength.”

Question 10

ego network

Answer 10

each person’s network

Question 11

Social interactions in general result in the transmission of…

Answer 11

…information from one node (the transmitter) to another node or nodes (the receiver or receivers).

Question 12

social ties have value in the sense that they represent ____ for social interactions of various kinds to take place.

Answer 12

opportunities

Question 13

social connectivity

Answer 13

the number of social ties a person has

Question 14

hub seeding

Answer 14

The terminology comes from the notion that higher-connectivity nodes in networks are hubs and you plant a seed (e.g., a product sample) in them.

Question 15

A social network has no value without…

Answer 15

…the presence of active communication through social ties.

Question 16

example of an inactive tie

Answer 16

following someone on Twitter who never tweets

Question 17

people on social networks with lots of connections (i.e., hubs) might be ____ likely to transmit information.

Answer 17

less

Question 18

social “pumps.”

Answer 18

people who are highly socially active because they transmit information frequently

Question 19

how socially active the transmitter is seems to positively affect the…

Answer 19

…retransmission likelihood

Question 20

retransmission likelihood

Answer 20

the probability that a person who receives information on social media or via word of mouth will communicate it to others (e.g., by retweeting or sharing it).

Question 21

T/F
People—without realizing it—seem to infer that information they receive from social sources is more current or fresh if it comes from someone who posts more frequently than others.

Answer 21

True

Question 22

categorize different types of social interactions along two dimensions:

Answer 22

impact on participants (weak vs. strong)

barriers to activation (low vs. high)

Question 23

Impact on participants

Answer 23

refers to the likelihood that the social interaction, if it takes place, will have a strong influence on the attitudes and/or behaviors of the participants in that interaction (the receivers and the transmitter)

Question 24

“strong ties”

Answer 24

people we are close to (usually includes family, close friends, and co-workers)

Question 25

“weak ties”

Answer 25

consisting of acquaintances or friends and family of our “strong ties”

Question 26

Barriers to activation

Answer 26

the ease or difficulty of the social tie being activated in order for the social interaction to occur. In other words, it is the inherent likelihood of the social interaction happening. Barriers to activation are most commonly discussed in relation to the brand or product. Although marketers would love for consumers to talk about their brands all the time without any marketing interventions to “nudge” them to spread information, such word of mouth doesn’t happen for the vast majority of brands and products.