In the realm of philosophy and other theoretical discourses, there are many different paths to the turn from the modern to the postmodern, representing a complex genealogy of diverse and often divergent trails through different disciplines and cultural terrains. One pathway moves through an irrationalist tradition from romanticism to existentialism to French postmodernism via the figures of Nie...

This study provides insight into how social relationship factors influence on electronic Word-of-Mouth (EWOM) behaviors in social networking sites. By using the sample from Taiwan and Vietnam college students who spend more time on social networking sites, we investigate these determinants of EWOM behaviors such as social capital, trust and interpersonal influences, and compare the results betw...

This research-in-progress seeks to uncover a deeper understanding of how influence works online, and how we might measure influence beyond the outputs and outtakes. In this literature review, several salient themes emerge: § Influence explained via social impact and opinion leadership o Mixed results on both accounts § Influence applied by a group on its individual members o By and large, lit...

A journal-type blog offers audiences a venue, through which to exchange ideas about bloggers’ feelings and provide feedback, which could be regarded as a kind of social support. Based on a social support category system proposed by Cutrona and Suhr (1992), this study aims to identify the kinds of social support offered by audiences to continuous popular journal-type bloggers(A-list), as well as...

As a type of online shopping, online group-buying is inherently affected by consumers' social interaction. In the context of group-buying, consumers can be affected by other group members who share information and communicate with them online. Previous researchers have found that in an online environment, trust can significantly influence consumers’ purchase intentions. Therefore, in this paper...

Although the commonly used Internet Service Provider’s business models based on price comparison may prove to be a successful strategy for organisations in the short term, it may be argued that a sustainable business model for the long term requires a detailed understanding of the various factors that may help ISPs in attracting future customers. This paper therefore examines the influence of a...

In the past, gift-giving has interested mainly anthropologists because it was taken to be a primitive mode of exchange. Recent contributions of economists acknowledge however that gift-giving is still present in modern exchange economies. In this paper gifts are characterized by motivations. Two main features of gift giving are to be explained: (in-)adequacy and (non-)reciprocity. It is argued ...

The aim of this paper to explain gift-giving by means of social approval. In a simple framework we are able to account for a number of stylized facts. These are that gift-giving is often reciprocal, that gifts tend to be inadequate, and that gift-giving is sometimes reduced after a monetary compensation is o¤ered. The implication for the interaction between gift-giving and the market institutio...

In recent years, we have witnessed a resurgence of interest in the study of normative influences. The multitude of scholars who approach the topic from a variety of disciplinary perspectives widely share the convention, backed by strong empirical evidence, that social norms exert a great deal of influence on human behavior and that processes of normative influence exist in a variety of contexts...