Afforded by new digital technologies, consumer interactions are breaking the boundaries of basic assumptions about interpersonal communication, mass communication, and the concepts arising from the ...two. By looking into social media influencer-follower relations, this study suggests that the long-held conventional concept of parasocial relation no longer fully encompasses the evolving contemporary human interactions and related relations. The current analysis recommends an updated notion and theorization-a trans-parasocial relation-to capture a collectively reciprocal, (a)synchronously interactive, and co-created relation between influencers and their captive followers. This trans-parasocial relation concept offers a foundation on which new communicative and advertising theories can be developed to explicate new forms of social interactions and consumer behavior. More importantly, in view of this trans-parasocial relation, assumptions of the existing persuasion theory-that is, the persuasion knowledge model-need to be reassessed. The current findings demonstrate that persuasion knowledge does not always negatively affect advertising outcomes. Instead, followers indicate mostly benign attitudes toward influencer-sponsored posts, interpret influencers' sponsorship disclosures as genuine and transparent, and internalize disclosure actions as inspiring and admirable. This study further identifies and elucidates several psychological mechanisms that account for followers' overall appreciation of influencer-sponsored posts: positive bias, verification by cross-validation, and inspirational internalization.
In the past few years, expenditure on influencer marketing has grown exponentially. The present study involves preliminary research to understand the mechanism by which influencer marketing affects ...consumers via social media. It proposes an integrated model-the social media influencer value model-to account for the roles of advertising value and source credibility. To test this model, we administered an online survey among social media users who followed at least one influencer. Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling results show that the informative value of influencer-generated content, influencer's trustworthiness, attractiveness, and similarity to the followers positively affect followers' trust in influencers' branded posts, which subsequently influence brand awareness and purchase intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Abstract
The glass fiber is selected as the reinforcement, and the structural design of the composite is carried out to enhance the continuity of the edge fiber of the laminate. The influence of the ...width of the edge fiber on the bending mechanical properties is discussed. It is found that when the edge fiber of the laminate is continuous, the failure mode of the laminate bending can be changed to a certain extent, and the strength of the reinforcement and the matrix bonding is strengthened. The width of the laminate is not the influence factor in improving the bending strength.
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has vastly reshaped user experiences on social media. AI-powered social media use and its outcomes largely depend on how users collaborate with AI ...that exercises agency. Through in-depth interviews with TikTok users, this study investigates how users collaborate with AI when using AI-powered social media and how such dynamics shape user engagement. We found that TikTok users are receptive to personalized experiences enabled by machine agency. However, by influencing each other, user agency and machine agency also led to user–AI synergy. Users deliberately influence content curation algorithms to make them cater more precisely to their needs; AI also facilitates users’ content creation and networking. Such AI–user collaboration on TikTok significantly influences medium engagement and social-interactive engagement. These findings advance our understanding of the dynamics between human agency and machine agency and, thus, how AI transforms user experiences on social media.
Lay Summary
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has now been widely applied to social media. AI arranges posts based on user preferences and helps users easily create and share social media posts. AI-based algorithms underlying social media make decisions and initiate actions when interacting with human users, suggesting that machine agency and human agency coexist in human–machine interactions on AI-based social media. This study explores how TikTok users collaborate with AI, specifically focusing on the dynamics between human agency and machine agency, and how such dynamics shape user engagement. In-depth interviews with 25 TikTok users indicate that users are largely receptive to the personalized experiences offered by AI-enabled algorithms. Human users and AI-based algorithms also influence each other when the two interact, leading to human–AI synergy effects. Users try to train algorithms to provide a personalized feed that caters to their interests more precisely. AI also facilitates users’ content creation and networking by reducing the efforts to exercise user agency. This study also finds that AI–user collaboration on TikTok influences user engagement with the platform and social-interactive engagement. These findings advance our understanding of how human agency driven by users and machine agency driven by AI collaboratively transform user engagement.
While social media influencers are gleaning increasing trust and investment from brands, advertisers, and followers, insights on the role of influencers in adolescents' relationship formation and ...consumption behaviors are still rare. Drawing on the literatures of influencer content value, influencer credibility, parental mediation, and parasocial relationship (PSR), this study proposed a conceptual model that expounds the appeal of influencers among adolescents. To test the model, we administered an online survey - recruited in proportion to demographic quotas (i.e., age, gender and ethnicity) - among 500 United States adolescents (aged 10- to 19-years old) via Qualtrics panel. Results revealed that, the entertainment value of influencer-generated content, influencer expertise, trustworthiness, attractiveness, and followers' perceived similarity to their favorite influencers, are positively related to the perceived PSR between adolescent followers and their favorite influencers, which in turn, are associated with adolescents' materialistic views and purchase intentions. We also explored the role of parental mediation of adolescents' social media use in their PSR with influencers. Results indicate that, neither active mediation nor restrictive mediation is related to the PSR between adolescents and influencers. Active mediation is negatively associated with adolescents' materialism, whereas restrictive mediation is positively related to adolescents' purchase intentions toward influencer-promoted products. This study proposed and tested a comprehensive conceptual model that accounts for the role of influencers in adolescent followers' materialism and purchase intentions. This study yields three major theoretical contributions. First, it adopts and applies the concept of PSR from the literature of media psychology to explicate influencers' appeal among adolescents, which lays a theoretical foundation for future research on the impact of influencers. Second, it advances the current literature on social media influencers by specifying key contributing factors for the development of adolescents' PSR with influencers. Lastly, it explores the roles of the two facets of parental mediation - active and restrictive mediation - in the appeal of influencers among adolescents, which offers directions for future research of parental mediation in the influencer context.
A novel method to prepare high-porosity mullite ceramic foams by selective laser sintering (SLS) using fly ash hollow spheres (FAHSs) as raw materials was reported. The complex-shaped FAHS green ...bodies and ceramic foams without delamination or cracks were prepared by SLS. The influence of sintering temperatures on linear shrinkage, phase composition, porosity and mechanical properties was investigated. With the increase of sintering temperature from 1250 °C to 1400 °C, the compressive strength of ceramic foams increased from 0.2 MPa to 6.7 MPa causing the fracture mechanism change from fracturing along FAHSs to across FAHSs, while the porosity of ceramic foams decreased from 88.7% to 79.9% which was higher than those of ceramic foams prepared by the conventional methods. The relatively high porosity of ceramic foams was resulted from the inner hollow structure of FAHSs, the interspaces between stacking FAHSs, and the gaps between FAHSs directly related to SLS. The results above indicated that the fabrication of high-porosity FAHS ceramic foams by SLS could achieve the advanced utilization of FAHS solid waste.
Artificially created characters - virtual influencers - amass millions of followers on social media and affect digital natives' engagement and decisionmaking in remarkable ways. Guided by the Uses ...and Gratification (U&G) approach and the Uncanny Valley Theory, this study seeks to understand this phenomenon. By looking into followers' engagement with virtual influencers, this study identifies and conceptualizes six primary motivations - namely, novelty, information, entertainment, surveillance, esthetics, and integration and social interaction. Furthermore, we found that most followers perceive virtual influencers as uncanny and authentically fake. However, followers also express acceptance of their staged fabrication where curated flaws and self-justification have been found to mitigate the effect of the uncanny valley. Virtual influencers are considered effective in building brand image and boosting brand awareness, but lack the persuasive ability to incite purchase intention due to a lack of authenticity, a low similarity to followers, and their weak parasocial relations with followers. These findings advance the extant literature on U&G, influencer advertising, and virtual influencers in the era of artificial intelligence; provide insights into the mitigating factors of the uncanny valley; and yield theoretical and practical implications for the efficacy of virtual influencers in advertising campaigns.
In recent years, observational studies have been conducted to investigate the potential impact of vitamins on sepsis. However, many of these studies have produced inconsistent results. Our Mendelian ...randomization (MR) study aims to evaluate the causality between vitamins and sepsis from a genetic perspective. Our MR study was designed following the STROBE-MR guidelines. Genetic instrumental variables for vitamins including folate, vitamin B12, B6, A (Retinol), C, D, and K were obtained from previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and MR studies. Five different sepsis severity levels were included in the analysis. The genetic instrumental variables were screened for potential confounders using PhenoScanner V2. MR analysis was performed using MR-egger, inverse-variance weighted multiplicative random effects (IVW-RE), inverse-variance weighted multiplicative fixed-effects (IVW-FE), and wald ratio methods to assess the relationship between vitamins and sepsis. Sensitivity analysis was performed using the MR-egger_intercept method, and the MR-PRESSO package and Cochran's Q test were used to evaluate the heterogeneity of the instrumental variables. Our MR study found no statistically significant association between vitamins and sepsis risk, regardless of the type of vitamin (P-value > 0.05). The odds ratios (ORs) for folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin K, and vitamin C were 1.164 (95% CI: 0.895-1.514), 0.987 (95% CI: 0.969-1.005), 0.975 (95% CI: 0.914-1.041), 0.993 (95% CI: 0.797-1.238), 0.861 (95% CI: 0.522-1.42), 0.955 (95% CI: 0.86-1.059), and 1.049 (95% CI: 0.911-1.208), respectively. Similar results were observed in subgroups of different sepsis severity levels. Our MR study found no evidence of a causal association between vitamins and sepsis risk from a genetic perspective. Further randomized controlled trials are necessary to confirm these results.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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