Prabu David

Corporate Social Responsibility Practices, Corporate Identity, and Purchase Intention: A Dual-Process Model

The relationships among corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, corporate identity, and purchase intention were evaluated for 4 corporations: Microsoft, Nike, Philip Morris, and Wendys. Discretionary CSR practices and moral/ethical CSR practices emerged as significant predictors of the corporate social values dimension of identity. Relational CSR practices, however, contributed mainly to the expertise dimension of corporate identity. Also, familiarity with CSR practices of a corporation had a significant effect on corporate identity, which in turn affected purchase intention. For 2 of the 4 companies, Nike and Wendys, both corporate expertise and corporate social values were significant predictors of purchase intention. For Microsoft, only the expertise dimension was predictive of purchase intention, whereas for Philip Morris, only the corporate social values dimension was a significant predictor of purchase intention. The results are interpreted within a dual-process model of corporate identity.

Captured by the World Wide Web: Orienting to Structural and Content Features of Computer-Presented Information

This article uses a limited-capacity information-processing perspective to investigate which structural features of computers elicit orienting responses in attentive computer users. The results of three experiments test the ability of plain text, boxed text, warnings, nonanimated banner advertisements, and animated banner advertisements to elicit cardiac-orienting responses in attentive computer users. A second question asks if user or computer control of stimulus presentation alters orienting behavior. A final hypothesis predicts stimuli that elicit orienting will be better recognized than those that do not. Results show that plain text, boxed text, and nonanimated banner advertisements do not elicit cardiac orienting. However, warnings and animated banner advertisements do elicit orienting. In general, stimuli that elicit orienting are recognized better than those that do not. Control over stimulus onset has little or no effect on orienting behavior.

Body Image, Race, and Fashion Models: Social Distance and Social Identification in Third-Person Effects

The perceived effects of advertising on body-image factors were tested in both Black and White college-age women. After seeing magazine ads that portrayed either Black fashion models or White fashion models, respondents rated perceived effects of these ads on body-image factors. The effects were rated on self, on other Black women on campus, and other White women on campus. When projecting perceived effects on others—of the same race or a different race—both Blacks and Whites indicated that media effects would be maximal when the race of the model matched the race of the respondent. However, when rating perceived effects on self, whereas Blacks identified strongly with Black models, there was no significant difference in the way Whites identified with fashion models of either race. The results are examined within the framework of social distance and social identification.

Methodological Artifact or Persistent Bias? Testing the Robustness of the Third-Person and Reverse Third-Person Effects for Alcohol Messages

Differences in perceived influences of positive and negative media messages were examined in three experiments with methodological variations. In the first experiment, when the contrast between self and others was clearly highlighted within the framework of a within-subject design, both the third-person effect and the reverse third-person effect were significant. In Experiment 2, when the perceived effect on self and others was evaluated using a between-subjects design, the third-person effect continued to persist, whereas the reverse third-person effect was not evident. The results from Experiment 2 were replicated in Experiment 3 under three levels of accountability. The third-person bias continued to persist even after participants were briefed about the self-serving motivation to appear better than others. These results suggest that the third-person phenomenon is not merely a methodological artifact but a persistent social judgment bias that cannot be easily neutralized, whereas the reverse third-person effect appears to be less robust.

Behavioral performance and visual attention in communication multitasking: A comparison between instant messaging and online voice chat

Participants carried out a visual pattern-matching task on a computer while communicating with a confederate either via instant messaging (IM) or online voice chat. Communicating with a confederate led to a 50% drop in visual pattern-matching performance in the IM condition and a 30% drop in the voice condition. Visual fixations on pattern-matching were fewer and shorter during the communication task and a greater loss of fixations was found in the IM condition than the voice condition. The results, examined within a threaded cognition framework, suggest that distributing the work between the audio and visual channels reduces performance degradation. Implications for media literacy and distracted-driving are discussed.

A cyclic model of information seeking in hyperlinked environments: The role of goals, self-efficacy, and intrinsic motivation

To examine the emergent properties of information seeking in hyperlinked environments, in this paper we developed a cyclic model. Using this model as a framework, the relationships among perceived goal difficulty, goal success, and self-efficacy were examined. Self-efficacy was conceptualized as a mediating mechanism and intrinsic motivation (IM) in the task was examined as a moderator. Data were collected as repeated measures over 20 cycles during an hour-long session of information seeking when students were given that task of designing a travel plan for a trip to China. The findings suggest that success in meeting information goals in one cycle resulted in an increase in self-efficacy, which in turn reduced the perceived difficulty of information goals in the upcoming cycle. At the same time, self-efficacy from previous cycles seemed to provide the impetus for formulating more challenging information goals in subsequent cycles. Besides this dual role of self-efficacy, the moderating role of IM was also evident. For participants relatively high in baseline IM for the task, the link between self-efficacy and goal success was weaker. However, for participants with relatively low levels of baseline IM for the task, goal success has a stronger effect on self-efficacy.

Mobile phone distraction while studying

The mobile phone is a breakthrough advance for human communication. But with the plethora of choices available via smartphone, individuals who are deficient in self-regulation or with a propensity for addiction may face challenges in managing these choices strategically. To examine this potential dysfunctional aspect, we examined the effect of multitasking when studying or doing homework and found that both frequency and attention to texting and social media were positively related to mobile phone interference in life (MPIL). However, frequency of music use during study was not associated with MPIL, although allocated attention to music while studying was positively associated with MPIL. Ownership of a smartphone and the number of Facebook friends were positively associated with MPIL and women reported more MPIL than men.

Alleviating depression only to become problematic mobile phone users

Depressed people rely on mobile phones to alleviate their negative moods.Depressed people tend to engage in problematic use of mobile phone (PUMP).Face-to-face communication can break the cycle leading to PUMP. With the increasing penetration of mobile phones, problematic use of mobile phone (PUMP) deserves attention. In this study, using a path model we examined the relationship between depression and PUMP, with motivations as mediators. Findings suggest that depressed people may rely on mobile phone to alleviate their negative feelings and spend more time on communication activities via mobile phone, which in turn can deteriorate into PUMP. However, face-to-face communication with others played a moderating role, weakening the link between use of mobile phone for communication activities and deterioration to PUMP.

Browsing and the Hypermedia Interaction Cycle: A Model of Self- Efficacy and Goal Dynamics

The Hypermedia Interaction Cycle (HIC) proposed in this paper is an iterative, self-regulatory model that captures the dynamics of hypermedia interaction from a users perspective. The interaction cycle was divided into three distinct phases: preparation, exploration, and consolidation. The dynamics between two motivational components, namely self-efficacy factors and goal conditions, were examined within the HIC using a browsing task that involved searching for news-story ideas on the World Wide Web. Findings suggest that a cyclical model involving shifting states of goals and self-efficacy can capture some of the dynamics of motivation within the HIC. Furthermore, there was evidence of a self-regulatory pattern between the motivational components in the model.

A walking intervention for postmenopausal women using mobile phones and interactive voice response

We conducted a feasibility study of a 12-week walking intervention administered through an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system and mobile phones. We also examined the added benefit of a human coach. Post-menopausal women (n = 71) were given a daily-steps goal, which they monitored using a pedometer. Each day, they answered an automated call from the IVR system to their mobile phone and provided assessments of walking goals and mood. Every evening, they called the IVR system to report their steps, answered a brief questionnaire and received a message with a helpful hint. Participants took less time to complete a one-mile walk after the intervention, compared to baseline (0.77 min, SE = 0.22, P < 0.001). In addition, a significant loss in body weight (0.93 kg, SE = 0.31) and body-mass index (0.28 kg/m2, SE = 0.11) were observed. The key psychometric measures of exercise goal setting (0.67 units, SE = 0.12) and exercise planning (0.48 units, SE = 0.09) also improved from baseline (both P < 0.001). However, results in the coach and no-coach conditions were not significantly different. The study suggests that mobile phones can be used to deliver an effective, low-cost walking intervention, irrespective of the addition of a human coach.