Search

Abstract Engagement with social networking sites is influenced by the cognitive and learning processes which in turn is influenced by culture. This paper aims at unbundling the effect of culture on the use of social network sites and thus contributes to our understanding on the way cognitive and learning processes influence the engagement with social networks. The study of over 600 social networking users addresses how professional and leisure use of social networks differs across cultures, gender and other demographics. Firstly, by utilising ANOVA techniques we associate users' behaviour with nationality and furthermore through the use of an ordered logistics regression we delineate clusters of users by the purpose of social networking adoption and their cultural characteristics. Our study helps bridge the gap in literature on identifying how cultural traits, nationality and gender affect both business and leisure use of social networking. The implications of differences in user behaviour driven by nationality and gender warrant further need for applying learning analytics in social platforms to enhance user experience. Future directions of research on social networking in relation to cognition and culture are offered for discussion. Highlights • We unbundle the cognitive and learning processes that influence engagement with SNS. • We investigate how cultural traits, nationality and gender affect the use of SNS. • Utilising ANOVA techniques we associate individual behaviour based on a study of over 600 users. • Application of learning analytics in social platforms is needed to enhance experience. • Future directions of research in relation to cognition and culture are offered for discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Live chat, which is embedded in some shopping websites, allows a retailer to communicate with its shoppers directly and respond to their inquiries promptly. We extended the Speech Act Theory (SAT) to this context by developing the Dialog Conversion Model (DCM) that elucidates the characteristics of online dialog between shoppers and retailers. We validated the DCM using quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative analyses of 1,185 communication sessions and related purchase records reflect that shoppers' cognitive, rather than affective, expressions tend to indicate their purchase intentions, and retailers should emphasize cognitive expressions to the extent possible while being strategic in their choice of expressions. Furthermore, the affective expressions (in positive and negative forms) articulated by retailers have a considerable influence on purchase conversion. However, the same is not true for shoppers. Post‐hoc interviews were conducted with shoppers to gain additional insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]