Esmaeeli Ali, Pechmann Cornelia Connie, Prochaska Judith J
University of California Irvine, USA.
Stanford University, USA.
J Interact Market. 2022 May;57(2):198-211. doi: 10.1177/10949968221076144. Epub 2022 Apr 26.
Buddies, serving as in-group influencers to aid demographically similar cobuddies, are extensively used in face-to-face support groups to enhance positive social influence. The authors examine the efficacy of buddies in online support groups and investigate underlying mediating processes using social network analysis. They observe what happens when members of support groups for quitting smoking, including members who are relatively active and less active in the group, after a few days are called on to be buddies and assigned to specific cobuddies. The findings indicate that, consistent with normative expectations for buddies, members form especially strong ties with their designated cobuddies. The more active buddies are in the group, the stronger the ties they form with their cobuddies and, in turn, their cobuddies form stronger ties with group members overall, which then relates to cobuddy goal attainment. The findings suggest that interactive marketers should consider using buddies in online support groups but observe activity levels before making buddy assignments, because positive outcomes are contingent on buddies being active in the group. Marketers should also ensure that online support group members post to everyone, not just their buddies, because ties formed among group members as a whole are crucial for goal attainment.
在面对面支持小组中，“伙伴”作为群体内部有影响力的人，被广泛用于帮助人口统计学特征相似的“结对伙伴”，以增强积极的社会影响。作者研究了“伙伴”在在线支持小组中的效果，并使用社会网络分析来调查潜在的中介过程。他们观察了戒烟支持小组的成员，包括在小组中相对活跃和不太活跃的成员，在几天后被要求成为“伙伴”并被分配给特定的“结对伙伴”时会发生什么。研究结果表明，与对“伙伴”的规范期望一致，成员与他们指定的“结对伙伴”形成了特别紧密的联系。在小组中越活跃的“伙伴”，他们与“结对伙伴”形成的联系就越强，相应地，他们的“结对伙伴”与整个小组成员形成的联系也越强，这进而与“结对伙伴”目标的实现相关。研究结果表明，互动营销人员应该考虑在在线支持小组中使用“伙伴”，但在进行“伙伴”分配之前要观察活动水平，因为积极的结果取决于“伙伴”在小组中是否活跃。营销人员还应确保在线支持小组成员向每个人发帖，而不仅仅是向他们的“伙伴”发帖，因为整个小组成员之间形成的联系对于目标的实现至关重要。
