Gratifications of using Facebook,Twitter, Instagram,or Snapchat to follow brands: The moderating effect of social comparison,trust, tie strength,and network homophily on brand identification,brand engagement,brand commitment,and membership intention

Applying uses and gratifications theory (UGT), this study examined consumers’ use of one of four social networking sites (SNSs): Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat, for following brands, and their influence on brand community-related outcomes. Results (N = 297) indicated Snapchat users scored highest for passing time, sharing problems, and improving social knowledge, while Instagram users scored highest for showing affection, following fashion, and demonstrating sociability. Twitter users had highest brand community identification and membership intention, while Instagram users had highest brand community engagement and commitment. Attention to social comparison, SNS trust, tie strength, and homophily also significantly moderated the relationship between frequent use of each SNS to follow brands, and brand community-related outcomes. Implications for future research on SNS users’ goal-directed consumption behaviors are discussed.     

Understanding the relationship between intensity and gratifications of Facebook use among adolescents and young adults

Facebook is a well-known computer-mediated communication platform considered popular among adolescents and young adults. New media scholars have coined the term “intensity of Facebook use” (IFU) for the concept that measures the emotional and affective attitude towards Facebook use among young people. IFU is an important service use concept that has been positively linked with the different psychosocial outcomes of student well-being. However, only a limited amount of the prior literature has investigated the relationship between IFU and different Facebook uses and gratifications (U&G). The existing literature suggests inconsistent findings with a sole emphasis on young adults. To address these gaps, the present study has investigated the differential role of different Facebook U&G among adolescents and young adults in predicting IFU. A total of three cross-sectional data sets (N = 373, 107, 105) represented adolescents and university-attending young-adult Facebook users. The study results suggest that process U&G do and content U&G do not play any significant role in predicting IFU. Adolescents and young adults differ in their sought Facebook U&G. In addition to this, cultural differences were observed in the sought Facebook U&G and their differential role in predicting IFU.     

Facebook as a second screen: An influence on sport consumer satisfaction and behavioral intention

Little research has examined the use of social media as people watch live sporting telecasts—an activity that has been referred to as the second screen phenomenon. The paper proposes and tests a second screen consumer engagement model that captures the actions of Facebook users (N = 299) while watching a live sport telecast. Findings highlight the direct and indirect effect of social camaraderie, subjective norm, fan emotion and purposive needs on sport consumers’ satisfaction and behavioral intention. The behavioral intention of consumers when using Facebook as a second screen was associated with the increased likelihood of using the platform to purchase team products, make recommendations and investigate sponsors. The proposed model contributes to the emerging literature highlighting the increasing importance of social media as an interactive support channel when people watch live telecasts. The findings have practical implications for managers by providing insights and understanding of consumers when watching telecast sport. Although tested with Thai English Premier League fans, the findings will have relevance across different sports and other business sectors.     

A comparative study of KakaoStory and Facebook: Focusing on use patterns and use motives

Before global SNS services, such as Facebook and Twitter, were introduced in Korea, Cyworld monopolized the Korean SNS market. However, Cyworld was left behind because it maintained a closed system, which no longer satisfied users. KakaoTalk, a popular Korean mobile messaging application has allowed the messenger itself to become a platform for various services including SNS. KakaoStory began as a photo-based SNS service; by integrating with KakaoTalk’s profile pictures, it has become the most popular SNS in Korea. This study focuses on the usage patterns of SNS users to analyze how KakaoStory became one of the most popular SNSs in Korea. In particular, we have examined the differences in usage patterns between KakaoStory and Facebook, and the primary reasons why Korean users select one of these two social networking sites instead of the other. We conducted an exploratory comparison between KakaoStory and Facebook, specifically focusing on the usage patterns and motivations of both sets of users. We also analyzed how the different usage motivations linked to these two social media networks have influenced usage patterns.     

Love me Tinder: Untangling emerging adults’ motivations for using the dating application Tinder

Although the smartphone application Tinder is increasingly popular among emerging adults, no empirical study has yet investigated why emerging adults use Tinder. Therefore, we aimed to identify the primary motivations of emerging adults to use Tinder. The study was conducted among Dutch 18–30 year old emerging adults who completed an online survey. Over half of the sample were current or former Tinder users (n = 163). An exploratory factor analysis, using a parallel analysis approach, uncovered six motivations to use Tinder: Love, Casual Sex, Ease of Communication, Self-Worth Validation, Thrill of Excitement, and Trendiness. In contrast to previously suggested, the Love motivation appeared to be a stronger motivation to use Tinder than the Casual Sex motivation. In line with literature on online dating, men were more likely to report a Casual Sex motivation for using Tinder than women. In addition, men more frequently reported Ease of Communication and Thrill of Excitement motives. With regard to age, the motivation Love, Casual Sex and Ease of Communication were positively related to age. Finally, Tinder motivations were meaningfully related to offline encounters with Tinder matches. In sum, the study showed that emerging adults have six primary motivations to use Tinder and that these motivations differ according to one’s age and gender. Tinder should not be seen as merely a fun, hookup app without any strings attached, but as a new way for emerging adults to initiate committed romantic relationships. Notably, the findings call for a more encompassing perspective on why emerging adults use Tinder.     

How do uncertainty reduction strategies influence social networking site fan page visiting? Examining the role of uncertainty reduction strategies,loyalty and satisfaction in continuous visiting behavior

Nowadays, it is common for people to find product or service information from various information sources on social networking sites (SNS). Among many embedded communication tools in SNS, our study focuses on fan pages and page followers, highlighting their continuous visiting behavior to company fan pages in the context of Facebook. Based on uncertainty reduction theory, our study proposes a research model examining the relationship between uncertainty reduction strategies and continuous visiting behavior, mediated by the low level of uncertainty. In addition, we employ the perceived usefulness of postings on fan pages as a mediator between uncertainty and visiting behavior. Lastly, we adopt two moderating factors: SNS satisfaction and SNS loyalty. To test hypotheses, we analyzed survey data from 189 Facebook users who have subscribed to at least one fan page on Facebook using a partial least squares (PLS) method. We found that uncertainty reduction strategies are positively associated with a low level of uncertainty about information regarding products or services on fan pages. In addition, perceived usefulness of postings is significantly accounted for by the low level of uncertainty. Both the low level of uncertainty and usefulness of postings explain continuous visiting behavior jointly. Our research findings also revealed that SNS satisfaction and SNS loyalty have significant moderating effects on the relationships between the low level of uncertainty/perceived usefulness and continuous visiting behavior. Based on research findings, implications and limitations are discussed.     

Social media jealousy and intimate partner violence in young adults’ romantic relationships: A longitudinal study

Social media have profoundly transformed young adults’ social interactions, especially within their romantic relationships. For instance, jealousy induced by the partner's activity on social media can cause conflicts that can escalate into controlling and aggressive behaviors. Previous cross-sectional studies show significant links between social media jealousy and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. However, the directionality of these associations has not yet been examined using longitudinal designs. This study investigated the associations between social media jealousy and IPV perpetration in young adults’ romantic relationships over a year. Two samples, one composed of 111 couples (n = 222) and one composed of 286 individuals involved in a romantic relationship, completed online questionnaires at two time points over one year. Results of cross-lagged panel analyses were replicated across samples and suggested that the intra-individual association between social media jealousy and IPV perpetration is bidirectional and positive over time. Results also indicated a negative association between a person’s IPV perpetration at Time 1 and their partner’s online jealousy at Time 2. These findings highlight the reciprocal and dyadic influences of social media jealousy and IPV and provide a better understanding of the potential risks associated with social media use in young adults’ romantic relationships.     

Green attributes converged within multifunctional technology products

This article analyzes the way in which the convergence of green attributes in multifunctional technological products influences consumers’ purchase intentions. Due to the recent growth in convergent products, technology users and consumers must choose among numerous different applications that can be perceived as either utilitarian or hedonic. This article suggests that new products launched on the market include attributes that are connected to sustainability and provide added value to consumers in their process of decision making. The primary question addressed in this article concerns whether an increase or decrease in consumer intention is based on the perception of the product’s utility, and the consumer’s prior experience and attitude toward green products. A 2 × 2 × 2 experiment was conducted to evaluate utilitarian or hedonic convergence, green attribute integration, and predisposition for (involvement with) green products. We propose that consumer value increases for those consumers with a high perception of green integration connected to a high predisposition for green devices, which increases the utilitarian value of the product or justifies the hedonic purchase of technological equipment.     

Informed public against false rumor in the social media era: Focusing on social media dependency

This study explores how the public’s belief in false rumors about Middle East Respiratory Syndrome that spread across South Korea related to their accuracy-oriented information seeking as well as the moderating effects of people’s reasons for using social networking services (SNS). The survey results show that perceived credibility of false rumors did not affect accuracy-oriented information seeking. However, a significant result was shown in the moderating effect, such that SNS informational dependency interacted with false rumor credibility on accuracy-oriented information seeking. Overall, this study specifically identifies and discusses differences in SNS dependency and accuracy-oriented information seeking in the context of rumor communication to examine the construction of an informed public. Theoretical contributions of this study are discussed.     

Single frequency wireless power transfer and full-duplex communication system for intracranial epilepsy monitoring

Current clinical neural recording methods which employ wired connections to the external world can be improved by eliminating the wires thanks to integrated circuit and microsystems technology. This study presents design and implementation of such a system which performs wireless power transfer and data transmission for intracranial epilepsy monitoring. Proposed system provides power to the implant by inductive coupling. Full-duplex communication is also performed at the same frequency as the power transfer. Consequently, a system which can transfer power from 10 mm distance with 30% efficiency has been realized. The system supports 400 kbps uplink communication while downlink communication is performed with 1 kbps at the same time. Design challenges for uplink communication in terms of energy-per-bit and interaction between uplink and downlink communication have been discussed in detail to give an insight about the design trade-offs for a full-duplex communication system superposed on a wireless power transfer link.     

Social networks’ unnoticed influence on body image in Spanish university students

The influence of advertising on social networks and its effect on young people’s self-image has been studied. This study first explored the frequency of published videos reposted on social networks using different Application Programming Interfaces as search engines. The study also implemented self-valuation surveys assessed by experts and distributed among mental health professionals who assessed the influence of these social networks. Finally, the survey was designed regarding social networks and body assessment and distributed among Córdoba university students (N = 328). The majority of health professionals concluded that there is an elevated influence of social networks on eating disorders, assessing advertising as a risk factor with a value of 4.60 out of 5. Young people’s perceptions of their body image indicate that women’s degree of satisfaction is highly correlated with the frequency of their connections to social networks, with the body image those women present and with the effect of advertising. Conversely, this high correlation and influence does not exist in men.     

Roadmap for 22 nm and beyond (Invited Paper)

The down-scaling is still the most important and effective way for achieving the high-performance logic CMOS operation with low power, regardless of its concern for the technological difficulties, and thus, the past shrinking trend of the gate-length has been very aggressive. In this paper, logic CMOS technology roadmap for ‘22 nm and beyond’ is described with ITRS (International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductor) as a reference. In the ITRS 2008 Update published just recently, there has been some significant change in the trend of the gate length. The future gate-length shrinking trend predicted in the past several versions of the ITRS has been too aggressive even for the most advanced semiconductor companies to catch up, and thus, the predicted trend has been amended to be less aggressive from the ITRS 2008 Update, resulting in the delay in the gate-length shrinkage for 3 years in the short term and 5 years in the long term from those predicted in ITRS 2007. Corresponding to this, the pace of the introduction of new technologies becomes slower. For the long term, the limit of the downsizing is a big concern. The limit is expected to be at the gate length of around 5 nm because of the too huge off-leakage current in the entire chip. Until that we will have probably six more generations or ‘technology nodes’, considering that we are now in the so-called 45 nm generation. It would take probably 20–30 years until we reach the final limit, because the duration between the generations will become longer when approaching the limit. In order to suppress the off-leakage current, double gate (DG) or fin-FET type MOSFETs are the most promising. Then, it is a natural extension for DG FETs to evolve to Si-nanowire MOSFETs as the ultimate structure of transistors for CMOS circuit applications. Si-nanowire FETs are more attractive than the conventional DG FETs because of higher on-current conduction due to their quantum nature and also because of their adoptability for high-density integration including that of 3D. Then, what will come next after reaching the final limit of the downsizing? The answer is new algorithm. In the latter half of this century, the application of algorithm used for the natural bio system such as the brains of insects and even human will make the integrated circuits operation tremendously high efficiency. Much higher performance with ultimately low power consumption will be realized.     

Social media use,political affect,and participation among university students in urban China

Although the role of affects and emotions in political participation has attracted much scholarly attention, few studies have examined whether and how media and communications can be the sources of political affects. This study argues that social media are not only information channels; they can also be effective in communicating feelings and emotions. Social media use may contribute to political affects, which in turn impinge on civic and political participation. In addition, political affects may moderate the effects of social media use on political participation. Based on a survey of university students in Guangzhou, China (N = 897), this study finds that, under China’s networked authoritarianism, political communication via social media is related to positive affects toward the government and society, while connection with activists via social media is related to negative affect. Positive and negative affects have different impact on different types of participation. Negative affects strengthen the connection between social media use and participation. The roles of three discrete negative emotions – anger, anxiety and fear – are also explored.     

TSV by 355 UV laser for 4G component packaging with micro-electroforming

Nickel micro-electroforming was integrated with 355-nm wavelength ultraviolet laser process to fabricate the through silicon via (TSV) for 4G communication device packaging. This technology was applied to package the high-frequency solidly mounted resonator (SMR). Different parameters including laser power, focus length, frequency, and termination diameter were explored to characterize the quality of TSV for laser drilling. The thickness of silicon sample of 550 μm was drilled. The diameter of the silicon by laser drilling was 100–110 μm, where the taper was about 1.6° and the aspect ratio was about 5. The relationship between micro-electroforming deposition thickness and time were obtained. The deposition thickness was carried out by various current densities under 0.5 Amps per square decimeter (ASD), 1 ASD, 2 ASD, and 4 ASD, respectively, to analyze the electroplating quality. In addition, nanoindenter, energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to analyze the material characteristics of micro-electroforming samples. Laser drilling and micro-electroforming were integrated to package the high-frequency SMR. The result shows that the S₁₁ parameter was − 3.5 dB under the frequency of 2.5 GHz. This TSV with micro-electroforming process shows potential use for 4G packaging application.     

Social media and expressive citizenship: Understanding the relationships between social and entertainment expression on Facebook and political participation

Substantial research has explored the political significance of social media use in the context of collective actions. Yet much remains unknown about whether common, day-to-day, nonpolitically oriented activities on social media relate to political engagement. Focusing on Facebook, the primary social media platform for most Americans, this study investigates whether and how social and entertainment expression on the site are associated with political participation among a diverse online sample of American adults. Results show that social and entertainment expressive Facebook use are indirectly associated with political participation through political communication in the form of interactive political expression on the site. In addition, findings demonstrate that social expressive use is also conducive to political participation via offline political talk, but entertainment expressive use is not significantly related to political talk in offline settings. Further analysis shows that the interactions between political interest and each of the expressive uses are largely insignificantly related to political communication and participation. Overall, the study’s findings help to clarify the distinctions between the two types of nonpolitical Facebook use and the underlying process by which these uses contribute to political participation.     

A compact low-profile dual-band antenna for WLAN and WAVE applications

A compact and low-profile patch antenna with a simple structure is presented for the wireless local-area network (WLAN) and the wireless access in the vehicular environment (WAVE) applications. The proposed antenna with an overall size of only 23 mm × 25 mm is fed by a coplanar waveguide (CPW), and yields 10-dB impedance bandwidths of about 250 MHz centered at 2.44 GHz and of about 22% ranging from 5.13 to 6.38 GHz suitable for the WLAN 2.4/5.2/5.8 GHz and the WAVE 5.9 GHz (IEEE 802.11p) applications. Also, good dipole-like patterns and high average antenna gain of ≥2.3 dBi over the operating bands have been obtained. In this design, resonance can be effectively controlled by simply tuning the shaped slots on the patch. Mechanism of mode excitations and effect of the added slot's length on resonance for the proposed antenna are examined and discussed in detail. The experimental results have validated the proposed design as useful for modern mobile communication.     

Post-fabrication electric field and thermal treatment of polymer light emitting diodes and their photovoltaic properties

This work presents post-fabrication electric field and heat treatment methods developed for polymer light emitting diodes (PLEDs), which have degraded due to exposure to oxygen and water vapors during low-cost fabrication performed in standard room conditions. Investigated PLEDs have structures composed of indium tin oxide (ITO), poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), poly(styrenesulfonate), (PEDOT:PSS), poly[2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV), and aluminum (Al). Heat treatment restores the light emitting function of dysfunctional PLEDs but also causes a high turn-on voltage of 10 V. Electric field treatment utilizing ?1 V reduces this high turn-on voltage to 3 V. This procedure also improves open circuit voltages from 5 mV to 55 mV, and short circuit currents from 0.5 nA to 5 nA when PLEDs are operated as photovoltaic cells under a light intensity of 500 mW/m². Repeated I–V sweep measurements additionally show improved stability and uniformity. The reasons for these improvements, the usage of an optimal treatment temperature of 130 °C, and the usage of treatment voltages of 0 and ?1 V are discussed.     

The use of mobile technology for online shopping and entertainment among older adults in Finland

Older adults are becoming an important market segment for all internet-based services, but few studies to date have considered older adults as online shoppers and users of entertainment media. Utilising the concept of life course, this article investigates the use of mobile technologies for online shopping and entertainment among consumers aged 55 to 74. The data were collected with a web-based survey completed by a panel of respondents representing Finnish television viewers (N = 322). The results reveal that consumers aged 55 to 74 use a smartphone or tablet to purchase products or services online as often as younger consumers. In contrast, listening to internet radio and watching videos or programmes online with a smartphone or tablet are most typical for younger male consumers. The results demonstrate that mobile-based online shopping is best predicted by age, higher education, and household type (children living at home), and use of entertainment media by age and gender.     

A study on thermal cycling (T/C) reliability of anisotropic conductive film (ACF) flip chip assembly for thin chip-on-board (COB) packages

In this work, thermal cycling (T/C) reliability of anisotropic conductive film (ACF) flip chip assemblies having various chip and substrate thicknesses for thin chip-on-board (COB) packages were investigated. In order to analyze T/C reliability, shear strains of six flip chip assemblies were calculated using Suhir’s model. In addition, correlation of shear strain with die warpage was attempted.The thicknesses of the chips used were 180 μm and 480 μm. The thicknesses of the substrates were 120, 550, and 980 μm. Thus, six combinations of flip chip assemblies were prepared for the T/C reliability test. During the T/C reliability test, the 180 μm thick chip assemblies showed more stable contact resistance changes than the 480 μm thick chip assemblies did for all three substrates. The 550 μm thick substrate assemblies, which had the lowest CTE among three substrates, showed the best T/C reliability performance for a given chip thickness.In order to investigate what the T/C reliability performance results from, die warpages of six assemblies were measured using Twyman–Green interferometry. In addition, shear strains of the flip chip assemblies were calculated using measured material properties of ACF and substrates through Suhir’s 2-D model. T/C reliability of the flip chip assemblies was independent of die warpages; it was, however, in proportion to calculated shear strain. The result was closely related with material properties of the substrates. The T/C reliability of the ACF flip chip assemblies was concluded to be dominatingly dependent on the induced shear strains of ACF layers.     

Inter-BSs virtual private network for privacy and security enhanced 60 GHz radio-over-fiber system

A novel inter-basestations (inter-BSs) based virtual private network (VPN) for the privacy and security enhanced 60 GHz radio-over-fiber (RoF) system using optical code-division multiplexing (OCDM) is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. By establishing inter-BSs VPN overlaying the network structure of a 60 GHz RoF system, the express and private paths for the communication of end-users under different BSs can be offered. In order to effectively establish the inter-BSs VPN, the OCDM encoding/decoding technology is employed in the RoF system. In each BS, a 58 GHz millimeter-wave (MMW) is used as the inter-BSs VPN channel, while a 60 GHz MMW is used as the common central station (CS)–BSs communication channel. The optical carriers used for the downlink, uplink and VPN link transmissions are all simultaneously generated in a lightwave-centralized CS, by utilizing four-wave mixing (FWM) effect in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). The obtained results properly verify the feasibility of our proposed configuration of the inter-BSs VPN in the 60 GHz RoF system.