Research Projects
Collaboration Technologies for Emergent Groups Engaged in Physical Work
In collaboration with Terri Griffith and Nilesh Saraf
My doctoral dissertation examines how communication and collaboration technologies like social media can support self-organized collaboration on physical tasks. This problem-driven research addresses the coordination challenges of emergent groups which form in the aftermath of disasters (bringing spontaneous volunteers together), or social movements (coordinating citizens on the ground). In the first part, my co-authors and I developed a theoretical model to elaborate what differentiates physical collaboration from its virtual counterpart (which is well studied in IS literature), and subsequently, what mechanisms enable successful coordination of physical group work in the absence of structures and role definitions.
Link to AOM2024 Proceedings
The Spread of Negative Emotions on Social Media
In collaboration with Nilesh Saraf, JM Goh, Srabana Dasgupta, and Dianne Cyr
Social Media can spread messages, emotions, and behaviors among large audiences. Particularly, the consequences of emotion propagation become alarming when negative and shocking events like celebrity suicides happen and influence many vulnerable users. Analyzing social media discussions enables us to understand the mechanisms by which negative emotions spread, and also design effective health interventions. In this project, my co-authors and I investigate the suicide events of four celebrities and the subsequent Twitter discussions that appeared in the form of cascades – chains of retweets. By using a state-of-the-art BERT-based language model to identify emotion scores, we find that sadness and fear are the leading emotions expressed in each event and that the speed, size, and lifetime of dialogues vary depending on their emotional composition. Further analysis aims to provide new theoretical explanations.
Link to AMCIS2023 Paper
Effects of Negative Word-of-Mouth and Joint Consumption on the Box Office Performance of Motion Pictures:
An Agent-Based Model (ABM) Approach
In collaboration with Charles Weinberg and Jason Ho
We explore the effects of negative word-of-mouth (WOM) and joint consumption on the box office performance of motion pictures. Unlike previous research that primarily focuses on individual movie-goer behavior, this study highlights the significance of shared consumption experiences, particularly in group settings, where negative WOM can have a compounded effect. Using an agent-based model (ABM), we simulate the movie choice process, incorporating factors such as advertising, WOM, and group formation dynamics. Our model advances prior work by explicitly considering how negative WOM can both reduce an individual’s desire to watch a movie and hinder their ability to form a viewing group. We also demonstrate how strategic advertising can mitigate the adverse effects of negative WOM by “front-loading” box office sales in the opening week. This research contributes to the broader literature on consumer behavior by providing a nuanced understanding of how social interactions and digital communication shape entertainment consumption.