Conference Presentations by Kate Keib
Social media have been the primary conduit to news access for an increasing number of consumers, ... more Social media have been the primary conduit to news access for an increasing number of consumers, yet little is known about how consumers view social media posts containing news, and on what basis they make decisions about selecting and sharing this information. In a within-subjects eye-tracking experiment, this study examined the influence of image presence and valence on attention to and engagement with news stories on social media. Participants (N=60) viewed a series of 29 social media posts of news stories, each of which was either paired with no image, a positively valenced image, or a negatively valenced image, while their attention to images was recorded with an eye-tracking device, and subsequently completed several dependent measures about each image viewed. The results show that posts containing positive images elicited a higher level of emotion than those with negative or neutral images, which led to higher intentions to click and share posts with positive images. The results provide a deeper understanding of how social media drive news consumption, and offer practical implications for journalists, news organizations and groups using social media to spread a message.
During the past ten years, the information sector of the US economy faced digital innovations and... more During the past ten years, the information sector of the US economy faced digital innovations and deregulation, which together transformed the work and employment patterns of this segment. While the sector has shrunk as a part of overall U.S. employment, the television broadcasting sector has actually grown. In this research, we tap into a rich but rarely used source of employment data, the U.S. Bureau of Labor database. Applying fundamentals of media economics research, and through the lens of theories of Economies of Scale and Diffusion of Innovation theories, we explore what is behind this unusual and unexpected growth. Results show salary within the television broadcasting sector grow along with the increase in television broadcasting employment, government deregulation led to structural changes and consumer demand and technological advances have led to innovation within the sector. Practical and academic implications are discussed.
Social movements are increasingly using social media, and Twitter in particular, to reach out to ... more Social movements are increasingly using social media, and Twitter in particular, to reach out to existing and new publics. While historically movements had to rely on traditional media to connect with such publics, via social media any user can share content, helping to connect the key players within the movement to new publics. The quality of highly shared content, however, has been under scrutiny. The popular #blacklivesmatter movement is examined as a case study, where two key elements of tweets were tested as predictors of retweeting: content importance – political, economic, cultural and public – and the expression of emotions. Findings suggest important tweets were more likely to be retweeted, where tweets associated with policy or action showing the strongest relationship with retweeting. Tweets with expressed emotion were more likely to be retweeted than neutral tweets; however, type of valance (positive or negative) did not matter. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
The public's perceptions of media credibility have long been rooted in notions of trust, believab... more The public's perceptions of media credibility have long been rooted in notions of trust, believability and expertise. With news coming to audiences not only intentionally, but also via social media, understanding how users make decisions about credibility is relevant to both researchers and media. This study examines how characteristics of Facebook posts promoting television news stories trigger heuristic cues previously shown to help online content consumers make credibility decisions. A 2 (likes, shares and comments: low vs. high) x 2 (sponsorship: liked brand vs suggested post) x 3 (post source: peer vs. brand vs. journalist) online experiment was conducted. Participants were US adults (mean age 35.7) who use Facebook. Results indicate that actions do not always match the assumed actions that traditional heuristic cues would predict. Results can be used by scholars studying credibility and by news brands and journalists to increase credibility and engage audiences on Facebook.
While advertisers are set to spend nearly $8 billion on native ads this year, the Federal Trade C... more While advertisers are set to spend nearly $8 billion on native ads this year, the Federal Trade Commission released a policy on deceptive advertising specifically addressing paid content designed to look like editorial. We execute a content analysis of 60 top U.S. news websites, capturing the design elements of native ads and their similarity to editorial content. Results show that native ads are very similar to editorial content.
Drafts by Kate Keib
Mobile phones are the primary access point to the internet for many today, placing increased impo... more Mobile phones are the primary access point to the internet for many today, placing increased importance on how news organizations interact with the public on these devices. Images and text appear differently than they do on the desktop platform, and users’ processing of, perceptions of, and intention to engage with content may also vary as a consequence. To address these differences, this study delivered news images of various emotional valence via social media posts to users on a desktop or mobile devices, and used eye-tracking data and questionnaire measures to analyze how participants viewed and responded to the images. Results show that users pay significantly less attention to social media posts on mobile devices than on desktop, that posts that contain images were perceived as more arousing than posts with no image and that negative images were the most arousing. Implications for research and practitioners are discussed.
Today we encounter online content from a plethora of sources, in email, social media feeds and we... more Today we encounter online content from a plethora of sources, in email, social media feeds and websites. Native advertising complicates this landscape, as this content mimics news but may be completely advertiser-influenced. Native advertising changes the public’s ability to assess the source, and thus credibility, creating content that has gained the attention of the FTC due to its potentially deceptive nature. Expanded Prominence Interpretation Theory, EPIT, was developed to address deception in online communication. In this experiment, we consider native advertising through the lens of EPIT. Contrary to previous work, results show that when consumers understand the nature of content, they rate credibility higher, and this effect was even more pronounced for loyal consumers of the news brand. This work bolsters past work on native ad disclosure positions and adds support to the EPIT model, suggesting credibility is a measurable part of a decision-making process between media and deception.
Papers by Kate Keib
A growing body of research suggests that differences between smartphones and desktop computers in... more A growing body of research suggests that differences between smartphones and desktop computers influence information processing outcomes. A within-subjects (N = 64) smartphone eye-tracking experime...
Computers in Human Behavior
Social movements are increasingly using social media, and Twitter in particular, to reach out to ... more Social movements are increasingly using social media, and Twitter in particular, to reach out to existing and new publics. While historically movements had to rely on traditional media to connect with such publics, via social media any user can share content, helping to connect the key players within the movement to new publics. The quality of highly shared content, however, has been under scrutiny. The popular #blacklivesmatter movement is examined as a case study, where two key elements of tweets were tested as predictors of retweeting: content importance – political, economic, cultural and public – and the expression of emotions. Findings suggest important tweets were more likely to be retweeted, where tweets associated with policy or action showing the strongest relationship with retweeting. Tweets with expressed emotion were more likely to be retweeted than neutral tweets; however, type of valance (positive or negative) did not matter. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Journal of Interactive Advertising
Electronic News
Facebook drives more traffic to news websites than any other site and is the most used social pla... more Facebook drives more traffic to news websites than any other site and is the most used social platform in the journalistic process, elevating the importance of what organizations post there. Central to consumer's decision to engage is their assessment of credibility. This study examines how characteristics of Facebook posts promoting news trigger heuristic cues previously shown to help online consumers' make such decisions. A 2 (likes, shares, and comments: low vs. high) Â 2 (sponsorship: liked brand vs. suggested post) Â 3 (post source: peer vs. brand vs. journalist) online experiment was conducted. Participants were U.S. adults (mean age ¼ 35.7) who use Facebook. Results indicate that actions do not always match the assumed actions that traditional heuristic cues would predict. Results can be used by scholars studying credibility and by news brands and journalists to increase credibility and engage audiences on Facebook.
Journal of Interactive Marketing
Social media platforms have become the primary conduits to news for many consumers, yet little is... more Social media platforms have become the primary conduits to news for many consumers, yet little is known about how the content in social media posts is viewed and evaluated by consumers or how it shapes their decisions about selecting and sharing this information. A within-subjects eye-tracking experiment (N = 60), was conducted to examine the influence of image presence and valence on attention to and engagement with news stories on social media. Participants viewed a series of 29 social media posts of news stories, each of which was either paired with no image, a positively valenced image, or a negatively valenced image. Participants attention to the images was captured via eye tracking, and they answered dependent measures to gauge level of emotion and arousal, and intention to click and share. The results show that posts containing positive images elicited a higher level of visual attention than those with negative or no images, which led to higher intentions to click and share posts with positive images. The results provide a deeper understanding of the importance of images in driving news consumption, and offer practical implications for journalists, news organizations and groups using social media to spread a message.
Panel Presentations by Kate Keib
This interdisciplinary panel will feature a variety of digital tools and software to aid in the m... more This interdisciplinary panel will feature a variety of digital tools and software to aid in the many stages of research. Panel members are graduate students at the University of Georgia in the fields of consumer economics, mass communication, and education. Representing an array of quantitative, qualitative, and historical methodologies, this presentation will showcase how digital tools and software can be used across domains.
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Conference Presentations by Kate Keib
Drafts by Kate Keib
Papers by Kate Keib
Panel Presentations by Kate Keib