The Impact of Social vs. Non-Social Referral Sources on Online News Consumption

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

As news consumption shifts online, referring channels assume a growing role in the market for online news, creating new challenges and opportunities for news organizations. This research combines field and lab experiments, and analysis of large-scale clickstream data, to study the effects of social versus non-social referral sources on news consumption on a news outlet’s website. We propose that referring channels create a new type of priming effect, denoted the referral effect, as unique features of the referring channel affect user behavior in a subsequent news visit. We find that social referral effects manifest as more focused reading – visits with fewer articles, shorter durations, yet higher reading completion rates - compared to non-social referrals. We further find lower sharing rates following social media referrals, likely due to a lower perceived novelty to peers of content discovered via social channels. The results provide insights applicable to news outlets’ social media strategies.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationICIS 2017
Subtitle of host publicationTransforming Society with Digital Innovation
PublisherAssociation for Information Systems
ISBN (Print)9780996683159
StatePublished - 2018
Event38th International Conference on Information Systems: Transforming Society with Digital Innovation, ICIS 2017 - Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Duration: 10 Dec 201713 Dec 2017

Publication series

NameICIS 2017: Transforming Society with Digital Innovation

Conference

Conference38th International Conference on Information Systems: Transforming Society with Digital Innovation, ICIS 2017
Country/TerritoryKorea, Republic of
CitySeoul
Period10/12/1713/12/17

Keywords

  • Field experiment
  • Online News Consumption
  • Social media

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Computer Science Applications
  • Information Systems

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