the social capital of online influencers: evidence from the food industries

THE SOCIAL CAPITAL OF ONLINE INFLUENCERS:

EVIDENCE FROM THE FOOD INDUSTRY

Riccardo De Vita ([email protected])

University of Greenwich Business School, London

Ivana Pais ([email protected])

Universita’ Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan

Cecilia Manzo ([email protected])

Universita’ di Brescia

The Social Capital of Online Influencers

Agenda • The research project

• Theoretical framework

• Methodology

• The food industry: first results

• Conclusions

• Q&As

Paris, May 3rd 2012


2/37

The research project

• Scientific partners

o Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

o University of Greenwich

• Media:

o Gummy Industries

o La Nuvola del Lavoro (Corriere.it)

o Trovolavoro.it (Rcs)

• Data management and IT:

o Basili.co

o Reputation Manager

The research team


3/37



Communication and media

4/37



Research objectives

Characteristics of influential actors online

Online networks of influential

actors

Professional group

Background,

motivations, use of

social media

Egonetwork analysis on

different SNS

Overall network

structure (different

approaches)

5/37


• Growing theoretical and empirical evidence of the topic

• Emphasis on online “large networks” and overall network

structures

o Deep analysis of limited number of selected actors

• Conflicting and not standard approaches in the literature

o Empirical approach to the identification of prominent actors online

and subsequent analysis of their characteristics

• Prevalence of quantitative studies, limited presence of mixed-

method approaches

o Integration of different research techniques


The contribution of our study

Bellotti, 2008; Fuhse and Mützel, 2011

6/37

Theoretical background

• Sociology of professional

groups:

o Problematic, rising or hybrid

groups

o Work activities

• Professionalism:

o Expansion of knowledge-

based work and occupations

o Organizational/occupational

professionalism

o Changing conditions of

trust, discretion, cooperation

and competence

• Social visibility social

network

• Discourse of… social

media

• Technological development online social capital

• Social network sites as intentional organizations vs appropriable social organisations (Coleman, 1990)

• Social media as a new space where professional groups can build their identities and can achieve social visibility

• Social media as a new setting for studying professional groups


Social media and professional groups

Demazière and Gadéa 2009; Evetts and Svensson, 2010

7/37


• Opinion leaders as intermediaries between the mass media and

society influence is not an atomistic process (Katz and

Lazarsfeld, 1955)

• Opinion leaders as brokers across groups (Burt, 1999)

o Contagion by cohesion, information to groups

o Contagion by equivalence, adoptions within the group.

• Relevance of easily influenced actors instead of influential actors

• Influence as local, dynamic process which can then result in

global transformation (Watts and Dodds, 2007)

• However different processes exist to identify opinion leaders

(Valente and Pumpuang, 2007)


Influence, a network approach

8/37

Facebook



The identification of online influencers

Twitter

Linkedin

Connections Contents

Social Networks

9/37

Methodology


The data collection process

Define Search Rank

Online

Questionnaire Social Network

Analysis

F2F

interview

10/37

Methodology

• Personal background

• Professional activity

• Use of the web

• Online networks

• Objectives and achievements through the use of social media

• Reputation and influence in the professional group


The online questionnaire

11/37

Methodology

• Online ego networks collected through an online application

o Facebook

o Twitter

o Linkedin

• Ego to alter connections and alter to alter connections

• When available alters’ basic attributes collected (e.g. Age,

location, bio)

• Ego network measures: size, subgroup, density


The Egonetwork Analysis

12/37

Methodology

• Relevant professional networks

o Online

o Offline

• Data interpretation and sense making of online networks

o Facebook

o Twitter

o LinkedIn

• Importance of a mixed method approach to the interpretation of

social networks


The face to face interview – Influential actors’ social networks

Bellotti, 2008; Fuhse and Mützel, 2011

13/37

Methodology


The empirical setting/professional groups

Elaboration of the Authors

Food

Construction

Engineers - TBC

Law/Legal

professions

Finance

Formal

professional

groups

Informal

professional

groups

Service

Product

14/37

Results

• Main characteristics of

influential actors

o Foodbloggers

o Women

o Interest/experience in the

communication industry

o Care for the visual aspect of

their dishes

o From hobby to profession

o Passion for cooking, link

with values such as family

and tradition


The presence of foodbloggers online

Reputation Manager, December 2011

15/37

Results


Online videos - Top 20 on YouTube


Titolo Visualizzazioni Commenti Preferiti Durata -min Utente

Ricetta:Decorare con semplicita' una torta 756728 446 454 00:04:30 Greedyweb

Impasto per la pizza, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 576910 238 791 00:02:46 GialloZafferanoTV

Tiramisù, la ricetta di Giallozafferano. 479750 157 730 00:02:55 GialloZafferanoTV

Le zeppole fritte graffe napoletane dalle ricette di Nonna Anna semplici,

economiche, gustose. 449499 117 548 00:06:37 kayenna

Mozzarella in Carrozza, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 416397 211 754 00:02:03 GialloZafferanoTV

Salame di Cioccolato, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 400494 230 796 00:02:55 GialloZafferanoTV

Crepes, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 395017 203 720 00:03:14 GialloZafferanoTV

Lasagne alla Bolognese, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 285366 223 431 00:03:56 GialloZafferanoTV

Propone una ricetta con il gatto, Bigazzi licenziato dalla Rai 276383 1745 108 00:01:04 ristotv

La Video Ricetta Passo-Passo della Focaccia Genovese 251595 168 544 00:04:51 vittorioviarengo

Pollo alla cacciatora, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 245895 56 358 00:02:16 GialloZafferanoTV

Penne all'Arrabbiata, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 201231 66 316 00:02:04 GialloZafferanoTV

La ricetta della crema Chantilly HD 187547 77 122 00:02:53 blogdolci

Ragù alla Bolognese, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 169675 176 346 00:04:08 GialloZafferanoTV

Ricette:Involtini impanati alla siciliana 147225 167 217 00:05:55 lacucinaitaliana

Pollo al Curry, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 124677 60 226 00:02:46 GialloZafferanoTV

Video ricetta: Un menù di antipasti al sapore di mare 124614 63 146 00:10:08 sitcomitalia

Gnocchi di Patate, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 120456 41 218 00:02:28 GialloZafferanoTV

Besciamella, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 117075 45 206 00:02:27 GialloZafferanoTV

Video ricetta: muffin per colazione? 105372 42 156 00:11:45 sitcomitalia

530 videos online, made available by 236 YouTube channels generated

10.5 M. visits and more than 11K comments

16/37

Results


Online videos – Top channels (videos generated and comments received)


17/37

Results

• Name: thecrazycake

• Video published: 90

• Channel views: 192.164

• Video views: 1.849.402

• Comments to channel: 1381

• Comments to videos: 8640

• Strategy based on the active

involvement of visitors, also

with constant links to the

facebook profile


The most commented channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/thecrazycacke)


Sono un Ingegnere, ma la mia

passione è sempre stata la cucina e

adoro fare torte,potete dare uno

sguardo alle mie creazioni sul

profilo di Facebook!!!!!!!!!!!!

18/37

Results


Facebook – Top 20 fan pages


53 Fan Pages identified, followed by more than 125K users, who generated

about 7K posts and 8.5K comments

NOME FANPAGE NUMERO FANTOTALE

LIKE

POST

TOTALI

COMMENTI

TOTALI

INTERAZIONE-

COMMENTI AI POST

AMMINISTRATORE

INTERAZIONE-

COMMENTI AI POST

FAN

INCREMENTO FAN

MESE%

Viva la Focaccia 60.733 6.319 405 899 431 468 1%

Ricette - Le Gioie del palato 10.619 5.378 244 574 574 0 8%

Sorelle in Pentola 10.480 3.596 330 358 319 39 3%

Cake show 5.929 4.487 259 1.208 1.015 193 2%

Dolce Mania per la Pasticceria 3.512 255 48 90 71 19 1%

La cuochina sopraffina 3.489 2.461 516 1.075 948 127 5%

Francesca Sugar Art - Le torte di Francesca 2.418 1.607 383 676 252 424 9%

Delizie da Gustare 2.346 340 168 150 113 37 4%

FANTASTICARE IN CUCINA 2.313 1.212 74 273 273 0 2%

Juls' Kitchen 1.804 1.974 485 552 487 65 4%

L' Arte nelle Mani (di Giuli) 1.770 289 76 66 58 8 2%

La cucina di Virginie 1.444 319 276 120 85 35 5%

Fiordifrolla 1.408 1.036 150 243 243 0 2%

La CuCiNa Di MaMMiNa GiOvI 1.216 129 55 47 28 19 3%

Mamma Papera's blog 1.015 1.390 480 632 584 48 4%

il Blog di Flora 992 247 148 120 63 57 1%

Cucinando in casa 966 281 123 108 104 4 3%

Un Pizzico Di Cannella 943 133 54 37 33 4 0%

Chef Laura at Home 890 230 74 63 47 16 2%

19/37

Results

• 92 accounts identified

• Followed by almost 340K

followers

• Generated 860K tweets


Twitter – Top 20 accounts


Screen name N° Follower N° Following N° Tweet

PinchMySalt 99646 1210 15829

RecipeGirl 14241 1155 32300

CannelleVanille 14196 336 10786

DineandDish 12033 7433 22300

browneyedbaker 10559 4259 11537

TwoPeasandPod 9695 2019 33620

atablefortwo 8270 414 6750

foodblogallianc 8043 1508 113

runwithtweezers 6181 1196 8569

chrispople 6138 793 31692

chowandchatter 5992 4325 71472

kalynskitchen 5818 786 14294

userealbutter 5769 469 16316

cookincanuck 5314 2590 10836

FoodforMyFamily 5132 2253 5958

toccodizenzero 5009 1169 32686

GoodBite 4806 2179 1842

TheLittleKitchn 4715 3342 18334

eatlivtravwrite 4702 1846 34761

JuliaParsons 4613 1174 8455

20/37

Results


• Age range from 24 to 47, with 5 respondents aged 31-39

• Two influential actors living abroad

• Only one man

A focus on online influencers (N=10, r.r. 50%)


0

1

2

3

4

The onlyindustry in

which I operate

The mainindustry in

which I operate

One of theindustries in

which I operate

The industry inwhich I wouldlike to operate

An hobby NA

Food is…

21/37

Results


Online influencers and social media


0

2

4

6

Less than 2 years From 2 to 5 years From 6 to 10years

More than 10years

NA

How long have you been active in the food industry?

How long have you been using the web to maintain or develop professional relationships?

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

Facebook (N=8) Twitter (N=7) LinkedIn (N=7) Other SocialNetworks (N=2)

Blogs (N=8)

Hours per day on social media

22/37

Results

Which contents do you publish

online?

Sense of belonging to

communities


Online influencers and their online activities


• 8 respondents declared to

feel part of at least one

professional community

online (5 of at least two)

• Only one declared to be part

of one (and only one) offline

professional community

• Online communities

facilitate access to

information, overcoming the

problem of physical distance

• Online influencers say a lot

about themselves online

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Often aboutfood, but

sometimesabout other

issues

Only aboutfood

NA

23/37

Results


The objectives and the results achieved by using social media


0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10M

eeti

ng in

tere

sti

ng p

eople

Accessin

g u

sefu

lIn

form

ati

on

Esta

blish

new

rela

tion

s

Tell t

he o

thers

abou

t m

ydaily life

Com

mu

nic

ate

my feelin

gs

Be c

on

sid

ere

d in

flu

en

tial

Spen

d m

y t

ime w

ith

ou

tgett

ing b

ore

d

Be u

p-t

o-d

ate

Main

tain

rela

tion

sh

ips w

ith

acqu

ain

tan

ces

Have fu

n

Meeti

ng in

flu

en

tial people

Com

mu

nic

ate

my ideas

Main

tain

rela

tion

sh

ips w

ith

my c

losest

frie

nds

Be c

on

sid

ere

d a

nin

tere

sti

ng p

ers

on

Meeti

ng k

now

leadgable

people

Fin

d c

ollabora

tors

Be c

on

sid

ere

dkn

ow

ledgeable

Fin

d a

job

Fin

d c

usto

mers

Objective

Achievement

24/37

Results

• The influencers identified

communication and

technical skills as the most

important factors to develop

a positive reputation in the

professional group

• Long presence in the

industry and reputation

offline or recommendations

are not perceived as relevant

• Clear consensus on the

identification of the most

important influencers online

• Lack of consensus and

information of people

perceived influential offline


Building reputation in the food industry


25/37

A network approach to the study online influence


Influencer 1 – Facebook network


26/37



Influencer 1 – Twitter network


27/37



Influencer 1 - The characteristics of online networks


Connections Density N. groups N. isolates

Facebook 237 0.05 8 14

Twitter 1117 0.10 31 1

LinkedIn 12

Age (avg) Connections

(avg)

Location Study Industry

F 28 542 60% Lombardy,

11% abroad

University

(86%)

9% food

Tw 1082 21% Lombardy,

4% abroad

L 133 83% Lombardy University

(100%)

8% food

28/37



Influencer 1 - Comparing ego networks online


29/37

Twitter Facebook

Degree (n.connectios= 1117)

Info

Degree (n.connectios= 237)

Info

1 687

food - interviewed

43 her professional profile

2 653 food 35 friend

3 601 food - interviewed 32 relative

4 538 food 28 university





9 498 food - interviewed 26 university

10 482 food 25 friend



Influencer 1 – Facebook network/subgroups


University Food

Friends (dance)

30/37



Influencer 1 – Twitter network/subgroups


31/37


Subgroups in Facebook Subgroups in Twitter


Influencer 1 - Comparing ego networks online


• Number of subgroups: 8

• Clear clustering based on the

nature of the relationship.

Mainly friendship ties

developed in different

environments, only one

subgroup is “food” related

• Number of subgroups: 31

• More difficult interpretation.

The interviewed does not

know all her followers.

However all the subgroups

which were identified are

“food related”

32/37



Influencer 1 – Offline networks


33/37

Conclusions

• For theory development

o Importance of openness, honesty and trust deeper analysis of

reputation (at least in the food industry!!)

o “Online born influencers”?

o Differences in on and offline interactions

• For industry actors

o Technological specialization (on SNS or by profile)

o Different SNS are sources of different types of resources (from

emotional support to information)

• For methodology

o Complexities associated in analysing online network data

o Importance of a qualitative interpretation of online networks


Implications – based on very preliminary results, more to come!

34/37

Conclusion

• Theoretical

o We focus on “potential influential actors”, but influence analysis

would require a dynamic analysis

• Data analysis

o Size of networks and data coding

o Technical problems in the mapping of LinkedIn networks

o Multiplexity and homophily cannot be explored at this stage

o A fourth dimension of influence: multiple profiles


Limitations and open issues

35/37

Conclusions

• Completion of data analysis

• Comparison across professional groups

• New measures, e.g. for subgroups

• Integration of SNA and qualitative analysis with simulation

techniques


The next steps

Tubaro and Casilli, 2010

36/37

THE SOCIAL CAPITAL OF ONLINE INFLUENCERS:

EVIDENCE FROM THE FOOD INDUSTRY

Riccardo De Vita ([email protected])

University of Greenwich Business School, London

Ivana Pais ([email protected])

Universita’ Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan

Cecilia Manzo ([email protected])

Universita’ di Brescia


the social capital of online influencers: evidence from the food industries

Technology

social capital o problematic

o gummy industries o

actors online motivations

groups o contagion

competence social media

web online networks

use of social media

o expansion of knowledge