The Nature of Slacktivism: How the Social Observability of an Initial Act of Token Support Affects Subsequent Prosocial Action

Kristofferson, Kirk; White, Katherine; Peloza, John

doi:10.1086/674137

Cited by 345 publications

(306 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…The transition from the "slacktivism" into real effort is not just a problem for the electoral campaign. There is plenty of evidence that the relative ease of online activist behavior can appease our consciences but actually reduce the likelihood of real effort and real engagement (Kristofferson, White and Peloza 2014).…”

Section: Social Media the Social Graph And Targeted Sharingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in Voter Surveillance in Western Societies: Privacy Intrusions and Democratic Implications

Bennett

2015

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This paper surveys the various voter surveillance practices recently observed in democratic states and discusses the broad implications for privacy and democracy. Four broad trends are discussed: the move from voter management databases to integrated voter management platforms; the shift from mass-messaging to micro-targeting employing personal data from commercial data brokerage firms; the analysis of social media and the social graph; and the decentralization of data to local campaigns through mobile applications. The de-alignment of the electorate in most Western societies has placed pressures on parties to target voters outside their traditional bases, and to find new, cheaper, and potentially more intrusive, ways to influence their political behavior. This paper builds on previous research to consider the theoretical tensions between concerns for excessive surveillance, and the broad democratic responsibility of parties to mobilize voters and increase political engagement. These issues have been insufficiently studied in the surveillance literature. They are not just confined to the privacy of the individual voter, but relate to broader dynamics in democratic politics.

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Section: Social Media the Social Graph And Targeted Sharingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in Voter Surveillance in Western Societies: Privacy Intrusions and Democratic Implications

Bennett

2015

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“…More narcissistic people should also be more likely to engage in prosocial behaviors in a calculating way that is sensitive to the costs versus benefits of giving or helping. This could be achieved by either reducing the cost of prosocial behavior by engaging in relatively low-effort "slacktivism" activities such as posting or sharing a message on social networks (Kristofferson, White, & Peloza, 2014) or by increasing the potential benefits by being more likely to help when there are current or future rewards. Many people help for the simple reason that others are in need.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Strategic Helper: Narcissism and Prosocial Motives and Behaviors

2016

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Across three studies, we examined the relationship between narcissism, prosocial behaviors, and the reasons why people engaged in them. Specifically, we examined how narcissistic people engaged in charitable donations, taking advantage of a naturally occurring mass charitable donation campaign, the ALS "ice bucket challenge" (Study 1). We also examined how narcissism was related to volunteering and other types of prosocial behaviors (Studies 2 and 3). Moreover, we compared and contrasted the prosocial responses of more empathic versus more narcissistic people (Studies 2 and 3). This paper can help scholars and practitioners to determine under which circumstances, and for which reasons, narcissistic people may exhibit prosocial behaviors.Abstract word count: <106>

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“…The results of this study show that low-effort participation in protests, called 'slacktivism' (Kristofferson et al 2014), can also function as a meaningful form of protest support. Even though individual contributions do not require a significant effort or cost, their combined clicks add to the critical mass of the protest, attracting the attention of the targeted firm and the press.…”

Section: Summary Of Findings and Scientific Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…First, the relationship between the effort protest supporters make and the protest's effect on the target firm is a yet to be tested. Kristofferson et al (2014), for example, discuss the difference between token support and meaningful support, whereby meaningful support is postulated as requiring a significant effort from a participant and as a prerequisite for bringing about change. A second limitation is the conceptualization of firm responses (Oliver 1991).…”

Section: Limitations and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Online Protests and Firm Responses on Shareholder and Consumer Evaluation

2017

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Protests that target firms' socially irresponsible behavior are increasingly organized via digital media. This study uses two methods to investigate the effects that online protests and mitigating firm responses have on shareholders' and consumers' evaluation. The first method is a financial analysis that includes an event study which measures the effect of online protests on the target firm's share price, as well as an investigation of the boundary effects of protest characteristics. The second method is an online experiment that assesses the effect of an online protest campaign on consumers' perception and purchase intention, as well as any mitigating effects that a firm's response may have. Contrary to recent studies suggesting that participation in online protests is only token support without any substantive effects, our results show that online protests do hurt. Firms can expect to suffer financial, reputational, and sales damage when an online protest campaign mobilizes consumers successfully. We also show that online protests are more likely to take firms by surprise than offline protests. Firms can exacerbate or reduce the damage by their response. We find that although firms may repair the damage to consumers' purchase intentions, the negative effects on a brand's image are harder to rectify.The results have valuable implications for protest organizers and managers faced with the task of responding.

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The Nature of Slacktivism: How the Social Observability of an Initial Act of Token Support Affects Subsequent Prosocial Action

Cited by 345 publications

References 56 publications

Trends in Voter Surveillance in Western Societies: Privacy Intrusions and Democratic Implications

Trends in Voter Surveillance in Western Societies: Privacy Intrusions and Democratic Implications

The Strategic Helper: Narcissism and Prosocial Motives and Behaviors

The Effect of Online Protests and Firm Responses on Shareholder and Consumer Evaluation

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