Document Type : Research Article
Authors
1
Professor, Faculty of Management, University of Tehran
2
Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran
3
PhD Candidate in Media Management, University of Tehran (Aras International Campus)
Abstract
Introduction: We simply need to be more sophisticated about the help we give to others. With the growth of technology-driven media such as social networks, people spend most of their attention on platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Access to smartphones that can connect to the Internet has further fueled the growth of such social networks. These social networks have drastically changed the global information landscape. For example, news that used to be controlled by television networks is finding its way onto social media before it is broadcast on television. Social media consistently underestimates the importance of traditional media. As money is made from attracting attention, advertisers have shifted their focus from traditional media to the Internet. On Facebook, for example, numerous ads for goods such as clothing are distributed on the fringe to attract users' attention. The need to focus on the factors that influence audience attention is becoming more evident with the growth and development of media technologies, which has led to the emergence of the main topic of this study. The purpose of this study is to analyze the role of influencing factors on users' attention in social networks through a case study on Instagram.
Method: This study is “applied” research in the sense of the objective, "descriptive" research in the sense of the design, and a survey approach in the sense of the method. The conceptual model was developed based on the existing literature. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire based on the experimental data. The statistical population consisted of all the students of Tehran College in 2018, and using stratified random sampling, a sample of 384 students was considered. Moreover, Pearson correlation test and linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data using SPSS version 22 software.
Findings: The results showed that five factors, including relevance, timing, credibility, layout, and website graphics, can lead to higher user (student) attention on social media (Instagram in this study), In fact, these five variables may play a role in predicting the variable that attracts audience attention. It should be noted that no previous study in the field has empirically investigated the antecedents of audience attention in social networks, and this is the first study to investigate the crucial role of these variables in the field.
Conclusion: Considering that the appropriateness of content in social networks is important for users, content producers should provide the appropriate amount of information needed by their target users to optimize for users in various activities such as shopping, restaurant search, etc., on the one hand, and to prevent users from directing their attention to other social networks, on the other hand. For users, proper timing in providing information is one of the most important components that influence their attention. Therefore, updating the available information and content about specific products, services, or events, and being able to access it quickly through a simple search, can draw users’ attention to a specific social network, which has many potential benefits for content producers. More importantly, for users, the credibility of information sources and content producers determines the effectiveness of the information they receive. Thus, when content comes from well-known people (such as celebrities), users are more likely to trust the content. In addition, when people are looking for specific information about a particular event or topic, it is important that the content provider or producer has expertise, knowledge, and understanding of the topic to increase the acceptance of that content by users. Since layout plays an important role in attracting the audience’s attention, managers of social networks or channels should pay attention to designing the visual content of audio, video, or text productions to make them more attractive to users.
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