URPP Social Networks

The Universität Zürich (UZH) recently celebrated the completion of the second series of the University Research Priority Programs (URPP), which the "URPP " has been part of since 2013. UZH is dedicated to addressing socially relevant problems through strategically selected research areas. The URPP supports the goals of long-term visibility, an interdisciplinary approach, and sustainability in research.

The second series of the URPP includes eight priority programs planned for twelve years, concluding at the end of 2024. During the celebration, Prof. Dr. René Algesheimer, URPP Social Networks Director and Chair of Marketing for Social Impact, delivered a short presentation showcasing the key highlights and achievements of their program. The URPP Social Networks secured significant additional third-party funding, produced numerous publications, and created various networking opportunities. Below, you can watch the speech (in German).

Video: https://youtu.be/ZMHG6ZXEXTM?si=tAzfMaynU_D8RAzg

News: https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/URPP-Speech-Director.html

URPP Social Networks - Director Prof. Dr. René Algesheimer The University of Zurich (UZH) recently celebrated the completion of the second series of the University Research Priority Program (URPP), which the Social N...

The URPP Social Networks group had the opportunity to present at the closing event of the University Research Priority Programs (second series) at the Universität Zürich.

Thanks to all poster contributors:

- Jan Cieciuch, Eldad Davidov, Martin Kindschi, René Algesheimer: A social network approach to value preferences in adolescence.

- Andrea Bublitz, Eli Sugerman, Gergely Nyilasy, Gita Johar: The mere sharing effect: sharing ambiguous information increases truth judgments.

- Andrea Bublitz, Gita Johar: How personalized news feeds aggravate political polarization.

-René Algesheimer, Mingmin Feng, Luca Lazzaro, Manuel Sebastian Mariani, Maria Poiaganova, Radu Tanase, Fei Wang: Bridging the micro-macro divide in social contagion.

News about the event: https://lnkd.in/dgyh5gr5

Sasin Research Seminar - Pioneering the AI Empathy Frontier: How to Design Performative Voice Assistants for Marketing | Sasin School of Management Sasin School of Management, the first International Business School in Thailand.

Prof. Dr. Jan Cieciuch, Project Leader of the URPP Social Networks and Associate Professor of Psychology at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw (Poland), has co-authored an article titled "Emotion regulation strategies and psychological health across cultures" published by the renowned American Psychologist.

Abstract
Emotion regulation is important for psychological health and can be achieved by implementing various strategies. How one regulates emotions is critical for maximizing psychological health. Few studies, however, tested the psychological correlates of different emotion regulation strategies across multiple cultures. In a preregistered cross-cultural study (N = 3,960, 19 countries), conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, we assessed associations between the use of seven emotion regulation strategies (situation selection, distraction, rumination, cognitive reappraisal, acceptance, expressive suppression, and emotional support seeking) and four indices of psychological health (life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and loneliness). Model comparisons based on Bayesian information criteria provided support for cultural differences in 36% of associations, with very strong support for differences in 18% of associations. Strategies that were linked to worse psychological health in individualist countries (e.g., rumination, expressive suppression) were unrelated or linked to better psychological health in collectivist countries. Cultural differences in associations with psychological health were most prominent for expressive suppression and rumination and also found for distraction and acceptance. In addition, we found evidence for cultural similarities in 46% of associations between strategies and psychological health, but none of this evidence was very strong. Cultural similarities were most prominent in associations of psychological health with emotional support seeking. These findings highlight the importance of considering the cultural context to understand how individuals from diverse backgrounds manage unpleasant emotions.

Citation
Tamir, M., Ito, A., Miyamoto, Y., Chentsova-Dutton, Y., Choi, J. H., Cieciuch, J., Riediger, M., Rauers, A., Padun, M., Kim, M. Y., Solak, N., Qiu, J., Wang, X., Alvarez-Risco, A., Hanoch, Y., Uchida, Y., Torres, C., Nascimento, T. G., Afshar Jahanshahi, A., . . . García Ibarra, V. J. (2023). Emotion regulation strategies and psychological health across cultures. American Psychologist. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001237

News
https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/Publication-Alert--Prof.-Dr.-Jan-Cieciuch-in-American-Psychologist.html

Dr. Mariani, researcher at the URPP Social Networks, together with scholars from the Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center (PR China), Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, UESTC, Chengdu (PR China), European Commission, United Nations University - Merit (Netherlands), and University La Sapienza (Italy), publishes an article titled "Citations or dollars? Early signals of a firm’s research success" in the journal Technological Forecasting & Social Change.

By inspecting the patenting life cycles of 7440 publicly listed firms, the authors find that the economic value of a firm’s early patents is an accurate predictor of various dimensions of a firm’s future research success. At the same time, a smaller set of future top-performers do not generate early patents of high economic value, but they are detectable via the technological value of their early patents. Importantly, the observed heterogeneity of the firms’ temporal success patterns markedly differs from the patterns previously observed for individuals’ research careers.

Research highlights
- Research lifecycles of 7440 publicly listed firms.
- Economic value of firms’ early patents strong predictor of late patents’ technological and economic value.
- Technological value of firms’ early patents not a predictor of late patents’ economic value.
- Hidden gem firms detectable via the technological value of their early patents.Different patterns of research success for firms compared to academic researchers.

Citation
Xu, S., Mariani, M. S., Lü, L., Napolitano, L., Pugliese, E., & Zaccaria, A. (2024). Citations or dollars? Early signals of a firm’s research success. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 201, 123208.

The news
https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/Publication-Alert--Dr.-Manuel-Mariani-in-Technological-Forecasting-and-Social-Change.html

Dr. Anne Scherer, an active member of the URPP Social Networks, reflects on her academic milestones and their connection to current projects.

The letter: https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/A-Journey-Through-Academia-and-Technology--Anne-Scherer-s-Contributions.html

Thank you!

A Journey Through Academia and Technology: Anne Scherer's Contributions My path in the intersecting worlds of consumer psychology and technology has been both enlightening and challenging. Starting with a PhD from the Technical University of Munich, my academic journey was grounded in a keen interest in how technology influences our lives. At the University of Zurich an...

The URPP Social Networks welcomes to the team Maria Poiaganova the new Research Associate, starting on Aug.1st.

Maria completed her Bachelor of Arts in Fundamental and Applied Linguistics at the Higher School of Economics in Russia and her Master of Science in Cognitive Systems at the University of Potsdam in Germany. During the final year of her Master’s studies, she worked as a Data Scientist at a FinTech company. In her thesis, she leveraged natural language processing methods to generate insights into customer experience with the company’s product – a payment optimization platform.

Her research interests revolve around problems pertinent to businesses and society. Particularly, by drawing on methodologies from machine learning, statistics and network science, as well as leveraging large volumes of empirical data, Maria aims to foster an understanding of collective consumer behavior in social networks as well as the effectiveness of influencer marketing campaigns.

We hope that Maria achieves great success and finds happiness in her new role. Wishing her all the best!

News: https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/Maria-Poiaganova-Welcome.html

Dr. Radu Tanase and Luca Lazzaro from the URPP Social Networks at Universität Zürich offer an engaging workshop titled "How we reach consensus – a scientific experiment" at .

Participants take part in a social experiment that involves working with others to solve a well-known algorithmic problem. The purpose of this endeavor is to boost the collaborative abilities of all participants involved.

Following the activity, the URPP researchers provide insight into how scientists leverage these games to examine the connection between social network structure and human behavior.

No prior experience is required to participate, only a willingness to communicate and collaborate.

Join the for an entertaining and enlightening experience!

Location: KOL F-152
Date and time: 02-03.09.2023 at 14:00h

News: https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/URPP-Social-Networks-at-Scientifica-2023.html

Alex Mari attends the XV Medici Summer School in Management Studies at MIT Sloan School of Management focusing on "the rise of the platform economy and its implications".

News: https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/Alex-Mari-Medici-Summer-School-MIT.html

Starting June 2023, Professor Dr. Luxi Shen from CUHK Business School will visit the Universität Zürich

Luxi Shen (PhD, University of Chicago Booth School of Business) studies judgment and decision-making, and consumer behavior. Her recent research focuses on the general topic of uncertainty in pricing strategies, incentive designs, and investment decisions. For example, she explores when and why consumers expend more effort to earn an uncertain reward than a certain reward. Shen’s work has been published in top academic journals, including the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing Research, Management Science, Psychological Science, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. She was named a 2019 Young Scholar by the Marketing Science Institute for her early career achievements. She has received the runner-up of the 2015 Hillel Einhorn New Investigator Award by the Society for Judgement and Decision Making for the first essay in her doctoral dissertation (The Motivating-Uncertainty Effect, JCR, 2015) and the Honorable Mention of the 2020 Ferber Award (best dissertation-based article in the Journal of Consumer Research) by the Association for Consumer Research for the second essay in her doctoral dissertation (The Fun and Function of Uncertainty, JCR, 2018).

Shen is currently an Associate Professor of Marketing (with tenure) at CUHK Business School, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. At CUHK, she teaches Marketing Management (MBA), Strategic Marketing (IBBA), and Business Negotiation (MSc). All courses are offered in English. At the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, she has teaching experience in Marketing Management, Marketing Research, Managerial Decision Making, and Negotiations for the MBA, EMBA, and executive programs. Shen won the Faculty Teaching Merit Awards over multiple years and the 2016 Dean’s Nomination of University Education Award by CUHK Business School, and the Dean’s Performance Awards for Exceptional Service to the Executive MBA Programs over multiple years by Chicago Booth.

On June 12, Prof. Shen will be delivering a research talk on "The Fun and Function of Uncertainty" to a group of marketing professors and researchers.

Abstract: How do people behave under uncertainty? Specifically, how do consumers respond to incentives associated with exogenous uncertainty (e.g., a loyalty reward of $10 or $20 with even chances)? Both lay intuition and decision theories expect uncertainty aversion. However, I found that under specific circumstances, uncertainty can be motivating. In those predictable situations, consumers work harder under an uncertain incentive than under a certain incentive, even when the uncertain incentive ($10 or $20 with even chances) is strictly worse than the certain incentive ($20 for sure). I further propose a theoretical framework to reconcile “uncertainty loving” that I found in my research with “uncertainty aversion” in extant behavioral decision-making literature. This theoretical framework sheds light on why people behave differently under uncertainty under different circumstances.

We extend a warm welcome to Prof. Luxi Shen and hope she enjoys an exciting stay during her visit to Zurich.

https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/Visiting-Professor-Luxi-Shen.htmlStarting

In the semester's second session of the "PhD seminar in Quantitative Marketing Research" (Universität Zürich and ETH Zürich), we had the pleasure of hosting:

- Prof. Ioannis Evangelidis, Associate Professor of Marketing, ESADE Business School who presented his research "A Critique of 7-Point Ratings and Willingness-to-Pay".

- Lorenzo Costantini, Visiting PhD Student from the Politecnico di Torino who presented his paper "A new approach linking countries’ R&D, trade and environmental performances".

Thanks for the insightful presentations and discussions!

We are happy to announce that our Postdoc Andrea Bublitz (University of Zurich) is currently at Columbia Business School, New York, for a one-year research visit to collaborate with Prof. Gita Johar on several projects in the domain of news consumption and misinformation.

Wishing you the very best of luck…not that you need it.

News: https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/Andrea-Bublitz-Visiting-Postdoc-Columbia-Business.html

Upcoming PhD Seminar by Dr. Andrea Bublitz, Postdoc at the Chair of Marketing and Market Research of the University of Zurich and Visiting Researcher at Columbia Business School, on “Experimental Methods in Consumer Research”.

In this two-week seminar (3 ECTS), students will learn about different research designs, the internal and external validity of experiments, evidence for psychological processes in experiments, and experimental replications. Students will also apply their new knowledge by reading and discussing current experimental literature in consumer research.

This seminar will take place from June 26th until July 7th, 2023, at the University of Zurich AND 4.57 (Campus Zurich Oerlikon). More information is available on the Marketing Group Zurich website: https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/PhD-Seminar--Experimental-Methods-in-Consumer-Research.html

Prof. Andreas Lanz, Assistant Professor of Marketing at HEC Paris, offers a seminar on Seeding and Dissemination in User-Generated Content Networks (3 ECTS).

In this seminar, students will receive an overview of selected topics in the domain of seeding and dissemination of individuals/firms and their content in user-generated content networks (e.g., SoundCloud or Instagram), before working towards developing novel research directions in this domain, which they will then present on the last day of the seminar.

The seminar will take place from May 30th to June 2nd, 2023, daily from 9:00 - 16:00 in AND 4.57 (Campus Zurich Oerlikon).

More information is available here: https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/PhD-Seminar--Seeding-and-Dissemination-in-User-Generated-Content-Networks-.html

Over 15 senior managers collaborated on the 2022 edition of the bachelor course " and ". Their support helped 200 registered students from 30+ nations to acquire highly demanded digital skills and offer a unique learning experience.

The course content was designed to be maximally practical; Each session consisted of a mix of lectures, case studies, group exercises, and self-reflecting tasks and represented a "building block" connected to one another, which enables students to apply all learned principles, week after week, to a personal brand project.

During the fast-paced, practical, and interactive program, each course topic saw a domain-specific masterclass with practical insights from the industry.

- Serge Grünwald - Self-Awareness (cm-p Group)
- Kathrin Joa and Laura Gerritsen - Branding Strategy (Brandpulse)
- Sonia Torre - Brand Identity (Phonak)
- Mariann Sandra Vegh - Digital Marketing (Haleon)
- Roman Zimmermann - Content Strategy (Salesforce)
- Andreas Schollin-Borg - Digital Campaign (Batmaid)

Brand creators showcased their projects in a TED talk-like style and discussed how they developed successful brands.

- Sabine van 't Hart (Puricious)
- Etienne Patrice Ettlinger (MindBlown)
- Ema Krip (HOI Z'EMA)
- Tina Fuchs (Studio Schoch)
- Emily Engkent (watson)

Subject experts coached students on the development of personal brands in an informal setting.

- Andrea Di Berardino (YouTube)
- Marta Favaro (Accenture)
- Luca Barbati (New Voice International AG)
- Yusuf Balcilar (SMG Swiss Marketplace Group )

We thank all the collaborators and the participants of the course.

https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/Personal-Branding-and-Digital-Marketing-Course--Guests.html

“Alexa or Alexis? Research findings on the marketing of the future” is the title of the speech by Prof. Dr. Anne Scherer, Assistant Professor of Quantitative Marketing at the University of Zurich delivered during the 72nd International Summit.

Throughout her talk Prof. Scherer addressed two main questions:
- Are conversational interfaces and Megabots revolutionizing consumer behavior?
- How are new technologies changing the customer approach and relationship?

The summit took place at the GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute in Rüschlikon (Canton ) on 8 – 9 September 2022.

The event, under the title “Flow : How Shifting Boundaries Reshape Retail“, gathered over 20 international guests to discuss the dissolving lines dividing physical and virtual worlds and new trends affecting retailers and society at large such as metaverse or voice assistants.

https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/Prof.-Anne-Scherer-Guest-Speaker-at-the-72nd-International-Retail-Summit.html

Did you know that approximately one-third of all food produced for human consumption is either lost or wasted?

The new article "Buy Three to Waste One? How Real-World Purchase Data Predict Groups of Food Wasters" by Sybilla Merian, Sabrina Stöckli, Klaus L. Fuchs and Natter Martin published by Sustainability MDPI suggests targeted interventions to reduce .

The authors from the Universität Zürich and ETH Zürich used a unique data set comprising the grocery shopping data of customers who use loyalty cards, complemented with food waste reports, to derive three distinct target groups: traditionals, time-constrained, and convenience lovers.

The Special Issue on and explores the central role of retailers in effectively reducing consumer food waste and advances diverse target group-specific interventions.

Download the article (open access): https://lnkd.in/dqTdSM3w

Buy Three to Waste One? How Real-World Purchase Data Predict Groups of Food Wasters Approximately one-third of all food produced for human consumption is either lost or wasted. Given the central position of retailers in the supply chain, they have the potential to effectively reduce consumer food waste by implementing targeted interventions. To do so, however, they should target di...

Claudia Wenzel successfully defended her thesis on the topic of "The social dilemma of personal data" in front of the examining committee: Prof. Dr. Anne Scherer (supervisor) and Prof. Dr. René Algesheimer (co-examiner).

Her research, presented at the EMAC conference earlier this year, touched on the consumer adoption of Coronavirus tracking apps and brought essential implications for the policymakers on how to convince the citizens to adopt such services for the greater good. Thus, Claudia's work is linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a priority for the Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics.

Throughout her presentation, Claudia sought to answer the question, "Why do people behave inconsistently when sharing data for social versus social good?". She finally remarked on the impact of sharing data for social good and invited everyone to contribute.

Claudia's PhD title comes with the extra curriculum DSI excellence program she completed in June.

Congratulations from the entire group to Dr. Wenzel!

The European Academy of Management (EURAM) awarded Prof. Agnes Bäker and Prof. Natter Martin for the paper "Improving Worker Performance and Retention on Staffing ".

The research team was recognized by the "Organizational Behavior" Special Interest Group during the EURAM 2022 annual conference in Winterthur, Switzerland.

Congratulations to the authors!

Read the news: https://lnkd.in/eKT6XCnB

Learn more about Andrea Giuffredi-Kähr, Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Digital Economy and member of the URPP Social Networks at Universität Zürich, in the portrait published by the Oec. Magazine.

This is an extract from the current issue of the Oec. Magazine.

"Andrea Giuffredi-Kähr grew up as the youngest of four children in a little rural village in the canton of Bern. In this idyllic village she discovered her love for nature and spent a lot of time outdoors. To the present day, she enjoys trying out new sports, traveling the world and learning about new cultures. «Being on the road, interacting with people, gaining new perspectives and collecting new ideas has been my nature since I was a child», the assistant professor says.

This thirst for knowledge, her curiosity and the interactions with other people and cultures, had a great influence on Giuffredi-Kähr‘s life path: as a child, she went to Kenya with her family and spent time with locals outside of typical tourist destinations. Already at an early age, she saw the poverty of the population and felt it was unfair and unjust. «Why are we doing so well while others are not? Why don‘t others have the same opportunities and possibilities as we do?», she asked herself already back then.

At high school, she realized more and more that she wanted to contribute her part to make the world a better place: she wanted to join an international organization, and at the time, the best way to do that seemed to be to study law. She quickly realized, however, that this study did not really suit her. Therefore, she decided to study business administration – and never thought that she would end up in research."

Read on our website: https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/Prof.-Andrea-Giuffredi-K%C3%A4hr-featured-in-the-Oec.-Magazine-.html
Read the full portrait online: https://www.oec.uzh.ch/static/epaper_17-2022/ #22

Congratulations to Claudia Wenzel and the other PhD candidates who successfully completed the "DSI Excellence Program" - a complementary curriculum on .

https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/Claudia-Wenzel-Successfully-Completed-the-DSI-PhD-Excellence-Program.html

The program is offered by the Universität Zürich's Digital Society Initiative ( ), a scientific institution aiming to promote independent scientific reflection and innovation on issues relating to a digital society, to prepare UZH students to help shape the digital society, engage in a continuous discourse with the public and support political decision-making.

The DSI Excellence Program for students is an initiative that features interdisciplinary courses about digital skills and technical knowledge, interdisciplinary thinking and problem-solving, and critical reflection on all aspects of a digital society, including ethical, legal, and societal aspects of digital change.

Over the past two years, the graduates of the DSI Excellence Program have gained competencies in at the levels of knowledge, skills and abilities through compulsory and elective courses and benefitted from interdisciplinary networking across all University of Zurich faculties.

Read more:
- Digital Society Initiative: https://lnkd.in/egRvZzQc
- DSI Excellence Program https://lnkd.in/dTzE8MD
- Graduates 2020-2020 https://lnkd.in/e74p7cFe

We congratulate Dr. Andrea Bublitz on her well-deserved nomination and the impact on society, the environment and the economy.

The SDG Impact Awards were announced for the first time at the graduation ceremony of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics, Universität Zürich.

This recognition is given to the best scientific work with a contribution to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Platform Goals (SDGs).

With her excellent Ph.D. dissertation entitled "The miscalibration of online news knowledge: Why consumers feel better informed than they objectively are", Andrea Bublitz made a decisive contribution to the implementation of the sustainability goals SDG 4 "Quality education" and SDG 12 "Sustainable consumption and production».

Read the news: https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/Andrea-Bublitz-Nominated-for-The-SDG-Impact-Award.html
Read about the SDG Impact Awards: https://www.oec.uzh.ch/en/aboutus/responsibility/impact-awards.html

(Publication alert) Congratulations to Petra Tipaldi and Natter Martin for the new publication on Psychology & Marketing!

The manuscript investigates across four studies how the presentation of systems can influence the decision‐making process of adults ages 65+ by mitigating choice complexity and, consequently, choice avoidance.

The authors find that age framing positively affects the rate of choice, and identify reduced choice complexity as the underlying process.

In addition, the demonstrates that family members evaluate decisions made on age‐framed alternatives more positively, thus making it easier for older adults to justify their decisions.

Read the article online on & : https://lnkd.in/edq6ZUQU

Older adults' decisions on smart home systems: Better put an age tag on it! Addressing the demands of our aging society, technologies such as smart home systems enhance older adults' independence and enable them to live longer at home. Yet, older adults tend to avoid, delega...

International conferences, summer schools, talks and grants involving and students members of the URPP Social Networks at (Spring 2022)

Read the news: https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en/news/URPP-Members-Conference,-Training,-Talk-and-Grant--Spring-Semester-2022.html