Selecting online videos from graphics, text, and view counts : the moderation of popularity bandwagons

• Main Author: Fu, W. Wayne.
• Other Authors: Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/106816; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/17719; http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2012.01593.x
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Little is known about the counteracting influences of different recommending information in various presentation modes on Internet users' selection of content. Considering user-contributed video selection, this study examines how content introductions supplied by contributors (as video descriptions), system-aggregated user popularity signals, and a hybrid of system- and user-generated introduction—the thumbnail preview—contribute to or compete with bandwagon effects on video viewing selections. Based on data from a video-sharing site, the analysis detects bandwagon effects from incidental aggregated user responses: When a video displays a high view count, its popularity over others snowballs further. The bandwagon effect is moderated by thumbnail use regardless of textual introductions, and by text when no thumbnail appears.