Effect of charismatic signaling in social media settings: Evidence from TED and Twitter

Details

Ressource 1Download: 2020 LQ TED TWITTER FINAL send out.pdf (1161.85 [Ko])
State: Public
Version: author
License: Not specified
Serval ID
serval:BIB_C9BAE1F2FED1
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Effect of charismatic signaling in social media settings: Evidence from TED and Twitter
Journal
The Leadership Quarterly
Author(s)
Tur Benjamin, Harstad Jennifer, Antonakis John
ISSN
1048-9843
Publication state
Published
Issued date
01/10/2022
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
33
Number
5
Pages
101476
Language
english
Abstract
Informal leaders in social media currently characterize a large part of political and economic communication on various challenges societies face, whether localized or transborder (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic, global warming). Scholars have theorized that charismatic signaling is effective in informal leadership settings; yet empirical evidence remains scarce in understanding a ubiquitous phenomenon that marks our times and plays an important role in shaping public opinion. In this article, we used two unique data sets extracted from social media to investigate the success of charisma for informal leaders, leaders who signal their beliefs and preferences to others but having no formal authority over them. Social media offers us a standardized medium as well as a natural environment to test our predictions. Using a sample of TED talks and tweets, we coded for objective markers of charisma and found that using more verbal charismatic signals predicted (a) higher views for TED talks as well as higher ratings for the extent to which the talk was found to be inspiring—beyond attractiveness and nonverbal behavior—and (b) more retweets. We discuss the implications of such results for both theory and practice in the media age.
Keywords
Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Sociology and Political Science, Applied Psychology, Business and International Management
Open Access
Yes
Funding(s)
Swiss National Science Foundation / 100018_169793
Create date
26/10/2020 21:51
Last modification date
27/02/2023 6:47
Usage data