# Social Influences
**Source**: https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/social-influences
**Parent**: https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/bizbites
[CHEN, Qihui](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/faculty/chen-qihui)
WANG, Yajin
ZHANG, Ying
[Strengths versus Weaknesses: Parental Choices in Educational Purchases and the Pursuit of Status](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2025/09/strengths-versus-weaknesses-parental-choices-educational-purchases-and-pursuit)
[Purchase Decision](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/purchase-decision)
[Training](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/training)
[Social Influences](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/social-influences)
In competitive societies, educational products represent significant purchase decisions for families. As noted by HKUST’s Qihui Chen and her coauthors, “Parents’ preferences when purchasing educational products for their children are primarily shaped by their values, beliefs, and observations of society.” Their research shows that the choice between
...
[Read More](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2025/09/strengths-versus-weaknesses-parental-choices-educational-purchases-and-pursuit)
[ [BizBites](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/bizbites "BizBites") ]
[Watch Video](https://video.ust.hk/watch?video=DEB6DFE2A4779375&embed=Y)
[Read Full Paper](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/00222429231224333)
[CHEN, Qihui](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/faculty/chen-qihui)
WANG, Yajin
ZHANG, Ying
[Strengths versus Weaknesses: Parental Choices in Educational Purchases and the Pursuit of Status](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2025/04/strengths-versus-weaknesses-parental-choices-educational-purchases-and-pursuit)
[Purchase Decision](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/purchase-decision)
[Training](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/training)
[Social Influences](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/social-influences)
In competitive societies, educational products represent significant purchase decisions for families. As noted by HKUST’s Qihui Chen and her coauthors, “Parents’ preferences when purchasing educational products for their children are primarily shaped by their values, beliefs, and observations of society.” Their research shows that the choice between
...
[Read More](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2025/04/strengths-versus-weaknesses-parental-choices-educational-purchases-and-pursuit)
[ [BizStudies](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/bizstudies "BizStudies") ]
[Read Full Paper](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/00222429231224333)
NAN, Lana Xianglan
[PARK, Sang Kyu](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/faculty/park-sang-kyu)
YANG, Yang
[Rejections are More Contagious than Choices in Marketing](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2024/10/rejections-are-more-contagious-choices-marketing)
[Social Influences](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/social-influences)
[Decision Making](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/decision-making)
[Personal Preference](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/personal-preference)
In today’s technologically connected world, people learn about others’ purchase decisions on social media and review sites, as well as through direct observation. These decisions are perceived as either a choice or a rejection, explain HKUST’s Sang Kyu Park and co-researchers, who ask a critical question: “Does the mere perception of another’s decision as a
...
[Read More](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2024/10/rejections-are-more-contagious-choices-marketing)
[ [BizStudies](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/bizstudies "BizStudies") ]
[Read Full Paper](https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/50/2/363/7133747)
CHEN, Yi-Chun
[HUNG, Mingyi](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/faculty/hung-mingyi)
WANG, Lynn Linghuan
[Does Banks’ Social Performance Matter to Depositors?](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2024/05/does-banks-social-performance-matter-depositors)
[banks](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/banks)
[Social Influences](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/social-influences)
Corporate stakeholders have long assessed companies based on indicators of financial performance. Recently, however, “softer” indicators have been added to these assessments, under the rubric of corporate social responsibility (CSR) . Today, CSR significantly influences depositors’ assessments of banks’ trustworthiness, according to HKUST’s Mingyi Hung and
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[Read More](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2024/05/does-banks-social-performance-matter-depositors)
[ [BizStudies](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/bizstudies "BizStudies") ]
[Read Full Paper](https://deliverypdf.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=527000067124030066092117076066101108039003024042071075093075114088117122097095006067114102007027106035006113098123071001024082005082039040022082031064125102027075010057077009093029070074114123082086117087011089013067121018120097065022064024007111101001&EXT=pdf&INDEX=TRUE)
[PARK, Sang Kyu](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/faculty/park-sang-kyu)
[Rejections Are More Contagious than Choices: How Another’s Decisions Shape Our Own](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2023/10/rejections-are-more-contagious-choices-how-anothers-decisions-shape-our-own)
[Social Influences](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/social-influences)
[Decision Making](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/decision-making)
[Personal Preference](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/personal-preference)
Every day, we learn about others’ decisions from various sources. We perceive some of these decisions as choices of the more-preferred alternative and others as rejections of the less-preferred alternative. In which case are we more likely to follow another’s decision? We find that people are more likely to conform to another’s decision if it is perceived as
...
[Read More](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2023/10/rejections-are-more-contagious-choices-how-anothers-decisions-shape-our-own)
[ [BizTalks](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/biztalks "BizTalks") ]
[Watch Video](https://video.ust.hk/watch?video=314F61F6C22F4101&embed=Y)
[Read Full Paper](https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/50/2/363/7133747?login=true)
BERTRAND, Marianne
BOMBARDINI, Matilde
FISMAN, Raymond
TREBBI, Francesco
[YEGEN, Eyub Enes](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/faculty/yegen-eyub-enes)
[Investing on Influence: Investors, Portfolio Firms, and Political Giving](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2023/04/investing-influence-investors-portfolio-firms-and-political-giving)
[Investment Decision](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/investment-decision)
[Social Influences](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/social-influences)
[Politics Influence](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/politics-influence)
[Corporate Governance](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/corporate-governance)
Gone are the days of small-scale investment - the rise of institutional investors has changed the game completely. In 1950, only 6% of publicly traded US companies were owned by institutional investors, but fast forward to 2017 and that number has skyrocketed to 65%.
The "Big Three" - BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street Global Investors - hold a
...
[Read More](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2023/04/investing-influence-investors-portfolio-firms-and-political-giving)
[ [BizStudies](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/bizstudies "BizStudies") ]
[Read Full Paper](https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w30876/w30876.pdf)
CHEN, Xi
[VAN DER LANS, Ralf](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/faculty/van-der-lans-ralf)
TRUSOV, Michael
[Influence in Networks: Insights from a Roleplaying Game](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2022/11/influence-networks-insights-roleplaying-game)
[Social Influences](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/social-influences)
[Network](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/network)
[Online Information](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/online-information)
[Social Network](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/social-network)
An HKUST researcher has developed a methodology to optimize promotions in online networks. The methodology does not only consider the likelihood of whether an individual is interested in the promotion (i.e., whom to target), but also how it impacts other individuals in the network (i.e., social influence of the target) and the time it is most effective (
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[Read More](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2022/11/influence-networks-insights-roleplaying-game)
[ [BizStudies](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/bizstudies "BizStudies") ]
[Read Full Paper](https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/epdf/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3885)
[BHATTACHARYA, Utpal](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/faculty/bhattacharya-utpal)
HUANG, Daisy
[NIELSEN, Kasper Meisner](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/faculty/nielsen-kasper-meisner)
[“Haunted Houses”—Property Price Spillover in Hong Kong](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2022/08/haunted-houses-property-price-spillover-hong-kong)
[Superstitious Trading](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/superstitious-trading)
[Behavioral Finance](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/behavioral-finance)
[Marketing Analytics](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/marketing-analytics)
[Social Influences](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/social-influences)
An unexpected death in an apartment can cause a 20% drop in the property’s sale price and further impact those on the same floor, in the same block, and on the same estate, according to HKUST’s Utpal Bhattacharya and colleagues. Focusing on Hong Kong’s real estate market, the authors show that such “haunted houses” can have a sustained negative impact on the
...
[Read More](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2022/08/haunted-houses-property-price-spillover-hong-kong)
[ [BizStudies](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/bizstudies "BizStudies") ]
[Read Full Paper](https://academic.oup.com/rof/article/25/3/903/5924383)
[BHATTACHARYA, Utpal](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/faculty/bhattacharya-utpal)
HUANG, Daisy
[NIELSEN, Kasper Meisner](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/faculty/nielsen-kasper-meisner)
[“Haunted Houses”—Property Price Spillover in Hong Kong](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2022/08/haunted-houses-property-price-spillover-hong-kong-0)
[Superstitious Trading](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/superstitious-trading)
[Behavioral Finance](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/behavioral-finance)
[Marketing Analytics](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/marketing-analytics)
[Social Influences](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/social-influences)
An unexpected death in an apartment can cause a 20% drop in the property’s sale price and further impact those on the same floor, in the same block, and on the same estate, according to HKUST’s Utpal Bhattacharya and colleagues. Focusing on Hong Kong’s real estate market, the authors show that such “haunted houses” can have a sustained negative impact on the
...
[Read More](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2022/08/haunted-houses-property-price-spillover-hong-kong-0)
[ [BizBites](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/bizbites "BizBites") ]
[Watch Video](https://video.ust.hk/Watch.aspx?Video=B7D95C41151682B2&embed=Y)
[Read Full Paper](https://academic.oup.com/rof/article/25/3/903/5924383)
CHEN, Ningyuan
[CHEN, Ying-Ju](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/faculty/chen-ying-ju)
[Buying and Selling: Competitive Strategies and Network-connected Customers](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2022/08/buying-and-selling-competitive-strategies-and-network-connected-customers)
[Firm Behavior](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/firm-behavior)
[Network](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/network)
[Social Influences](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/social-influences)
[Marketing Strategy](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/tag/marketing-strategy)
Network effects are commonly seen among people engaging in social interactions, and come about from the “payoff externality”, where someone’s payoff depends on both their own actions and the actions of others. For example, an individual is more likely to adopt a program or application if their friends and colleagues already use it.
Because network effects
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[Read More](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/2022/08/buying-and-selling-competitive-strategies-and-network-connected-customers)
[ [BizStudies](https://bm.hkust.edu.hk/bizinsight/bizstudies "BizStudies") ]
[Read Full Paper](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3044192)