IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/apbizr/v24y2018i2p196-211.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Selling trust in cyber space: social networking service (SNS) providers and social capital amongst netizens in South Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Ingyu Oh
  • Wonho Jang
  • Sanghyeon Kim

Abstract

Apart from excessive bonding amongst co-ethnics, social capital studies have sparsely discussed the negative effects of social capital, including excessive collective actions towards downward social mobility (e.g. imprisonment of social and political elites). As Bourdieu has noted, social capital can conflate problems of upward social mobility through various glass ceilings in the reproduction of elite power groups. However, it is also important to notice that less fortunate groups can debunk the dominant elite social network by participating excessively in social networking service (SNS) platforms, where they exchange distorted information about the elites to organize collective actions towards their downward social mobility. Gleaned from the recent cases of ferry sinking and candlelight vigilance in South Korea, SNS providers can sell trust in cyber space that can be easily transformed into social capital for collective character assassinations, political demonstrations, and economic sabotages at workplace. Based on the big data gathered from Naver, one of the leading SNS providers in South Korea, we find that Naver provides SNS users with a rare opportunity to encounter myriad opinion groups who will over time converge into one or two similar opinion groups that can be easily mobilized towards collective actions. Selling trust in cyber space on the internet and mobile devices is a unique commercial development in South Korea and its neighbouring countries, including Japan and Taiwan.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingyu Oh & Wonho Jang & Sanghyeon Kim, 2018. "Selling trust in cyber space: social networking service (SNS) providers and social capital amongst netizens in South Korea," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 196-211, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:apbizr:v:24:y:2018:i:2:p:196-211
    DOI: 10.1080/13602381.2018.1431247
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13602381.2018.1431247
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13602381.2018.1431247?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hwan Baik, Kyung & Lee, Sanghack, 1997. "Collective rent seeking with endogenous group sizes," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 121-130, February.
    2. Gordon Redding & Chris Rowley, 2017. "Introduction: human capital as a factor in societal progress," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 163-170, March.
    3. Gordon Redding, 2005. "The thick description and comparison of societal systems of capitalism," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(2), pages 123-155, March.
    4. Gordon Redding & Chris Rowley, 2017. "Conclusion: the central role of human and social capital," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 299-305, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tae-Seung Park & Jae-Yoon Kwon, 2022. "Analysis of Crisis Management for Sustainable Development of Fitness Center during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-12, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Malik, Ashish & Sinha, Paresha & Pereira, Vijay & Rowley, Chris, 2019. "Implementing global-local strategies in a post-GFC era: Creating an ambidextrous context through strategic choice and HRM," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 557-569.
    2. Rana, Mohammad B. & Elo, Maria, 2017. "Transnational Diaspora and Civil Society Actors Driving MNE Internationalisation: The Case of Grameenphone in Bangladesh," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 87-106.
    3. Santiago Sánchez-Pagés, 2007. "Endogenous coalition formation in contests," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 11(2), pages 139-163, September.
    4. Dhritiman Gupta, 2020. "Prize sharing rules in collective contests: When does group size matter?," Discussion Papers 20-04, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.
    5. De Clercq, Dirk & Meuleman, Miguel & Wright, Mike, 2012. "A cross-country investigation of micro-angel investment activity: The roles of new business opportunities and institutions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 117-129.
    6. Catherine Welch & Eriikka Paavilainen-Mäntymäki & Rebecca Piekkari & Emmanuella Plakoyiannaki, 2022. "Reconciling theory and context: How the case study can set a new agenda for international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(1), pages 4-26, February.
    7. Uzuegbunam, Ikenna & Geringer, J. Michael, 2021. "Culture, connectedness, and international adoption of disruptive innovation," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(1).
    8. Lee-Peuker, Mi-Yong & Klauer, Bernd, 2010. "Bringing about institutional change in public brownfield management: The case of Saxony-Anhalt (Germany)," UFZ Discussion Papers 5/2010, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    9. Ayse Saka-Helmhout & Mike Geppert, 2011. "Different Forms of Agency and Institutional Influences within Multinational Enterprises," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(5), pages 567-592, October.
    10. Carney, Michael & Dieleman, Marleen & Taussig, Markus, 2016. "How are institutional capabilities transferred across borders?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 882-894.
    11. Muhammad Usman & Rizwan Shabbir & Ilyas Ahmad & Ahsan Zubair, 2022. "Host Countries’ Institutional Environment and Multinational Enterprises: Does Home-Host Developmental Status Matter?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(4), pages 2640-2664, December.
    12. Fan, Di & Li, Yi & Chen, Liang, 2017. "Configuring innovative societies: The crossvergent role of cultural and institutional varieties," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 66, pages 43-56.
    13. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk, 2022. "Capitalizing on the uniqueness of international business: Towards a theory of place, space, and organization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(9), pages 2050-2067, December.
    14. Frank Tipton, 2009. "Southeast Asian capitalism: History, institutions, states, and firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 401-434, September.
    15. Sanghack Lee, 2001. "Two-Stage Contests With Additive Carryovers," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 83-99.
    16. Kiss, Andreea N. & Danis, Wade M. & Cavusgil, S. Tamer, 2012. "International entrepreneurship research in emerging economies: A critical review and research agenda," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 266-290.
    17. Anand Saxena, 2013. "Transgenerational succession in business groups in India," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 769-789, September.
    18. Carolin Haeussler, 2011. "The Determinants of Commercialization Strategy: Idiosyncrasies in British and German Biotechnology," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(4), pages 653-681, July.
    19. Aggarwal, Raj & Goodell, John W., 2010. "Financial markets versus institutions in European countries: Influence of culture and other national characteristics," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 502-520, October.
    20. Istipliler, Baris & Bort, Suleika & Woywode, Michael, 2023. "Flowers of adversity: Institutional constraints and innovative SMEs in transition economies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:apbizr:v:24:y:2018:i:2:p:196-211. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FAPB20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.