Research Picks Extra – October 2017

Tweeting at the movies
The amount of data generated by online social networks increases significantly day by day and marketing executives from all kinds of industries need ways to analyze this information efficiently to improve their company profits and customer engagement. Reserachers in South Korea have looked at identifying market-applicable insights concerning textual big data, such as the vast numbers of updates on the microblogging service Twitter, commonly known as “tweets” by analogy with the site’s avian affectation. Electronic word-of-mouth (e-WoM) is important for consumers who are always connected through their mobile and desktop devices. However, the team hoped to isolate e-WoM effects in moviegoer choices from the tweets. They have now found that which movie people go to see can be strongly influenced bv the tweets they see whether positive or negative and this can therefore have a direct impact on the industry’s revenues regardless of the more usual word-of-mouth effects.
‘How people utilise tweets on movie selection? The reverse effects of e-WoM valence on movie sales‘, kang, H., Chai, S., Kim, H.U. (2017), Int. J. Mobile Commun., Vol.15, No.5, pp.537 – 553

Clearing the pipelines
As crude oil ages it forms heavy, viscous waxes that can stick to the interiors of pipelines and storage vessels and ultimately lead to blockages. It is the formation of long-chain paraffins that is to blame. Costs of blockages can amount to huge losses and costs of billions of dollars ultimately. Indian researchers have now reviewed in detail microbial degradation of waxy crude oils and the different mechanisms of hydrocarbon degradation that might be exploited to clear such blockages. On this basis, they suggest an approach to screening for optimal microorganism suitable for different environmental conditions in pipeline cleanup in different parts of the world as well as in oil spill bioremediation and microbial-based enhanced oil recovery techniques.
‘Enhanced microbial degradation of waxy crude oil: a review on current status and future perspective‘, Sakthipriya, N., Doble, M., and Sangwai, J.S. (2017) Int. J. Oil, Gas Coal Technol., 2017 Vol.16, No.2, pp.130 – 165.

Climate change denial
There are many infamous and prominent public figures who deny the science underpinning climate change. Researchers in the USA have investigated public perceptions of the risks associated with climate change because such perceptions are an important factor in the public’s willingness to support efforts to mitigate against climate change. Their analysis suggests that increased objective risk and individual capacity result in significantly higher perception of risk from climate change, whereas higher individual climate stress results in lower risk perceptions. Given that many policymakers are in denial regarding climate change, this could be a serious problem as we face growing threats from extreme weather and rising temperatures.
‘Understanding climate change risk perception in the USA‘, Grover, H., Brody, S.D., and Vedlitz, A. (2017) Int. J. Global Warming, 2017 Vol.13, No.2, pp.113 – 137.