Social Audience Size as a Reference Point: Evidence from a Field Experiment

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Xu, Xingchen; Wang, Qili; Liu, Yizhi; Qiu, Liangfei
• 署名单位: University of Washington; University of Washington Seattle; State University System of Florida; University of Florida; University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2022.03144
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: social trading; social audience size; financial technology; Social media

摘要

In the dynamic landscape of the digital economy, social trading platforms are experiencing rapid growth. Our study delves into the impact of changes in social audience size-measured by the number of followers-on traders' performance and behaviors. Utilizing data from a company-led randomized field experiment conducted on a prominent cryptocurrency social trading platform, we unearth intriguing findings. Traders garnering increased social audience size exhibit tendencies to trade more frequently, utilize higher leverage, and, surprisingly, attain poorer performance. Notably, these adverse effects intensify among traders who previously excelled, suggesting a link to overconfidence. Interestingly, our research uncovers a reference point effect associated with social audience size. Removing accumulated social audience size does not alleviate the negative consequences, instead, they persist. Additionally, we observe an extra adverse effect when traders experience a reduction in the digit magnitude of follower counts, supporting our hypothesis about social audience size serving as a reference point. Our study carries significant implications for the design of social trading platforms. It serves as a crucial reminder for both traders and platform managers to carefully navigate the interplay between social audience size dynamics and trading decisions.