درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Background: Following the Islamic Revolution and the expansion of access to visual media, the use of this media in Shia rituals, such as religious gatherings ( hey’ats ), significantly increased. In recent years, a new form of Shia ritual, referred to as “public communities”, has emerged which organized by cultural institutions. These communities differ markedly from traditional Shia-Iranian rituals and have established a distinct communicative domain. Aims: This study aims to critically examine these events by identifying their constitutive components and analyzing the nature of their mediatization. Methodology: Three events held in the Iranian calendar year 1401 were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis approach. These Shia-revolutionary performative rituals are categorized into two main domains: the “Public construction of the ritual” and the “construction of the presence and positioning of the subject”. Their media representation is also shaped by two principal categories: the “transitionalization of the communication mode” and “ideological representation”. Findings: Our findings indicate that the organization and media representation of these events produce a spectacular pseudo-ritual that significantly diverges from traditional Shia rituals in Iran. Conclusion: These events have been organized and represented in ways that prioritize spectacle, visibility, and media populism, thus enabling a transformation in ritual structures and indicating a growing tendency toward mediatization in Iran.

Background: Social media has enabled both intentional and incidental user exposure to diverse cultures and subcultures. This exposure fosters the socialization of similar cultural elements or produces changes in original cultural patterns through cyber-acculturation, which arises from continuous contact with culturally distinct groups. Aims: This study aimed to develop models of social media users’ cyber-acculturation in their exposure to cyber-subcultures. Methodology: Using a Q methodology research design, the study employed convenience snowball sampling and an online questionnaire to collect data from 52 participants, who freely rated 61 statements derived from interviews. Exploratory Factor Analysis, treating participants as variables, was conducted to identify distinct cyber-acculturation models. To further examine the characteristics of each factor, network analysis was applied. Discussions: Users demonstrated varying patterns of cyber-acculturation. Comparable to the model proposed by Sam and Berry (2006)— which outlines the strategies of assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization— this study identified five distinct models of social media users’ acculturation in exposure to cyber-subcultures: 1) Conservative Socialization Adopters, 2) Media-Literate Non-Adopters, 3) Media-Literate Acculturation Adopters, 4) Change-Aspirant Semi Non-Adopters, and 5) Risk-Taking Socialization Adopters. Each of these categories, to some extent, reflects the integration strategy, particularly motivated by social mobility, self-actualization, well-being, and personal advancement. Conclusion: Understanding the variations in how users adopt cultural elements enables governance bodies, policymakers, and professionals in media, culture, and education to design and implement more effective measures with greater impact across different user types.

Background: Social identity theory suggests that individuals define themselves partly through their membership in social groups, and these identities shape attitudes and behaviors, including consumption choices. Brands increasingly function as social symbols, allowing users to express group belonging, self-concept, and shared values through brand affiliation. Consequently, users’ social identities can significantly influence their intention to purchase a brand by strengthening emotional attachment, perceived congruence, and loyalty toward brands that represent their in-group. Aims: Consumers like to associate themselves with different brands to represent their social identity. This study suggests a social identity perspective of customer-brand relationship and integrates brand identity with social media usage, electronic WOM (eWOM) and brand loyalty in predicting brand purchase intention in an online environment. Methodology: Data were collected through a questionnaire-based survey among a sample of higher education students in a public university in Iran. A sample of 423 respondents was selected through a convenience sampling technique. Data were then analyzed through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to provide a prediction-oriented model assessment by LISREL 8.54. Sobel mediation tests were performed to test the mediating effects of social media use, eWOM and brand loyalty on the relationship between social identity and brand purchase intention. Findings: The findings indicated that social identity (affective, cognitive, and evaluative) of users/consumers has a significant impact on: (a) social media use, (b) eWOM about brand, and (c) brand loyalty. Social media use and brand loyalty were found to be the determinants of eWOM about brand. Finally, this research found that all three variables of: (a) social media use, (b) eWOM about brand, and (c) brand loyalty are the main determinants of intention to purchase a certain brand. Conclusion: This research suggests that social identity perspective can be integrated with other perspectives to model the consumer's psychological path to brand purchase intentions. This study confirms the critical role of social identification of users in the reaction towards a given brand and stresses the mediation effects of social media use, brand loyalty and eWOM on the effects of social identity on the path to brand purchase intention.