Citizen science allows the public to participate in various stages of scientific research, including study design, data acquisition, and analysis of the resulting data. Citizen science has a long history in several fields of the natural sciences, and with recent developments in technology, neuroscience has also become more accessible to citizen scientists. This development was largely driven by the development of minimal sensing systems for the consumer market, allowing for do-it-yourself (DIY) or quantified-self (QS) investigations of an individual's brain. While most subfields of neuroscience require sophisticated monitoring devices in the laboratory, the study of sleep characteristics has been widely embraced by citizen neuroscientists, likely due to the strong influence of sleep quality on waking life and an increasingly broad accessibility of relevant non-invasive consumer devices. Here, we introduce into the emerging field of citizen neuroscience, illustrating examples of citizen neuroscience projects in the field of sleep research. We then give an overview on wearable technologies for tracking human neurophysiology, and on open software to run them, each with unique capabilities and intended purposes. Finally, we discuss chances and challenges in citizen neuroscience research, and suggest how to improve studying the human brain outside the laboratory.
Background: Most studies on social influencer marketing techniques have focused on the promotion of unhealthy foods whereas little is known about the promotion of healthier foods. The present experimental study investigated whether a popular real versus fictitious social influencer is more successful in promoting healthy food products. In addition, we examined the role of parasocial interaction as an underlying mechanism of healthy food product endorsement.Methods: We used a randomized between-subject design with 154 participants (mean age: 24.0 years). Viewers’ product attitude and purchase intention were tested after exposure to an Instagram post by a popular real ‘fit influencer’ (n = 77) or fictitious fit influencer (n= 77).Results: Results showed that parasocial interaction mediated the relation between the type of influencer and product attitude as well as purchase intention. Parasocial interaction was higher for participants exposed to the popular real fit influencer compared to the fictitious influencer, leading to higher healthy food brand attitude and purchase intention.Discussion: The findings showed that it is crucial for social influencers to establish a warm personal relationship and connection with the their followers when promoting a healthy product successfully. We suggest that the promotion of healthy foods could be more successful in public health when using popular social influencers.
Background: Most studies on influencer marketing techniques have focused on the promotion of unhealthy foods whereas little is known about the promotion of healthier foods. The present experimental study investigated whether a popular real versus fictitious social influencer is more successful in promoting healthy food products. In addition, we examined the role of parasocial interaction as an underlying mechanism of healthy food product endorsement. Methods: We used a randomized between-subject design with 154 participants (age: 24.0 years). Viewers’ product attitude and purchase intention were tested after exposure to an Instagram post by a popular social influencer (n = 77) or fictitious social influencer (n= 77).Results: Results showed that parasocial interaction mediated the relation between the type of social influencer and product attitude as well as purchase intention. Parasocial interaction was higher for participants exposed to the popular influencer compared to the fictitious influencer, leading to higher healthy food brand attitude and purchase intentions. Discussion: The findings showed that it is crucial for influencers to establish a warm personal relationship and connection with the their followers when promoting a healthy product successfully. We suggest that the promotion of healthy foods could be more successful in public health when using popular social influencers.
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