Decoding cultural consumption from digital traces

Abstract

With an unprecedented scale of users interacting with online platforms and mobile devices, digital traces (i.e., detailed behavioral data generated from those sources) provide us with an unparalleled opportunity to explore new scientific approaches that enable novel insights about the patterns of cultural consumption, which has an impact on social and social-psychological outcomes. Through discussion of three projects, I show that by leveraging the large-scale digital traces (i) individuals manage mood through self-exposure to external stimuli such as music, e.g., people listen to more relaxing music late at night and more energetic music during normal business hours, including mid-afternoon when affective expression is lowest, (ii) cross-cultural convergence is more advanced in cosmopolitan countries with cultural values that favor individualism and power inequality, and (iii) the diversity of musical tastes are associated with whether one is following high-profile news media and how much one is 'into' music rather than socioeconomic covariates such as income and education.