Game Theory

The Game Theory, also known as Theory of Social Situations, suggests that it creates a language and structure analysis for making logical decisions in situations of competition and conflict. Investopedia refers to it as “the optimal decision-making of independent and competing actors in strategic setting”. The pioneers of the theory were mathematicians John Nash and John von Nuemann, including economist Oskar Morgenstern. According to Economists, there are two main branches of game theory: one is cooperative and the other is non-cooperative game theory. The two branches differ in how people formalize interdependence among the players. Cooperative theory assumes that groups of platers, are the primary and main units of decision making, and will invoke cooperative behaviour. The cooperative games are said to be mostly seen as a competition between players, instead of individual players. Non-cooperative theory, on the other hand, deals with how individuals interact with one another to achieve his or her own goals. There are other game types such as symmetric and asymmetric, zero-sum and non-zero-sum, and more. Most of the research involved in this theory focuses on how groups of people interact. The theory is mainly used in economics, political science, psychology as well as computer science and poker.

            The theory can be applied to relationships, whether it’s about friendship, business and even romantic relationships; due to the many options and possibilities that may happen. In every situation where 2 sets of people with a given common interest and with a set of strategies that they are following in order to reach what they are interested in; it eventually can be called a game. One example of game theory in a romantic relationship is the process of courtship. Person A tries to sweep Person B off of his or her feet, by either bringing that person gifts, doing acts of service, spending time with them and the rest of the remaining love languages. If player B knows that Player A will cooperate no matter what, he or she can take advantage so that the situation is always in Person A’s favor. In this certain situation, the relationship becomes strategic.

            Game theory can also be applied to common decision making processes during elections. Let us take the US Presidential elections for example. Every US citizen can cast their own vote, also known as the popular vote; which is accumulated in each state. With Donald Trump being the newly elected president of the United States, game theorists made a research on his strategy, called the “Punching Strategy”; it is when a person flatters trump, he will treat that person nicely and will do the opposite once he is criticised. According to Rolling Stone, “game theorists have studied the counter-punching strategy Trump is now known for. In 1980, political scientist Robert Axelrod invited colleagues to design computer programs that would compete against each other in a contest of cooperation and betrayal known as the prisoner's dilemma. In the game, two criminals are offered immunity to turn the other in. If only one snitches, he goes free, and the other receives a five-year sentence. If both inform on each other, they get four years. If neither talks, they get two years. The game is played repeatedly, so each player faces the same choice over and over, whether to be a nice guy who protects his accomplice or a nasty one who betrays him.” Under the game theory, the people most affected under Trump’s strategy would be the public like politicians and celebrities.

Social Marketing

Social Marketing theory was first coined in the 1970s by Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman, when they realized that the marketing principles used in selling or advertising or marketing products are the same way to sell such ideas and behaviors. According to Kotler, social marketing seeks to influence social behaviors not to benefit the marketer, but to benefit the target audience and the general society. The primary aim of this theory is to benefit society. The primary focus of this theory is on the consumer, learning what the consumers want and need rather than persuading them in order to buy the product. There are 4 components of the theory namely: product, price, places and promote. The product in social marketing is when the researchers propose that the product made should have a place in society. It is not necessarily feasible products offered. In here, the researchers must show that the product or service is worth purchasing and will benefit society. In order to create a product, people must perceive that they have a problem, and in order to solve that problem, they will purchase the service or product. While price, on the other hand, refers to what the consumers must do in order to obtain the product. Price points need not be the cheapest. Instead they need to be set to bring maximum social change to the purchaser. The third P, also known as places, refers to the distribution system. It is the way the product is reached to the consumers, as well as consumers ensure the accessibility of the offering and quality of the service delivery. By determining the activities and habits of the target audience, as well as their experience and satisfaction with the existing delivery system, researchers can pinpoint the most ideal means of distribution for the offering. Finally, the last P is promotion; it consists of use of advertising, public relations, promotions, media advocacy, personal selling and entertainment vehicles, it is basically the marketing campaign.

One example of the theory is Nike’s program, NikeiD where in the company has been reinventing consumer choice, where in customers can design their own sneakers. Nike gave customers the chance to socialize the whole process by launching of the NikePHOTOid, a platform where users can submit their photos on Instagram and share with other users. When the person submits Instagram photos, Nike’s software will automatically design a sneaker based on the photo’s dominant colors. Users can than either purchase the sneaker or share their creation with friends. With NikeiD and branding, the creation of a strong image among its teenage customer base—a must have mentality that allows the company to charge premium price over its competitors. Nike and the company’s good marketing campaign has delivered superior sales and earning performance.

Another example of this theory its presence in health care. Social marketers use a wide range of health communication strategies based on mass media. According to NCBI.com, communication channels for health information have changed greatly in recent years. One-way dissemination of information has given way to a multimodal transactional model of communication. Social marketers face challenges such as increased numbers and types of health issues competing for the public's attention; limitations on people's time; and increased numbers and types of communication channels, including the internet. A multimodal approach is the most effective way to reach audiences about health issues.

Knowledge Gap

The Knowledge Gap theory also known as Knowledge Gap hypothesis, suggests that there is a difference between more and less formal education. This theory was first proposed in 1970 by Philip J Tichenor, then Associate Professor of Journalism and mass Communication, George A. Donohue, Professor of Sociology and Clarice. N Olien,  Instructor in Sociology, all three researchers in the University of Minnesota. They defined the Knowledge Gap theory, “as the infusion of mass media information into a social system increases higher socioeconomic status segments tend to acquire this information faster than lower socioeconomic status population segments so that gap in knowledge between the two tends to increase rather than decrease.” This theory further suggests that this gap widens as more information comes into the world. Essentially, the theory states that the people who are already rich in information get richer when they have access to more information platforms such as reading newspapers and even watching television news reports. While those who have relatively less background knowledge gain information at a lesser rate. According to Bonfadelli (2002) he views the knowledge gap as an apparent failure by the mass media to reach the public and thereby concentrating on those who are not in real need of it which are the motivated and already informed segment of the society.

            An example of this theory would be the Digital Divide. According to WhatIs.TechTarget.Com,  it refers to the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology, and those that don't or have restricted access. This technology can include the telephone, television, personal computers and the Internet. It exists between the cities and in the rural areas; the educated and the non-educated; and between the more and less developed countries in the world. It comes in the form of low-performance computers, low-speed internet connections, and limited access to wireless connections.

            Because of the theory, the kids-tv show Sesame Street was created. The 1965 television debut of the show was designed specifically to narrow the knowledge disparities as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society initiative, provides an example of the difficulties of closing the gap. It was an educational, government head-start program for the disadvantaged pre-schoolers. According to Ball and Bogatz 1970-1971, the first and second year of the showed evidence of increasing differences, helping children who were sort of prepared for formal reading and education far more less than the less prepared children, the show said to have narrowed the gap.

            My final example for the theory is the controlled media in Nigeria. It is said that in Nigeria, more than 60% of the media is controlled by politicians. This itself is a pointer to the fact that those within the political circle access information faster than the people of Nigeria. Also, there is a low percent of newspaper readership in the country, with only less than one million readers. Newspapers tends to only inform the elite, party conscious and not the less casual reader. Although television makes up for the gap in Nigeria. The theory leaves us to debate over the point if one’s level of education truly endears you to public affairs.

Spiral of Silence

The Spiral of Silence theory suggests that when there is a dominant opinion, other opinions are silenced. The theory was originally proposed by a German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann in the year 1974. It is said to have five elements; first is the threat of isolation. It begins that in order to maintain a structural society,  a collective cohesion of its members must be insured by a level of agreement on values and goals, that in order to maintain the social order, society tends to threaten isolation for the people who violate the consensus.  Second element is an assumption that was based on experiment; the fear of isolation, because people fear being isle and thus take measures to avoid consequences. Third element would be the quasi-statistical sense where in it is described as an innate ability to gauge the public opinion, the mass media play a large part in determining what the dominant opinion is. The mass media can dramatically people’s perception about where their public opinion lies, whether it is factual or not. The next element is the willingness to speak out; people tend to publicly express their opinions when they believe their opinion to be dominant, on the other hand, when people believe their opinion is less popular, they are less likely to voice it in public. And lastly, the spiral effect; the tendency of the individual to speak up and the other to be silent and the other individual to be silent starts off a spiralling process which increasingly establishes one’s opinion as the dominant one.

            A perfect example of this theory is its presence in social media, especially on Facebook. Especially on the recent presidential elections in the United States. It’s either people try to support the most popular candidate confidently or they do not give out their opinions at all. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center has found that people were less willing to discuss one issue — according to the survey, 86% of Americans were more willing to have an in-person conversation regarding the Political issues, but just 42% of the Facebook and other social media platform users were willing to post their opinions online. “It has been well documented since before the internet that a ‘spiral of silence’ descends when people think their opinions are in the minority when compared to those around them – they don’t want to speak out if they think they hold unpopular views,” noted Prof. Keith Hampton, the author of the study. “This kind of self-censoring can mean that important information is never shared. Some had hoped that social media might provide new outlets that encourage more discussion and the exchange of a wider range of opinions. But we see the opposite – a spiral of silence exists online, too. If people did not think that their friends and followers in social media agreed with them, they were less likely to say they would state their views online.”

            The spiral of silence theory is also present in professional workplaces, in businesses. When a new rule is set in an organisation, most of the employees usually do not complain. The minority who want to protest also cannot do it due to the fear of isolation. This mostly happens to the women in the business industry. Although there is a presence of the spiral of silence, according to Andy Valeri, a researcher, businesses replace the theory with a “virtuous spiral of communication”. He said that “this is in order to avoid some of the most negative consequences of spiral of silence effects, which can occur when upward communication within an organisation is suppressed and management interprets the silence that ensues as agreement with policies which may be detrimental to the overall effectiveness of the organisation (Haufler, 2007). Assuming that communication within a business structure, no matter its perceived popularity, is essential to managing a profitable business environment.”

            My last example would be the presence of the theory in one of the best movies made, Schindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg. During the Holocaust most media was channeled through radio and newspapers, but Nazi Germany is one of the best examples in history of how public opinion can be controlled. Because public opinion in Germany during the Holocaust was so strong the hard core did not only risk isolation, but persecution, incarceration and death. Schindler spent all of his money to take hundreds of Jews and have them work in his factory to save then from the horrible fate of the concentration camps. The Jews is the the end of the spiral willing to speak out at any cost.