Broadcasting and Narrowcasting: How Audience Size Impacts What People Share

Does the mere number of people with whom consumers communicate impact what they talk about and share? Some conversations involve communicating with just one person (narrowcasting), whereas others involve communicating with many people (broad casting). We suggest that audience size will impact communication by shifting the relative influence of two fundamental word-of-mouth drivers: self-presentation and helping others. People disproportionately attend to their own opinions and interests (Kruger 1999), and it is intrinsically rewarding to talk about the self (Tamir and Mitchell 2012). Indeed, self-disclosure is the most common topic in human conversation (Emler 1990). Given that considering others requires time, effort, and motivation (Epley et al. 2004), broadcasting should do little to move people from their natural tendency for self-focus, which should boost self-presentation because people automatically associate themselves with favorable at tributes (Paulhus and Levitt 1987). Narrowcasting, however, should mitigate egocentrism and encourage people to focus on others. Thinking about a specific other makes others more concrete and promotes recognition of a person’s distinct identity (Alicke and Govorun 2005). Sharing with just one other person should make the audience more vivid, increasing the attention he or she receives. By increasing other-focus, narrowcasting should facilitate consideration of the audience member’s perspective, which should in turn encourage people to “tune” their messages (Higgins 1999) and share useful content.