Cross-Cultural Study of a Location-Based Social Network Incentive Mechanism

Having the proper incentive mechanism is paramount for the success of location-based social networks (LBSNs). With that in mind, we performed a cross-cultural study on the mechanism of incentive Mayorship, which Foursquare-Swarm employs to engage its users. The user who has the mayorship is the one who performed the highest number of check-ins in the last thirty days in a particular venue. We study how alternations and disputes for mayorship occur at the venues through automatic temporal monitoring. We collected data in two cities in different countries: Curitiba (Brazil) and Chicago (United States). We found, for instance, that renowned American food chains may have a more significant influence on the mayorship dispute in Curitiba. Also, hidden prestige associated with more affluent areas could be an extra motivator factor in Curitiba, but the same cannot be said for Chicago. This study shed some light on the mechanism of incentive mayorship in different venues, showing that local factors could play an important role. Our results can assist in improving user engagement on social web systems in different cultures.