The application of the theory of social influence on the recruitment of Division I male basketball players

ABSTRACT The theory of social influence reveals how people may be influenced by others. The theory categorizes two general mechanisms: (a) informational social influence and (b) normative social influence. Friends and family members represent normative social influences, while informational influences may be gleaned from the broadcast and print media, Internet, or brochures. The results represented a departure from other studies as informational social aspects exerted more weight on the choice of schools by male basketball players than normative social items in this study. The authors posit the combination of information readily accessed on phones and computers, as well as the recruit’s technological savviness from a young age, require recruiters to devote more time to providing relevant and recent information about their program and school on the Internet and other informational outlets to be successful.