  The rapid expansion of high-speed internet has led to the emergence of new
digital jobs, such as digital influencers, fitness models, and adult models who
share content on subscription-based social media platforms. Across two
experiments involving 1,002 participants, we combined theories from both social
psychology and information systems to investigate perceptions of digital jobs
compared to matched established jobs, and predictors of attitudes toward
digital jobs (e.g., symbolic threat, contact, perceived usefulness). We found
that individuals in digital professions were perceived as less favorably and as
less hard-working than those in matched established jobs. Digital jobs were
also regarded as more threatening to societal values and less useful. The
relation between job type and attitudes toward these jobs was partially
mediated by contact with people working in these jobs, perceived usefulness,
perception of hard-working, and symbolic threat. These effects were consistent
across openness to new experiences, attitudes toward digitalization, political
orientation, and age. Among the nine jobs examined, lecturers were perceived as
the most favorable, while adult models were viewed least favorably. Overall,
our findings demonstrate that integrating theories from social psychology and
information systems can enhance our understanding of how attitudes are formed.
