The antecedents of creative article diffusion on blogs. Integrating innovation diffusion theory and social network theory
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-07-2015-0221 |
| Date | 13 February 2017 |
| Published date | 13 February 2017 |
| Pages | 70-84 |
| Author | Hsiu-Hua Cheng |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
The antecedents of creative
article diffusion on blogs
Integrating innovation diffusion theory
and social network theory
Hsiu-Hua Cheng
Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose –Bloggers oftencreate digital content. Diffusion of the creativearticles can make many bloggers or
readers visitblog platforms. Restated, diffusionof the creative articles can assist blogservice providers (BSPs)
to retain bloggers and attract new bloggers. Thus, the research is conducted on creative article diffusion on
blogs based on innovation diffusion theoryand social network theory. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach –In this study, an information system was used to collect 250 creative
articles and social network data of these creative articles. Validity of the specific study hypotheses is tested
by using multi-regression analysis.
Findings –Analytical results indicate both observability and network density positively affect creative
article diffusion, and ties-strength negatively affects creative article diffusion.
Research limitations/implications –Since the interpersonal interactive mechanism of blogs differs from
that of social network websites, bloggers establish different social networks which may influence innovation
diffusion. However, different websites may have different interpersonal interactive mechanisms. Therefore,
the results of this study should not be over-generalized.
Practical implications –For diffusing information, BSPs may focus on blog articles with trackback rate
below 10 percent among the friends-bloggers network and advertise these articles to make their trackback
rate increase to 10-20 percent to reach the self-sustaining status. This strategy ensures the largest payoff from
creative article diffusion.
Originality/value –This study contributes to the knowledge of social network and innovation diffusion on
blog website and develops a model explaining how antecedents influence creative article diffusion.
Keywords Blogs, Innovation diffusion, Social network, Creative article, Ties-strength
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Blogs have recently become a popular social media in which bloggers can generate contents
and publish articles (Liljander et al., 2015). Blogs allow individuals to express their thoughts,
voice their opinions, and share theirexperiences and ideas by postingarticles. Blogs are more
than just a communication tool for sharing personal feelings or ideas (Papadopoulos et al.,
2012); they also satisfy a need to create (Ip and Wagner, 2008). This is because people can
easily publish their creative outcomes on blogs with few professional skills (Ip and Wagner,
2008). That is, a blog is a platform for publishing creative outcomes (Ip and Wagner, 2008).
Cheng (2014)indicated that a blog is a trendy creativespace. Many bloggers are creatorsof
digital content, such as creative articles, creative music, and creative photos. These creative
articles can attract bloggers and other users to browse on blog platforms. Diffusion of the
creative articles increases the number of bloggers and readers who read creative articles and
makes many bloggers or readers to re-visit blog platforms. That is, diffusion of the creative
articles helps blog service providers (BSPs) to retain bloggers and to attract new bloggers.
Thus, investigating the antecedents of diffusion of creative articles is important.
The rapid growth of creative outcomes over the blogs during the past decades has
gradually attracted the attention of internet users and blog readers, and has changed the
Online Information Review
Vol. 41 No. 1, 2017
pp. 70-84
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-07-2015-0221
Received 7 July 2015
Revised 3 December 2015
26 May 2016
Accepted 25 September 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
This work was supported by the National Science Council (NSC99-2410-H-324-015-MY2) of Taiwan.
70
OIR
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