The moderating effect of blogger social influence and the reader’s experience on loyalty toward the blogger
| Pages | 326-349 |
| Date | 10 June 2019 |
| Published date | 10 June 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-02-2016-0049 |
| Author | Beñat Urrutikoetxea Arrieta,Ana Isabel Polo Peña,Cinta Martínez Medina |
| 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 moderating effect of
blogger social influence and the
reader’s experience on loyalty
toward the blogger
Beñat Urrutikoetxea Arrieta, Ana Isabel Polo Peña and
Cinta Martínez Medina
University of Granada, Granada, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to analyze the moderating effects of the social influence of the
blogger and the extent to which the reader has experience of that blogger, on loyalty toward the blogger, via
two variables: blogger interactive practices (BIPs) and blogger credibility.
Design/methodology/approach –A quantitative empirical study was undertaken to estimate the research
model. Structural equations were employed.
Findings –The results show that blogger social influence moderates the relationships between BIPs and
intention to recommend the blogger and blogger credibility; and between credibility and intention (to
recommend the blogger and to follow their suggestions). Meanwhile, the extent of the reader’s experience of
the blogger moderates the relationships between BIPs and intention.
Practical implications –The present work offers criteria that may be of value to bloggers and firms in
assessing the extent to which the blogger’s activities are effective in terms of achieving reader loyalty. The
proposed variables are measured objectively online, using the Klout Index of social influence and the extent of
the reader’s experience of the blogger (inferred from the number of bloggers followed by the reader).
Originality/value –Blogs are considered a mechanism to manage information overload in social media, and
they are recognized for their influence on the reader’s decision-making process. The study contributes to the
knowledge-base by proposing two moderating variables of loyalty-formation: blogger social influence and
the extent of the reader’s experience of the blogger.
Keywords Loyalty, Social influence, Experience, Moderating effect, Blogger, Klout
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The arrival of the internet and Web 2.0, allowing internet users to not only receive but also
generate content, has generated excessive amounts of information (Gómez-Rodríguez et al.,
2014). One of the outcomes of this surfeit is the potential for “information overload”or
“infoxication”among users when attempting to process information to reach a decision
(Gómez-Rodríguez et al., 2014). Such terms have become key concepts in the analysis of user
behavior (Ma and Atkin, 2016).
Despite the initiatives undertaken by social networks such as Facebook (using artificial
intelligence –Constine, 2015) or Twitter (creating lists –Rouviere and Ehlers, 2013),
information overload on both platforms remains a thorny issue (e.g. Cao and Sun, 2018;
Liang and Fu, 2017). Yet studies analyzing overload across different media have identified
no such effect in blogs (Holton and Chyi, 2012; Lee et al., 2016). Indeed, Oravec (2003) even
concludes that blogs may be a positive influence in the fight against information overload,
and may therefore be approached as a strategy for both internet users and for online
providers seeking to reach a given target public.
Online Information Review
Vol. 43 No. 3, 2019
pp. 326-349
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-02-2016-0049
Received 10 February 2016
Revised 20 January 2018
Accepted 12 October 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
The authors would like to thank the National Research Project ECO-2012-39217 by the Ministerio de
Economía y Competi tividad (Spain) fo r the financial suppo rt. The authors than k for the finance
received from the Na tional Research Pr oject EC02015-653 06-R by the Minist erio de Economía
y Competitividad (Spain).
326
OIR
43,3
Furthermore, blogs are known to exert a major influence on the reader’s purchase
decision-making process (IAB Spain, 2016), which firms increasingly endeavor to tap into
(Forbes, 2017). Bloggers therefore attempt to make their blogs ever more professional, in an
attempt to secure reader loyalty, and they require appropriate strategies to achieve this
(Ahuja et al., 2007).
Previous literature has highlighted interaction as an essential element of credibility and
loyalty toward the blogger (e.g. Vivek et al., 2010). Interaction is a key factor when explaining
the relationship between bloggers and their readers (Ho and Lee, 2015). The blogger’s
interactive practices, (BIPs) –that is, those activities that enable direct, effective interaction with
followers–can have an impact on his or her level of credibility (Labr equeet al. ,2011;Riehet al.,
2014). In other words, to the extent to which they can offer useful and detailed information,
bloggers can adopt BIPs that contribute to generating personal credibility and greater intention
among readers to continue following their suggestions (Hsiao et al., 2013; Wei et al., 2011).
However, there is no consensus in the literature on the question of which BIPs
(McQuarrie et al., 2013; Shen et al., 2010) may be best suited to positioning the blogger as a
credible source of reference and thus achieving greater reader loyalty (Hsu et al., 2014). To
progress toward better understanding how loyalty toward the blogger is formed requires a
deeper analysis of the formation process, along with a means of identifying whether there
are variables that may affect how loyalty is formed via BIPs and blogger credibility.
Not all bloggers have the same capacity or success when it comes to reaching readers
(Cosenza et al., 2015; Hsu et al., 2014). The ability to influence depends on their practices and
characteristics, while the effectiveness of the blogger can be judged only when readers
affirm that they follow its recommendations and will continue to do so (Hsu et al., 2014;
Lu and Lee, 2010).
Also important in terms of blogger performance is the capacity to generate positive
mentions (Li and Bernoff, 2008), considered the “social influence”variable. Social influence
is shaped by the scale of the blogger’s network and the ease with which their blog’s
information is spread (Porter and Golan, 2006; Trusov et al., 2009). A wider social influence
implies that blogger activity will attain a wider public and thus be more effective (and vice
versa). Therefore, blogger social influence acts as a moderator in the relationships between
their BIPs and the consequences of these practices (in terms of the blogger’s credibility and
reader intention to continue following their suggestions).
It is also important to acknowledge that the greater the levels of credibility and loyalty
achieved by a blogger, the greater the number of readers they will attract (Mohr, 2016). But
this scenario may be incompatible with offering more personalized BIPs (McQuarrie et al.,
2013). From this perspective, it may be more useful for the blogger to consider segmenting
their readers and identifying the most appropriate actions to reach each sub-group.
The literature has recently begun to pay attention to the segmentation variables of blogs
(e.g. Jarreau and Porter, 2018). One traditional segmentation variable used in the literature
(which has not yet been analyzed in the blog context) is that of user experience of a product
(Ottani and Isbell, 1996; Srull, 1983). It is therefore of interest to establish whether, as the
reader’s experience of a given blogger increases, the effectiveness of BIPs in relation to
credibility and loyalty toward the blogger also increases.
In light of the above, this paper seeks to ascertain how loyalty-formation (i.e. intention to
recommend the blogger and follow their suggestions) operates, via the blogger’s
characteristics and actions (i.e. his/her credibility and BIPs), taking into account the
influence of other variables that may be moderating the relationships between BIPs,
credibility and loyalty –such as the blogger’s social influence and the extent of the reader’s
experience of the blogger. More specifically, the principal aims of the present work are to
analyze the moderating effect s of blogger social influence and the extent of the reader’s
experience of the blogger on reader use intention and loyalty-formation.
327
Blogger social
influence
To continue reading
Request your trial