Who sells knowledge online? An exploratory study of knowledge celebrities in China

被引:14
作者
Chen, Xiaoyu [1 ]
Chua, Alton Y. K. [2 ]
Pee, L. G. [3 ]
机构
[1] Shanghai Univ, Dept Lib Informat & Arch, Shanghai, Peoples R China
[2] Nanyang Technol Univ, Wee Kim Wee Sch Commun & Informat, Singapore, Singapore
[3] Nanyang Technol Univ, Wee Kim Wee Sch Commun & Informat, Knowledge Management, Singapore, Singapore
关键词
Digital influencer; Identity signaling; Knowledge celebrity; Knowledge products; Pay-for-knowledge; Sales performance; SOCIAL MEDIA; SALES PERFORMANCE; IDENTITY; ENGAGEMENT;
D O I
10.1108/INTR-07-2020-0378
中图分类号
F [经济];
学科分类号
02 ;
摘要
Purpose This study explores identity signaling used by an emerging class of knowledge celebrities in China - Knowledge Wanghong - who sell knowledge products on online platforms. Because identity signaling may involve constructing unique online identities and controlling over product-related and seller-related characteristics, the purpose of this study is two-fold: (1) to uncover different online identities of knowledge celebrities; and (2) to examine the extent to which the online identity type is associated with their product-related characteristics, seller-related characteristics and sales performance. Design/methodology/approach A unique data set was collected from a Chinese leading pay-for-knowledge platform - Zhihu - which featured the online profiles of tens of thousands of knowledge celebrities. Online identity types were derived from their self-edited content using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling. Thereafter, their product-related characteristics, seller-related characteristics and respective sales performance were analyzed across different identity types using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple-group linear regression. Findings Knowledge celebrities are clustered into four distinctive online identities: Mentor, Broker, Storyteller and Geek. Product-related characteristics, sell-related characteristics and sales performance varied across four different identities. Additionally, the online identity type moderated the relationships among their product-related characteristics, sell-related characteristics and sales performance. Originality/value As emerging-phenomenon-based research, this study extends related literature by using the notion of identity signaling to analyze a peculiar group of online celebrities who are setting an important trend in the pay-for-knowledge model in China.
引用
收藏
页码:916 / 942
页数:27
相关论文
共 60 条
[1]  
Abidin C., 2018, Internet celebrity: Understanding fame online, DOI DOI 10.1177/0267323118814646A
[2]  
[Anonymous], 2018, ONL PAID KNOWL PLATF
[3]   Theorizing the textual differences between authentic and fictitious reviews Validation across positive, negative and moderate polarities [J].
Banerjee, Snehasish ;
Chua, Alton Y. K. .
INTERNET RESEARCH, 2017, 27 (02) :321-337
[4]   Simultaneously Discovering and Quantifying Risk Types from Textual Risk Disclosures [J].
Bao, Yang ;
Datta, Anindya .
MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, 2014, 60 (06) :1371-1391
[5]   Latent Dirichlet allocation [J].
Blei, DM ;
Ng, AY ;
Jordan, MI .
JOURNAL OF MACHINE LEARNING RESEARCH, 2003, 3 (4-5) :993-1022
[6]   What drives the sales of paid knowledge products? A two-phase approach [J].
Cai, Shun ;
Luo, Qinfang ;
Fu, Xin ;
Fang, Bin .
INFORMATION & MANAGEMENT, 2020, 57 (05)
[7]   The effect of selfie promotion and celebrity endorsed advertisement on decision-making processes A model comparison [J].
Cheah, Jun-Hwa ;
Ting, Hiram ;
Cham, Tat Huei ;
Memon, Mumtaz Ali .
INTERNET RESEARCH, 2019, 29 (03) :552-577
[8]   Comparing the web and mobile platforms of a social Q&A service from the user's perspective [J].
Chen, Xiaoyu ;
Chua, Alton Y. K. ;
Deng, Shengli .
ASLIB JOURNAL OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, 2018, 70 (02) :176-191
[9]   Do actions speak louder than voices? The signaling role of social information cues in influencing consumer purchase decisions [J].
Cheung, Christy M. K. ;
Xiao, Bo Sophia ;
Liu, Ivy L. B. .
DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS, 2014, 65 :50-58
[10]   TESTS OF EQUALITY BETWEEN SETS OF COEFFICIENTS IN 2 LINEAR REGRESSIONS [J].
CHOW, GC .
ECONOMETRICA, 1960, 28 (03) :591-605