TY - JOUR
T1 - From Buzz to Bucks
T2 - The Impact of Social Media Opinions on the Locus of Innovation
AU - Zhang, Wenping
AU - Kang, Lele
AU - Jiang, Qiqi
AU - Pei, Lei
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Social media influences business practices such as innovation activities. This study is anchored in the theoretical paradigm of strategic information technology (IT) alignment and the literature on social media and its business value. We examine how the valence and volume of user-generated content (UGC) from social media influence firm-level innovation strategies. Based on an analysis of five years of panel data for 886 listed firms and their 6.2 million relevant microblogs, we observed three interesting results. First, the valence of social media UGC has a U-shaped relationship with firms’ innovation investments; and compared with neutral UGC, both negative and positive content lead to more innovation investment. Second, we found that this curvilinear relationship is mitigated as the volume of UGC increases. Third, we verified that increasing innovation investment improves firm performance. We then examined these findings using a series of strict robustness checks and discussed our study’s contribution to theory and practice.
AB - Social media influences business practices such as innovation activities. This study is anchored in the theoretical paradigm of strategic information technology (IT) alignment and the literature on social media and its business value. We examine how the valence and volume of user-generated content (UGC) from social media influence firm-level innovation strategies. Based on an analysis of five years of panel data for 886 listed firms and their 6.2 million relevant microblogs, we observed three interesting results. First, the valence of social media UGC has a U-shaped relationship with firms’ innovation investments; and compared with neutral UGC, both negative and positive content lead to more innovation investment. Second, we found that this curvilinear relationship is mitigated as the volume of UGC increases. Third, we verified that increasing innovation investment improves firm performance. We then examined these findings using a series of strict robustness checks and discussed our study’s contribution to theory and practice.
U2 - 10.1016/j.elerap.2018.04.004
DO - 10.1016/j.elerap.2018.04.004
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1567-4223
VL - 30
SP - 125
EP - 137
JO - Electronic Commerce Research and Applications
JF - Electronic Commerce Research and Applications
ER -