Empirical Research On Online Review Influence On The Innovation Diffusion

With the rapid development of information technology, the diffusion of innovation based on the Internet is getting more and more attentions from both the scholars and enterprises. People are getting used to exchange information and ideas on the Internet. Online review is one of the most important ways to communicate. Online review provides information about the product for potential consumers and reduces purchase uncertainty. As a result, online review becomes a key factor that affects the adoption of consumers and affects the diffusion of innovation.Based on the micro innovation diffusion model, this study analyzed the mechanism that online review affects the innovation diffusion considering both subjective utility and social influence. According to the review of literature and case study, we found five important factors of online review that affect innovation diffusion, as follows:the online scores, the usefulness of reviews, the number of reviews, the characteristic of reviewer and the appearance time of reviews. Then, we put forward a model showing how online review influences the innovation diffusion. Through statistic analysis, we tested and verified the model and hypothesis. A total of100books’ information and861online reviews were obtained. SPSS16.0was used to analyze the empirical data. By cluster analysis and multi-linear regression analysis, we got the main results and conclusions of this thesis:(1) The online scores don’t have a significant linear influence on the innovation diffusion. However, a higher online score is a necessary condition for a faster diffusion but not a sufficient condition.(2) The usefulness of reviews and the number of reviews have a significant positive influence on the innovation diffusion, that is to say, the higher usefulness of reviews or the more reviews, the faster innovation diffuse.(3) The characteristics of reviewer have a moderating effect on the process of usefulness of reviews influencing the diffusion.(4) The earlier appearance of online review, the greater positive influence of review usefulness on the diffusion.