E-WOM's Impact on App Development. Issue 5 (2nd September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Peiqin; Ge, Yong; Lee, Hsun-Ming
• Is Part Of: Journal of computer information systems. Volume 60:Issue 5(2020)
• Page Start: 418
• Page End: 427
• Publication Date: 2020-09-02
• Subjects: Word of mouth -- online communities -- customer-to-business (C2B) -- mobile application -- software development; Electronic data processing -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; 658.4038011
• DOI: 10.1080/08874417.2018.1517283
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0887-4417

Abstract

ABSTRACT: With the emergencies of Web 2.0, online word of mouth (e-WOM) has become one of the most useful communication channels. Organizations increasingly rely on social media to receive customers' feedback for product development. Despite the known effect of e-WOM on customers' decision-making, few studies have examined the influence of e-WOM on product improvement. Extending the prior e-WOM research, this paper empirically investigates how e-WOM affects mobile application (App) improvement and examines the moderating effect of developer expertise. Based on a dataset obtained from Applause.com, we find that e-WOM volume, valence, and reviewer exposure positively affect App improvement. We also find that developer expertise negatively moderates the effect of e-WOM on App improvement. The results indicate that expert developers are less likely affected by e-WOM. This study contributes by empirically investigating the role of e-WOM used to facilitate customer-to-business communication. This study also provides practical value for firms active in the App market.