Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/156233
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Title: 

Let the user speak: Is feedback on Facebook a source of firms' innovation?

The document was removed on behalf of the author(s)/ the editor(s).

Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
ZEW Discussion Papers No. 17-015
Publisher: 
Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW), Mannheim
Abstract: 
Social media open up new possibilities for firms to exploit information from various external sources. Does this information help firms to become more innovative? Combining firm-level survey data with information from firms' Facebook pages, we study the role that firms' and users' activities on Facebook play in the innovation process. We find that firms' adoption of a Facebook page as well as feedback from users are positively and significantly related to product innovations. Analysis of the content of Facebook posts and comments reveals that firms are more likely to introduce product innovations if they actively ask for feedback, while only negative user comments are positively and significantly related to innovation success. These results withstand a large set of robustness checks, including estimations that take potential endogeneity of firms' Facebook use into account.
Subjects: 
social media
knowledge sources
product innovation
JEL: 
D22
L23
O31
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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The document was removed on behalf of the author(s)/ the editor(s) on: July 16, 2018


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