2010 - Public Relations Society of America

Perceptions of Product Blogs in Taiwan: The Impact of User Motivation, Blogger
Affiliation and Language Valence
Chen-Yi (Joyce) Huang and Kirk Hallahan
Colorado State University
kirk.hallahan@colostate.edu
Abstract
A survey among college students in Taiwan (n=314) found that readers of product blogs were
primarily motivated by knowledge/information seeking rather than social utility/entertainment.
Attitudinal assessments of credibility and value were positively related to bloggers being
independent and using balanced (versus all-positive) language. However, no statistically
significant main effects were discerned based on these variables for purchase intent or for the
likelihood of sharing information with others. Notably, respondents were more likely to respond
offline than online, and females were more likely than males to engage in information sharing.
Participants also assess product blogs are more credible than reading product information in
the form of ads or news.
Introduction
Blogs (also known as web logs) are personal diaries or journals that enable blog
producers (bloggers) to comment on a wide range of topics (Kaye, 2005; Yang & Lim, 2009).
Although the popularity of consumer blogs has waned somewhat in the United States since 2004-
2005, blogs remain viable marketing public relations tool despite the inroads of social
networking sites such as Facebook in the West and in Asia (CheckFacebook.com; Lenhart,
Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010.
This is especially true in Taiwan where blogging is particularly popular and one-quarter
of Internet users maintain their own blogs, compared to 4% of Internet users in the United States
(Institute for Information Industry, 2008; Lenhart & Fox 2006). Although blogging initially was
most popular among young adults, the average age of bloggers in Taiwan has steadily increased.
Today the age distribution of bloggers in the country roughly corresponds to that of the
population as a whole (Zhang, 2007).
Major marketers in Taiwan, such as McDonald’s, routinely invite bloggers to write
reviews about new products. Numerous bloggers in Taiwan recommend electronic devices,
travel tours, cosmetics, foods and other products or services on their blogs—anything that people
can imagine. Several famous bloggers even assemble their blog articles into books (Queen,
2009; Wan-Wan, 2005). Most bloggers are conspicuously positive in terms of their
recommendations, but others are not (Christabelle, 2008).
In Taiwan, the ethics of blog marketing are not clearly delineated (Huang, Guo & He,
2008), and bloggers are not required to disclosure how they obtain the products that they review
or whether they receive any form of compensation for writing reviews. In Taiwan’s
blogosphere, there are many “professional bloggers” who write about new products on their
blogs, such as 艾 瑪 隨 處 走 走 , I am Queen, and 美 食 摩 人 , and it is not easy for blog readers to
differentiate whether these blogs are merely advertisements or authentic descriptions of a real
user’s experience (“News finds,” 2009). Yet, most major marketers views bloggers as valuable
sources of third-party endorsements.
Cheng, a leading marketing practitioner, describes two types of marketing blogs (cited in
He, 2007). One type includes company-sponsored blogs that promote product visibility and
reader engagement. The second, more common type involves seeking exposure on independently
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