Social contagion effects in experiential information exchange on bulletin board systems.

This research indicates that the attraction in disseminating a certain topic is dependent on the experiential nature of information on bulletin board systems. Compared to cognitive posts, experiential posts demonstrate a contagion effect. That is, when in-and-between posts focus on experiential information at the early stage of communication, more experiential posts appear at the later stage of the discussion on the same topic. Additionally, the involvement of opinion leaders in positive posts also promotes the dissemination of experiential information. Implications of this research can be extended to design and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of online and offline word- of-mouth communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]