Paper ID

2763

Paper Type

short

Description

The growing number of mobile apps has contributed to an innovation diffusion paradox whereby the accelerated pace with which mobile apps are being developed and updated has stymied their own diffusion. Due to consumers’ limited personal involvement with mobile apps, storytelling, as an emerging and novel product recommendation format, is gaining traction as a promotional mechanism for diffusing mobile apps within the ecosystem. Storytelling is particularly amenable to the context of mobile app stores by giving affective meaning to the focal app being promoted and strengthening its association with other apps available from these stores. To this end, we construct a research model to illustrate how consumers’ demand for related mobile apps is shaped by similarity in functional and visual attributes between these apps and the focal app being promoted via storytelling. Our model also sheds light on how the preceding effects could be mitigated by within-developer influence.

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How Story Works in Mobile App Stores? Exploring the Same-Side Effect from the Storytelling Perspective

The growing number of mobile apps has contributed to an innovation diffusion paradox whereby the accelerated pace with which mobile apps are being developed and updated has stymied their own diffusion. Due to consumers’ limited personal involvement with mobile apps, storytelling, as an emerging and novel product recommendation format, is gaining traction as a promotional mechanism for diffusing mobile apps within the ecosystem. Storytelling is particularly amenable to the context of mobile app stores by giving affective meaning to the focal app being promoted and strengthening its association with other apps available from these stores. To this end, we construct a research model to illustrate how consumers’ demand for related mobile apps is shaped by similarity in functional and visual attributes between these apps and the focal app being promoted via storytelling. Our model also sheds light on how the preceding effects could be mitigated by within-developer influence.