Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of eWOM on firm financial and innovative performance, with a particular focus on the moderating role of network centrality. Design/methodology/approach The study employs regression analysis and multiple data sources from Taiwanese gaming companies to examine eWOM's effects on firm’s performance and the moderating role of network centrality. Findings The results provide empirical evidence that challenges the conventional notion that negative eWOM always harms firm performance. Specifically, the study demonstrates that network centrality attenuates the adverse impact of negative eWOM on innovative performance while amplifying the positive effect of eWOM on financial performance. Practical implications Managing eWOM is crucial, especially negative eWOM. Using review platform data, firms can identify highly central consumers and prioritize them for targeted engagement to amplify credible positive information, while treating negative eWOM from these central consumers as high-priority diagnostic input for product improvement and innovation. Originality/value By leveraging a big data analytics approach, this study contributes to the eWOM literature by integrating insights from social network theory. Furthermore, it extends the scope of eWOM research beyond the consumer perspective to the firm-level perspective, offering new theoretical and managerial insights.
Huang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.