A Study on the Effect of Blog Characteristics on Satisfaction and Word- Of-Mouth Intention - Focusing on the Moderating Effect of Consumer Knowledge -

Abstract

Blog has been as influential as TV and radio as a source of information in the speed of information spread, as well as the diversity of information and the quality of content. Once people recognize the importance of blog as a means of personal and day-to-day communication, there have been various studies on motivation of blog user, their using patterns, the ways of information delivery and sharing, the activity of the specific group and the effects on satisfaction with blog and word-of-mouth. Previous studies on blog were usually to investigate the fragmentary relationship. However, we derived new factor of blog characteristics and examined how it can affect satisfaction and word of mouth intention. Accordingly, we researched domestic and foreign theses, journal papers, books, research reports and established hypothesis and finally derived the results through the verification of the hypothesis after performing empirical research to achieve the purpose of the study. The implications of this study drawn from major issues are as follows. First, previous studies on the use of blog were macroscopic approaches which were related to satisfaction and word-of-mouth intention but you could also see the details by using factor analysis and multiple regression analysis in this paper. Second, fame of blog shows the least effect on satisfaction so the influence of power bloggers has been reduced. Third, The increasing user's satisfaction with blog is the way to increase the word-of-mouth intention in that satisfaction and word-of-mouth intention typically occurs sequentially with time. Fourth, companies need to regard online word-of-mouth information which is created by consumers as a competitive factor of more differentiated internet site. It is asked to subdivide and customize the range and scope of word-of-mouth information to improve the interaction with customers. Fifth, operating blog focusing on contents and interaction is an effective ways of wordof-mouth marketing and it is also recommended to use power bloggers.