The influence of cultural blogs on their readers' cultural product choices

While some conceptual studies have highlighted the impact that Web 2.0 technology and social media have on cultural industries, empirical evidence is still missing. Specifically, no study has considered the role of cultural bloggers, who mediate the information flows from cultural organizations to consumers. To fill this gap, this paper suggests and tests a model that explains blog readers' intentions to consume cultural products suggested by the blog. The findings from a sample of 215 cultural blog readers show that the impact of the blog on reader intention to consume the products suggested by the blog is strongly influenced by reader engagement with the blog. In addition, the results highlight the effects of content quality, enjoyment, and homophily. The implications of these findings for bloggers and for organizations communicating through bloggers are discussed in detail.