Empirical Insights on the Effect of User-Generated Website Features on Micro-Conversions

Based on 2.91 million user sessions, this study analyzes the effect of user-generated social-shopping features on micro-conversions. In the authors’ specific case of a social shopping community (SSC), the authors define a micro-conversion as a visit to a product-detail page. These visits are a requisite for visits to participating online-shops (click-out) for which the operator of a SSC receives a fee. In addition to general metrics and traditional Website shopping features, several user-generated social shopping features, such as recommendation lists, styles (e.g., user-generated assortments), tags, and user profiles are analyzed. Lists, styles, and tags positively affect the number of micro-conversions indicating their ability to facilitate browsing and product shopping. In contrast, the authors’ results show a negative effect of user profiles on the number of micro-conversions. However, profiles facilitate community building activities. Implications for researchers and management are provided.