Who needs to be more visible online? The value implications of web visibility and firm heterogeneity

• Published in: Information & management Vol. 54; no. 4; pp. 506 - 515
• Main Authors: Wang, Fang, Xu, Bixia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.06.2017
• Subjects: Business-to-business; Business-to-consumer; Experience goods; Firm performance; Inlinks; Search goods; Value appropriation; Value creation; Web traffic; Web visibility; Business-to-consumer; Web visibility; Business-to-business; Experience goods; Firm performance; Value creation; Search goods; Inlinks; Web traffic; Value appropriation
• ISSN: 0378-7206; 1872-7530
• DOI: 10.1016/j.im.2016.11.002

•The value creation process of firm web visibility is proposed and analyzed.•Firm web visibility drives firm web traffic and improves firm performance.•Web visibility creates higher values for business-to-consumer than business-to-business firms.•It creates higher values for value appropriation- than value creation-focused firms.•It creates higher values for firms of search goods than those of experience goods. This study examines the value implications of web visibility and firm heterogeneity. We theorize and analyze the value creation process of firm web visibility by mapping it onto firm web performance and then business performance. With a comprehensive sample of 2840 US firms, we find that web visibility is a significant determinant of firm web traffic, and it improves both firm short- and long-term performances. The results also reveal that web visibility creates higher values for business-to-consumer (B2C) than business-to-business (B2B) firms, for firms with a value appropriation focus than those with a value creation focus, and for firms of search goods than those of experience goods.