Mutual disclosures and content intimacy in user engagement : evidence from an online chat group

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of self-disclosure in online chat groups (OCGs), which serve as a communication channel situated between public platforms and private live chats. Our investigation delves into the effects of mutual disclosures, originating from other members and focal users, on user engagement in terms of promptness, positivity, and effort. We also explore the disclosure content and the interplay between mutual disclosures regarding consistency in content intimacy. Using data from a retailer who utilizes OCGs for customer services, our findings reveal that mutual disclosures are positively associated with user engagement through the mechanism of liking and uncover multifaceted influences from content intimacy consistency between mutual disclosures. The results are further verified by a controlled experiment and various robustness tests. Moreover, our study differentiates and discusses the roles of group hosts and peer users in facilitating OCG engagement. This research broadens our understanding of how self-related information exchange in online group conversations promotes meaningful engagement. Our fine-grained analysis of disclosure interactions provides clear guidance for firms to strategically manage customer relationships through OCGs and sheds new light on conversational commerce.