Measuring the effects of dating websites investments in user self-presentation and peer-interactivity on firm performance

With internet firms increasingly investing in new technologies and applications to make their websites attractive, social and interactive with e-store customers, less is known about the success drivers for one type of e-store, namely online dating sites. Dating sites are characterised by customers' heavy use of self-presentations and high frequency of peer-to-peer interactions with the goal of finding a partner. However, their respective contribution to dating sites' firm performance is unclear. This article aims to empirically examine the effects of the two customer-focused web functions: customer self-presentation and peer-interactivity on firm-performance using data from a Chinese dating website. The findings confirm the crucial role of self-presentation for a dating site, where it also significantly influences the level of peer-interactivity, traffic to one's profile page, and firm performance. Yet, the effect of peer-interactivity is not evident from this sample. Overall, this study offers measures in a structural model, findings from which would help e-marketers to strategically appropriate web investments in either function for enhancing firm performance.