JUDGED BY ITS COVER: UNDERSTANDING THE FORMATION OF BOOK TESTIMONIAL NETWORKS
- Testimonials, short promotional statements often written by notable authors or critics, are a crucial marketing tool in the publishing industry, contributing to a book’s market success. This study investigates the formation of ties in testimonial networks, focusing on both network-endogenous factors (reciprocity, transitivity and preferential attachment) and exogenous factors tied to social homophily, such as shared publisher, genre and gender. A network of 575 authors was constructed from testimonials in fiction books published between 2020 and 2024 and analyzed using Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGM). The results reveal strong effects of reciprocity, transitivity, and homophily, particularly with respect to publisher and genre. Reciprocity appears to play a key role in testimonial exchanges, suggesting that authors who provide testimonials are significantly more likely to receive testimonials in return. Authors are likely to form connections through shared relationships. However, the network does not exhibit significantTestimonials, short promotional statements often written by notable authors or critics, are a crucial marketing tool in the publishing industry, contributing to a book’s market success. This study investigates the formation of ties in testimonial networks, focusing on both network-endogenous factors (reciprocity, transitivity and preferential attachment) and exogenous factors tied to social homophily, such as shared publisher, genre and gender. A network of 575 authors was constructed from testimonials in fiction books published between 2020 and 2024 and analyzed using Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGM). The results reveal strong effects of reciprocity, transitivity, and homophily, particularly with respect to publisher and genre. Reciprocity appears to play a key role in testimonial exchanges, suggesting that authors who provide testimonials are significantly more likely to receive testimonials in return. Authors are likely to form connections through shared relationships. However, the network does not exhibit significant inequality in tie distribution, indicating that preferential attachment is not a dominant mechanism. The results strongly confirm that shared attributes, especially publisher and genre, significantly influence testimonial formation, with publisher-based homophily being the most impactful. This reflects the role of publishers in orchestrating testimonial exchanges, as they may actively encourage authors within their networks to provide testimonials for one another. These findings offer insights into the structural dynamics of testimonial networks and provide practical implications for emerging authors seeking to establish connections in the competitive publishing market. The strong evidence for reciprocity underscores the im- portance of actively engaging in the testimonial exchange process. The lack of evidence for preferential attachment is a promising finding for emerging authors, as it suggests they are not disadvantaged by having fewer initial connections.…


| Author: | Jan Domanski, Jonas Reif, Lea Schaab, Sebastian Schötteler, Heidi Schuhbauer |
|---|---|
| Parent Title (English): | Proceedings of FEB Zagreb 16th International Odyssey Conference on Economics and Business |
| Publisher: | University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics & Business |
| Place of publication: | Zagreb |
| Editor: | Sever Mališ, Načinović Braje, Raguž Krištić |
| Document Type: | conference proceeding (article) |
| Language: | English |
| Date of first Publication: | 2025/07/23 |
| Reviewed: | Begutachtet/Reviewed |
| Release Date: | 2025/07/24 |
| Tag: | Social Network Analysis, Testimonials, Book Market, ERGM |
| Pagenumber: | 732-744 |
| Konferenzangabe: | 16th International Odyssey Conference on Economics and Business |
| institutes: | Fakultät Informatik |
| Research Themes: | Digitalisierung & Künstliche Intelligenz |
