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Optimizing Distinctiveness in Global E-Commerce: How Textual Marketing Signals Drive Foreign Customer Engagement on Digital Platforms

Jungwon Lee

Published 2025 in Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research

ABSTRACT

This study investigates how new ventures on global e-commerce platforms use textual marketing signals to attract foreign consumers, a critical challenge characterized by information asymmetry. Integrating Signaling Theory and Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (ODT), we examine how two key creator-controlled textual signals—International Orientation Expression (IOE) intensity (a signal of legitimacy) and Project Genre Atypicality (GA) (a signal of differentiation)—non-linearly and interactively influence foreign customer engagement. Analyzing a large-scale dataset of 17,084 Kickstarter projects using computer-aided text analysis and fixed-effects regression models, we yield several key insights. First, we find a robust inverted U-shaped relationship between IOE intensity and foreign backer engagement, suggesting that while moderate international emphasis enhances legitimacy, excessive claims can undermine credibility. Second, GA exhibits a positive linear relationship with foreign engagement, indicating that novelty-seeking foreign consumers consistently value textual differentiation. Third, and most critically, we uncover a significant negative interaction, termed the “cost of dual extremes”, where simultaneously signaling extreme international ambition and extreme product novelty deters foreign consumers, likely due to perceived strategic incoherence and heightened execution risk. Finally, we confirm that attracting a diverse foreign audience is a strong predictor of overall project funding success. This research extends ODT by identifying a novel interactive boundary condition for distinctiveness in digital markets and advances signaling theory by demonstrating the complex, non-linear effectiveness of textual signals, offering actionable insights for optimizing communication strategy in global e-commerce.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2025

  • Venue

    Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research

  • Publication date

    2025-09-02

  • Fields of study

    Business, Computer Science

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.3390/jtaer20030232
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

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