Title: Personal profile management on Etsy

Authors: Lina Portnoy; Daphne R. Raban

Addresses: Faculty of Management, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, 610 Jacobs Building, Haifa 3498838, Israel ' Faculty of Management, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, 610 Jacobs Building, Haifa 3498838, Israel

Abstract: We apply the theory of self-presentation to study the relation between seller profiles in the online crafts marketplace, Etsy, and sales volume. Further, using Machin and van Leeuwenn's personal profile categorisation framework we study the contribution of unique elements in the sellers' texts to their business outcomes. The research question that drives the study is 'What is the textual makeup of an influential personal profile?' Statistical and text analysis of a random sample of 1,800 sellers' pages revealed that the profile describing the seller had a positive effect on sales volumes, meaning that digital platforms resemble craftspeople's workshops in terms of the importance of craftsperson persona in sales promotion. In contrast to the theoretical prediction, 'being' text element was most influential and 'materials' most prevalent. The research contribution is two-fold: studying the relation between impression management and actual online purchase transactions; discovering unique text elements related to business outcomes.

Keywords: personal profile management; profile categorisation framework; digital platform; crafts; impression management; e-commerce.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKMS.2022.121896

International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies, 2022 Vol.13 No.2, pp.150 - 171

Received: 04 Nov 2020
Accepted: 01 Apr 2021
Published online: 07 Apr 2022 *

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