Despite the prevalent use of blog for various personal reasons, there is a paucity of research
examining the commercialization of blog. Even though it is possible to forge strong buyer-seller
relationships among blogger and readers in a blog social network through collective social
interaction, a fundamental prerequisite towards blog commercialization is the blogger’s willingness to
engage in commercial exchange. Consequently, this paper examines the blogger’s decision making
process on using his/her blog for commercial exchange. The decision process involves the appraisal of
two novel theoretical notions, namely blog-blogger-reader-product similarity (BBRPS) and perceived
reader-negative reaction (PRNR). Drawing on the cognitive-motivational-relational theory, we posit
that the blogger’s emotional responses to the two appraisal factors affect how the blogger copes with
the exchange situation. The coping strategy adopted by the blogger in turn increases or decreases
exchange intention. Results from an experiment we conducted provide support for this model.
Specifically, when BBRPS is high and PRNR is low, the blogger would be inclined towards using
his/her blog for commercial exchange. Even when PRNR is high, it is plausible for blogger to persist
in the use of his/her blog for commercial exchange as long as the negative emotional barrier is not
excessively high
