摘要：

Abstract:

【Purpose/significance】Lots of deal threads are posted every day in the deal-sharing community, and the popularity of differ⁃

ent deal threads vary greatly. Understanding the factors which affect the popularity of deal threads help to improve deal thread writing,

to guide consumers to make rational judgments, provide a guideline for the community to manage and recommend deal threads.【Meth⁃

od/process】Based on the signaling theory, we identified two types of signals related to thread writers and thread contents, and took the

numbers of favorites and likes in the threads as the measurement of thread popularity. We chose the negative binomial regression mod⁃

el to empirically test the relationship between the independent variables and popularity.【Result/conclusion】The results show that too

many threads previously contributed by the thread writer are harmful to the popularity of his posts, while obtaining the big V certifica⁃

tion is conducive to the popularity of his posts. Deal threads with larger discount rates and tag numbers, with elaboration and vivid⁃

ness, are more likely to be welcomed by consumers, while anonymity will reduce the popularity of the posts.【Innovation/limitation】

We firstly use the signaling theory to reveal the factors affecting consumers' engagement behavior to deal threads in social commerce

context. The research data are derived from a single observational dataset, and other research paradigms could be applied to enrich the

study.