{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]],"date-time":"2026-01-30T10:03:17Z","timestamp":1769767397167,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":62,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,10]],"date-time":"2023-03-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1678406400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Young Innovative Talents Research Project of Department of Education of Guangdong Province","award":["2022WQNCX054"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022WQNCX054"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JTAER"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Understanding the relationships within product co-purchasing is crucial for designing effective cross-selling and recommendation systems in e-commerce. While researchers often detect co-purchase rules based on product attributes, this study explores the influence of consumer behavior preferences and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on co-purchase formation by analyzing the topological network structure of products. Data were collected from a major Chinese e-retailer and analyzed using an exponential random graph model (ERGM) to identify the factors affecting the formation of follow-up purchases between products: the role of topological structure, product category, and online product reviews. The results showed that the co-purchase network was a sparse small-world network, with a product degree of centrality that positively impacted its sales volume within the network, suggesting a concentration effect. Cross-category purchases significantly contribute to the formation of co-purchase relationships, with a differential homophily effect. Positive ratings and review volumes were found to be key factors impacting this co-purchase formation. In addition, a higher inconsistency of positive ratings among products decreases the likelihood of co-purchase. These findings contribute to the literature on eWOM and electronic networks, and have valuable implications for e-commerce managers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jtaer18010028","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,13]],"date-time":"2023-03-13T06:52:13Z","timestamp":1678690333000},"page":"548-570","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["The Impact of Topological Structure, Product Category, and Online Reviews on Co-Purchase: A Network Perspective"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6273-6695","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hongming","family":"Gao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Management, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21544","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0908800106","article-title":"Distinguishing influence-based contagion from homophily-driven diffusion in dynamic networks","volume":"106","author":"Aral","year":"2009","journal-title":"Proc. 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