E-book Market Dynamics in China: A Social Media Sentiment Analysis of Consumer Reactions to Amazon Kindle’s Withdrawal

Authors: Luran Shi , Ziyan Ai, Zerong Xie, Dickson K. W. Chiu, Samuel Ping-Man Choi

Background: Utilising comments about e-books on Weibo over two years, this study looks at consumer responses to Amazon Kindle’s exit from the Chinese market.

Purpose: The objective is to investigate opinions on e-books and information-sharing practices, which offer ideas for the future growth of the e-book market in China.

Methodology: Python was used to compile user comments covering both before and after Kindle’s exit. Python and SPSS were used for sentiment analysis and comparison of variances. Using RapidMiner, clustering techniques investigated attitudes and similarity distributions.

Findings: Along with customer responses about consumer rights and compensation following withdrawal, insights into consumer needs for e-books emerged.

Suggestions: As discussed in Weibo comments on Kindle’s departure, Amazon should classify consumer groups based on purchase time and provide different compensations depending on this.