The Impact of Comments and Replies on WeChat Public Accounts for Insurance Brokers on the Dissemination of Insurance Products: A Perspective Based on the Two-step Flow Theory of Communication

With the burgeoning growth of the internet and social media, the mode of information dissemination is undergoing profound changes. WeChat public accounts, as a significant player in this transformation, have evolved into a front-line platform for brand promotion, product display, and customer service in the insurance industry. This paper takes Baopinger Insurance Brokerage as a case study, delving into 901 posts published on its WeChat public account from 2019 to 2023. Based on the two-step flow theory of communication and employing the ordinary least squares (OLS) model, the paper meticulously explores the role of comments and replies on WeChat public account posts in enhancing the dissemination of insurance products, focusing on the dimensions of opinion leaders and broker interactions. The findings indicate that the number of comments from opinion leaders, their engagement depth, emotional guidance, and the number of likes in community interactions significantly positively affect the readership of the products on the WeChat account. Moreover, the active interactions and the emotional resonance triggered by the brokers’ responses in the comment section also positively influence the dissemination effectiveness of the products. This research not only validates the applicability of the two-step flow theory in explaining the mechanism of information dissemination via insurance brokers’ WeChat public accounts but also provides a new context for studies in the digital marketing domain, thereby broadening the research perspective on social media’s role in the digital transformation of insurance intermediaries.