The DOI matches its Crossref record; 3 of the 3 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Do online reviews affect product sales? The role of reviewer characteristics and temporal effects
Open accessAbstract
Online product reviews provided by consumers who previously purchased products have become a major information source for consumers and marketers regarding product quality. This study extends previous research by conducting a more compelling test of the effect of online reviews on sales. In particular, we consider both quantitative and qualitative aspects of online reviews, such as reviewer quality, reviewer exposure, product coverage, and temporal effects. Using transaction cost economics and uncertainty reduction theories, this study adopts a portfolio approach to assess the effectiveness of the online review market. We show that consumers understand the value difference between favorable news and unfavorable news and respond accordingly. Furthermore, when consumers read online reviews, they pay attention not only to review scores but to other contextual information such as a reviewer’s reputation and reviewer exposure. The market responds more favorably to reviews written by reviewers with better reputation and higher exposure. Finally, we demonstrate that the impact of online reviews on sales diminishes over time. This suggests that firms need not provide incentives for customers to write reviews beyond a certain time period after products have been released.
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Cites
The Effect of Word of Mouth on Sales: Online Book Reviews
Chevalier, J. A., & Mayzlin, D. (2006) · Journal of Marketing Research · doi:10.1509/jmkr.43.3.345 · Cited by 6,003
BERGER, C. R., & CALABRESE, R. J. (1975) · Human Communication Research · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.1975.tb00258.x · Cited by 3,006
Price, Authority, and Trust: From Ideal Types to Plural Forms
Bradach, J. L., & Eccles, R. G. (1989) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev.so.15.080189.000525 · Cited by 1,990
Cited by
The impact of electronic word-of-mouth communication: A literature analysis and integrative model
Cheung, C. M. K., & Thadani, D. R. (2012) · Decision Support Systems · doi:10.1016/j.dss.2012.06.008 · Cited by 2,005
What makes a useful online review? Implication for travel product websites
Liu, Z., & Park, S. (2015) · Tourism Management · doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2014.09.020 · Cited by 963
The effect of characteristics of source credibility on consumer behaviour: A meta-analysis
Ismagilova, E., Slade, E., Rana, N. P., & Dwivedi, Y. K. (2020) · Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services · doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.01.005 · Cited by 504
A study of factors that contribute to online review helpfulness
Huang, A. H., Chen, K., Yen, D. C., & Tran, T. P. (2015) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.01.010 · Cited by 364
In Search of Negativity Bias: An Empirical Study of Perceived Helpfulness of Online Reviews
Wu, P. F. (2013) · Psychology & Marketing · doi:10.1002/mar.20660 · Cited by 242
Metadata
- Authors
- Hu, N., Liu, L., & Zhang, J. J.
- Venue
- Information Technology and Management
- Published
- 2008-03-11
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 201-214
- ISSN
- 1385-951X (ISSN-L)
- 1573-7667
- OpenAlex
- W3123662551
- Cited by
- 659
- References
- 3
- FWCI
- 65.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
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- Hu, N., Liu, L., & Zhang, J. J. (2008). Do online reviews affect product sales? The role of reviewer characteristics and temporal effects. Information Technology and Management. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10799-008-0041-2
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
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