Trying Before Buying: The Moderating Role of Online Reviews in Trial Attitude Formation Toward Mobile Applications

Contrasting findings about the role of extremely negative ratings (ENRR) are found in the literature, thus suggesting that not all ENRR are perceived as helpful by consumers. In order to shed light on the most helpful ENRR, we have drawn on negativity bias and signaling theory, and we have analyzed the moderating role of product quality signals in the relationship between ENRR and review helpfulness. The study is based on the analysis of 9,479 online reviews, posted on TripAdvisor.com, pertaining to 220 French hotels. The findings highlight that ENRR is judged as being more helpful when the hotel has been awarded a certificate of excellence, and when the average rating score and the hotel classification are higher. On the basis of these results, we recommend that managers of higher category hotels, with a certificate of excellence and with higher average score ratings, pay more attention to extremely negative judgments.

Download Full-text

Shoppers' Intention to Provide Online Reviews

Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations ◽

10.4018/jeco.2019070103 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 35-53 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sai Vijay Tata ◽

Sanjeev Prashar ◽

Chandan Parsad

Keyword(s):

Online Reviews ◽

Online Review ◽

Managerial Implications ◽

The Relationship ◽

Source Of Information ◽

Moderating Role

With an increase in e-commerce activity, online reviews have become a pertinent source of information for shoppers. Existing research is limited to examining select predictors of shoppers' intention to write reviews; however, there exists a gap in deciphering the role of review involvement in intention to write reviews. The present study pertains to the influence of the usefulness of site and product, and shoppers' satisfaction, and also on the intention to write reviews online. Besides this, the article also explores the moderating role of review involvement on the relationship between shopper satisfaction and their intention to post reviews. The study reveals a few interesting and counter-intuitive findings that add to literature and practice in understanding online review posting behaviour. Theoretical and managerial implications based on the findings are also presented.

Download Full-text

A Room of One’s Own: Need for Uniqueness Counters Online WoM

Cornell Hospitality Quarterly ◽

10.1177/1938965518790223 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

pp. 216-232 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Robin Chark ◽

Lawrence Hoc Nang Fong ◽

Candy Mei Fung Tang

Keyword(s):

Hospitality Industry ◽

Choice Behavior ◽

Word Of Mouth ◽

Online Reviews ◽

Attitude Formation ◽

Extant Literature ◽

Need For Uniqueness ◽

Room Of One's Own

We examine how consumers’ desire to be different reduces their reliance on others’ suggestions and thus increases their tendency to diverge from the average opinion. While the extant literature focuses on the role of need for uniqueness in attitude formation and choice behavior, not much has been done to test the effect of uniqueness seeking on reactions to persuasive, word of mouth (WoM) messages. In four studies, we find converging evidence for a uniqueness effect. Specifically, the uniqueness motivation interacts with the valence of the average opinion such that when uniqueness motivation is low, consumers follow others’ advice and thus their attitudes depend primarily on the valence of the average opinion; meanwhile, the uniqueness seekers rely less on the valence and are more likely to form less favorable attitudes after reading positive reviews and to hold less unfavorable ones when the reviews are negative. These effects are found when trait need for uniqueness is measured as well as when situational need for uniqueness is manipulated. We further examine the process through which uniqueness motivation results in nonconformist attitudes. Uniqueness seekers perceive minority opinions as more diagnostic. Thus, these minority opinions are disproportionately represented in uniqueness seekers’ nonconformist views. These findings are important to the hospitality industry as consumers often rely on others’ experiences by reading online reviews to help make decisions concerning their own hospitality needs, which are highly experiential in nature.

Download Full-text

The impact of online reviews on destination trust and travel intention: The moderating role of online review trustworthiness

Journal Of Vacation Marketing ◽

10.1177/13567667211063207 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 135676672110632

Author(s):

Lujun Su ◽

Qingyue Yang ◽

Scott R Swanson ◽

Ning Chris Chen

Keyword(s):

Experimental Design ◽

Online Reviews ◽

Online Review ◽

Emotional Intensity ◽

Intensity Changes ◽

The Impact ◽

Moderating Role

This study explores the impact of the valence (positive/negative) and emotional intensity (strong/weak) of online reviews on potential Chinese visitors’ travel intentions and trust of a destination. An experimental design was used to test the hypotheses. Findings suggest that online review valence and emotional intensity affect travel intentions and that destination trust can partially mediate this relationship. Changes in destination trust and travel intention due to positive/negative review emotional intensity changes are not equivalent. Furthermore, online review trustworthiness moderates the valence and destination trust and travel intention relationships, but not the effect of review emotional intensity on the same outcomes.

Download Full-text

The Role of Power and Incentives in Inducing Fake Reviews in the Tourism Industry

Journal of Travel Research ◽

10.1177/0047287516677168 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 56 (8) ◽

pp. 975-987 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Sungwoo Choi ◽

Anna S. Mattila ◽

Hubert B. Van Hoof ◽

Donna Quadri-Felitti

Keyword(s):

Online Reviews ◽

Monetary Incentive ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Purchasing Decisions ◽

Fake Reviews ◽

Sense Of Power ◽

Moderating Role

As online reviews have become increasingly prevalent in recent years and their influence on consumers’ purchasing decisions has grown exponentially, some companies have begun to ask people to write fake reviews about their businesses or their competitors while offering compensation in return. This process has drawn the attention of regulators because it knowingly misleads consumers. This article reports on two studies that looked at the effect of two types of incentives (self-benefiting or charitable) on individuals’ intentions to write fake reviews and examined the moderating role of a person’s sense of power on his or her propensity to post a fake review. The study findings indicate that powerless individuals are more likely to post a fake review when presented with a monetary incentive rather than a charity incentive, while powerful individuals are not impacted by incentive type. Moreover, when asked to post negative fake reviews about competitors, such effects are mitigated.

Download Full-text

Mobile Interactivity and Perceived Waiting Time

Journal of Global Information Management ◽

10.4018/jgim.20211101.oa27 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 29 (6) ◽

pp. 1-20

Author(s):

Changqin Yin ◽

Huimin Ma ◽

Qian Chen ◽

Yeming Gong ◽

Xiaobing Shu

Keyword(s):

Waiting Time ◽

Mobile Applications ◽

Mobile Application ◽

User Evaluation ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Cognitive Absorption ◽

Using Data ◽

Perceived Procedural Justice ◽

Moderating Role

While perceived waiting time can undermine user evaluation and cause application abandonment, there is little scientific research on waiting in mobile applications. This paper incorporates three mobile interactivity features (ubiquitous connectivity, active control, and responsiveness) into the model and examines the mediating role of cognitive absorption and the moderating role of perceived procedural justice between these features and perceived waiting time in a short-waiting application. The researchers empirically examine the model using data from 468 uses of the ride-sharing mobile application. The results reveal that mobile interactivity can directly and indirectly (via cognitive absorption) lead to more tolerance in perceived waiting time. The findings elicit several implications for theories and practice.

Download Full-text