scholarly journals Online Reviews and Product Sales: The Role of Review Visibility

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 638-669
Author(s):  
Miriam Alzate ◽  
Marta Arce-Urriza ◽  
Javier Cebollada

When studying the impact of online reviews on product sales, previous scholars have usually assumed that every review for a product has the same probability of being viewed by consumers. However, decision-making and information processing theories underline that the accessibility of information plays a role in consumer decision-making. We incorporate the notion of review visibility to study the relationship between online reviews and product sales, which is proxied by sales rank information, studying three different cases: (1) when every online review is assumed to have the same probability of being viewed; (2) when we assume that consumers sort online reviews by the most helpful mechanism; and (3) when we assume that consumers sort online reviews by the most recent mechanism. Review non-textual and textual variables are analyzed. The empirical analysis is conducted using a panel of 119 cosmetic products over a period of nine weeks. Using the system generalized method of moments (system GMM) method for dynamic models of panel data, our findings reveal that review variables influence product sales, but the magnitude, and even the direction of the effect, vary amongst visibility cases. Overall, the characteristics of the most helpful reviews have a higher impact on sales.

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 638-669
Author(s):  
Miriam Alzate ◽  
Marta Arce-Urriza ◽  
Javier Cebollada

When studying the impact of online reviews on product sales, previous scholars have usually assumed that every review for a product has the same probability of being viewed by consumers. However, decision-making and information processing theories underline that the accessibility of information plays a role in consumer decision-making. We incorporate the notion of review visibility to study the relationship between online reviews and product sales, which is proxied by sales rank information, studying three different cases: (1) When every online review is assumed to have the same probability of being viewed; (2) when we assume that consumers sort online reviews by the most helpful mechanism; and (3) when we assume that consumers sort online reviews by the most recent mechanism. Review non-textual and textual variables are analyzed. The empirical analysis is conducted using a panel of 119 cosmetic products over a period of nine weeks. Using the system generalized method of moments (system GMM) method for dynamic models of panel data, our findings reveal that review variables influence product sales, but the magnitude, and even the direction of the effect, vary amongst visibility cases. Overall, the characteristics of the most helpful reviews have a higher impact on sales.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ing Grace Phang ◽  
Bamini K.P.D. Balakrishnan ◽  
Hiram Ting

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic took the world by surprise in early 2020. The preventive measures imposed by many countries limited human movement, causing uncertainty and disrupting consumption patterns and consumer decision-making. This study aims to explore consumers’ panic buying (PB) and compulsive buying (CB) as outcomes of the intolerance of uncertainty (IU). The moderating role of sustainable consumption behaviours (SCBs) (e.g. quality of life [QOL], concern for future generation and concern for environmental well-being) were also tested to raise awareness of responsible and mindful consumption amongst the society and business stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach To empirically examine the grocery shopping behaviours of Malaysian consumers during COVID-19, a total of 286 valid grocery consumer survey responses based on a purposive sampling were collected and analysed during the movement control order period between March and July 2020. Findings The findings confirmed the statistically significant impact of IU on both PB and CB and the impact of PB on CB behaviour. Amongst the three SCBs tested, only QOL significantly moderated the relationship between the IU and PB. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to construct a framework of consumers’ PB and CB during the pandemic, building upon the stimulus-organism-response model and the concepts of IU and SCB. This study further serves as the pioneering study on the moderating role of SCB in consumer behaviour research in the pandemic context, whereby consumers’ QOL significantly moderates the relationship between their IU and PB. This study has also drawn specific implications for grocery retailers and government agencies for retail and policy planning to promote positive social transformation in consumer buying behaviours during a pandemic or crisis.


Author(s):  
Maryam Fattahi

One of the available challenges in areas of health economics is identification of the effective factors on health expenditures. Air pollution plays important role in the public and private health expenditure but most studies have ignored the role of this category in explanation of health expenditures. On the other hand, the impact of air pollution on health expenditures is influenced by several factors. This study intends to investigate the effect of air pollution on public and private health expenditures and to identify the urbanization rate factor affecting the relationship between air pollution and public and private health expenditures. Scope of the present study is developing countries over period of 1995-2011. We used a dynamic panel and Generalized Method of Moments method. The empirical results indicate that air pollution has positive and significant effect on public and private health expenditures. Also, the results imply that urbanization rate affecting the relationship between air pollution and health expenditures that urbanization rate plays a reinforcing role.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung-Hwan Kim ◽  
Minjeong Kim ◽  
Jungmin Yoo ◽  
Minjung Park

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to investigate how mental imagery evoked from sensory in-store experience influences consumer anticipatory emotion, perceived ownership and decision satisfaction which eventually impact positive consumer responses such as behavioural intent. In this study, gender difference is proposed as a moderator to completely understand the role of mental imagery in the in-store decision-making process.Design/methodology/approachUsing a market research agency in South Korea, an online survey was employed to collect data. A total of 455 useable respondents (men = 224 and women = 231) largely living in the two most populous provinces in South Korea (i.e. Seoul and Gyeonggi provinces) completed the survey. A number of path analyses were conducted to test hypotheses.FindingsThe results of the study showed that mental imagery evoked from sensory product experience played a critical part in facilitating the consumer decision-making process by influencing anticipatory emotion and perceived ownership. The relationship among anticipatory emotion, perceived ownership, decision satisfaction and behavioural intent was significant except for the relationship between perceived ownership and behavioural intent. This study further indicated that the way mental imagery influences the in-store decision-making process differs between men and women.Originality/valueThe effect of mental imagery in a physical retail context is largely ignored. This study addressed the crucial role of mental imagery in a physical apparel retail setting and examined its impact on consumer decision-making processes. By exploring how to enhance consumers' in-store sensory shopping experiences through mental imagery to influence their positive shopping outcomes, this study offers vital insights into how retailers operating physical stores can successfully utilize their stores.


2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 1307-1327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Aloini ◽  
Valentina Lazzarotti ◽  
Raffaella Manzini ◽  
Luisa Pellegrini

Purpose Intellectual property protection mechanisms (IPPMs) include a variety of methods suitable for protecting valuable intangible assets of companies, and it is of great relevance to study how companies use these mechanisms to ensure the appropriability of innovation, in a context in which innovation is increasingly open. Indeed, there is a tension between the aim to share knowledge with external partners and the need to protect valuable know-how. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship among the use of IPPMs, open innovation (OI), and the innovation performance of companies. Design/methodology/approach The study is based upon a survey conducted on 477 firms from Finland, Italy, Sweden, and UK in 2012. Findings The study shows that IPPMs have an indirect impact on innovation performance, mediated by the degree of openness. More precisely, IPPMs positively influence the level of openness, which, in turn, positively influences the innovation performance. Originality/value The empirical analysis contributes on two issues widely debated in the literature: the impact of IPPMs on innovation performance and the role of IPPMs as enablers or disablers of OI.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 283-294
Author(s):  
H P P Lötter

I provide a philosophical analysis of the claim that ICTs are necessary preconditions for the eradication of poverty. What are the links between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and poverty? I first define technology and then give a brief depiction of ICTs. Thereafter I define poverty and give a brief expla-nation of its context and causes. Next I discuss the relationship between poverty and ICTs in three paradigm cases: [i] the role of ICTs in poor societies, [ii] the effect of poor ICT knowledge and skill of individuals in highly developed technological societies, and [iii] the impact of impoverished ICT knowledge and skills on the rich, powerful, and intelligent ones in society. I propose a procedure for decision making about the appropria-tion of ICTs by individuals and societies. I assess the claim that both access to ICTs and effective use of them are preconditions for the eradication of poverty.


Author(s):  
V. Cheng ◽  
J. Rhodes ◽  
P. Lok

This chapter investigates how online customer reviews affect consumer decision-making (willingness to buy) during their first purchase of services or products using brand trust as a mediating variable. A brief literature review, rationale and significance, and methodology are discussed, and a conceptual framework based on the relationships between the stated variables is adopted in this empirical study to demonstrate linkages and insights. The findings demonstrate that the “reliability dimension” of brand trust had a mediating effect on online customer reviews' valence to willingness to buy, while the “intentionality dimension” of brand trust had little effect. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that online customer reviews generated by in-group and out-group reviewers have little effect on purchasing decisions (willingness to buy). These results suggest that marketers should focus more on managing negative online customer reviews that have a damaging effect on brand trust.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-286
Author(s):  
Chandra Utama ◽  
Miryam B.L. Wijaya ◽  
Charvin Lim

Inflation is a regional phenomenon hence the use of provincial data might be more appropriateon explaining the relationship between monetary policy and inflation. This paper analyzes the impact of changes in provincial money supply, the policy rate, and the interbank rate on regional inflation, within the framework of Hybrid New Keynesian Phillips Curve (HNKPC). This paper employs Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) on panel data of 32 provinces from 2005-III to 2014-IV. The estimation result shows that provincial monetary aggregate influence inflation significantly only in Sumatera. Furthermore, the policy fate affects the inflation in Sumatera and Kalimantan-Sulawesi. Using the interbank money rate, the result shows this rate also affect the inflation in most of the region except Kalimantan-Sulawesi. These findings show the price-based policy is more significant on affecting the provincial inflation compared to the provincial money supply.


2021 ◽  
pp. 231971452110234
Author(s):  
Ajay Bansal ◽  
Rahul Gupta

This study is an attempt to bridge the link between factors representing stores’ decision boundaries and consumers’ decision-making criteria. It also explores the impact of consumer demographic variables on the relationship between the influence of extended 3Ps (process, people and physical evidence) and store choice. Around 290 responses were found suitable for further statistical refinements through a structured survey. After carrying out the reliability and validity properties of the data, structure equation modelling was applied. The findings of the study revealed that individual demographics (income, age and gender) moderated the relationship between the extended 3Ps and consumer store choice for shopping (in this study example of shopping smartphone). However, occupation and education were found to have no different influence by separate segments of population. Also, all demographics have an interpretation for marketers, which are discussed in the conclusion section. The framework used in this article opens up new vistas for research on exploring different consumer segments and service decision-making in retail marketing.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hardius Usman ◽  
Chairy Chairy ◽  
Nucke Widowati Kusumo Projo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to: build Muslim consumer decision-making style (MCDMS); analyze the influence of the consumer decision-making style on Muslim behavior to buy halal certified food; analyze the impact of religiosity on Muslim behavior in buying halal-certified food and study the role of religiosity in the relationship between MCDMS and Muslim behavior in buying halal certified food. Design/methodology/approach This study’s target population is the Muslim Indonesian population age at least 18 years old. The self-administered survey method is carried out based on convenience and snowball sampling techniques and the questionnaire is distributed online. This study collects data from 396 Muslim respondents in Indonesia through an online survey. Factor analysis and regression with interaction variables are applied to test the research hypothesis statistically. Findings This study reveals several results: MCDMS produces 10 dimensions; halal consciousness is an important dimension; the perfectionist/high-quality conscious and price-conscious, has a significant negative effect on the intention to buy halal-certified food; the halal consciousness and the recreational/hedonic conscious have a significant positive effect on the intention to buy halal certified food; religiosity has a significant positive impact directly on the intention to purchase halal-certified food; Religiosity positively moderates the impact of a perfectionist/high-quality conscious and price-conscious on the intention to buy halal-certified food. Originality/value This paper will build an MCDMS by adding the dimensions of halal consciousness. The author has not found literature about MCDMS. This research will also study the impact of MCDMS and religiosity on the intention to buy halal-certified food, as well as will study the role of religiosity in relationships between Muslim decision-making styles and intention to buy halal-certified food. Similar research is still very limited in marketing literature.


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