Abstract
There is an increasing concern about the trustworthiness of online reviews as there is no editorial process for verification of their authenticity. This study investigated the decision-making process of online consumers when reacting to a review, with the reputation score of the reviewer and the number of previous reviews incorporated along with anonymous and non-anonymous reviews. It recruited 200 participants and developed a 3 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 mixed experimental study, with the independent variables being the reaction to a review of a restaurant at 3 levels, the reputation score at 2 levels, the number of previous reviews at 2 levels, the valence of the reviews at 2 levels, and the level of anonymity at 2 levels. Five dependent variables were analyzed: level of trust, likelihood of going to the restaurant, a choice question of whether to go to the restaurant, confidence in the decision and the NASA-TLX workload. This study found that the reputation scores complemented the reaction to a review, improving the trust in the information and confidence in the decision made. The findings suggest that incorporating a user rating scale such as the reputation score of a user deters people from writing false or biased reviews and helps improve their accuracy. Although no significant effect of level of anonymity was found in this study, additional personal information about the users writing the review such as photos or other social media links may make a significant difference in the decision-making process.
Highlights
Because of the Internet, online review portals in the form of electronic word-of-mouthhave become a key source for consumers to obtain detailed information from people sharing their past experiences [1]. eWOM is defined as “any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about a product or company made available to a large audience of both people and institutions via the Internet” [2]
In addition to consulting with friends and relatives, consumers today rely on eWOM for valuable information about products, especially for the hospitality, healthcare, e-commerce and tourism industries [3,4,5], meaning their decision making has become influenced by this eWOM information [6]
This study examined the effects of the decision aids of reputation score, reaction to a review and number of previous reviews on the decision-making process of users reading an online consumer review as well as the effect of the anonymity of the user posting the reviews and the valence of the reviews
Summary
Because of the Internet, online review portals in the form of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM)have become a key source for consumers to obtain detailed information from people sharing their past experiences [1]. eWOM is defined as “any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about a product or company made available to a large audience of both people and institutions via the Internet” [2]. EWOM is defined as “any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about a product or company made available to a large audience of both people and institutions via the Internet” [2] People share this information in the form of blogs (e.g., tumblr.com), reviews on consumer review websites (e.g., yelp.com, google reviews), e-commerce websites (e.g., amazon.com, alibaba.com), or the official product website (e.g., nike.com, marriot.com, earlestreetkitchenandbar.com). In addition to consulting with friends and relatives, consumers today rely on eWOM for valuable information about products, especially for the hospitality, healthcare, e-commerce and tourism industries [3,4,5], meaning their decision making has become influenced by this eWOM information [6] These reviews are important as they offer an avenue for consumers to use for judging a product’s quality and value before buying it.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
