The impact of online tax community advice on individual taxpayer decision making

Abstract

In this study, we examine the impact of advice shared on an online tax community and taxpayer decision making. Online tax communities are linked to major tax preparation software and provide a way for taxpayers to ask unique questions and receive responses. While online communities are intended to facilitate the transmission of unbiased advice between individual taxpayers, the quality, content, and source of responses can greatly vary. Drawing on the predictions of expectancy violations theory (EVT), we investigate two facets of provided advice: response provider expertise and response language concreteness. Our results indicate that taxpayers report more conservatively (more aggressively) when presented with advice from a deemed tax expert if concrete language (abstract language) is used. Further, we find that taxpayers' perceived usefulness of the response mediates this relationship. Collectively, we contribute to EVT and provide evidence on the recognition and use of online tax community responses.