Understanding the role of argument quality in the adoption of online reviews

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a research model that examines the effect of argument quality and argument perspective on the adoption of online reviews in a value-based decision model. In addition, the paper investigates the moderating effects of argument quality from needs theory. Design/methodology/approach – To validate the research model, a questionnaire survey was conducted in the Chinese online shopping context. Hypotheses were tested using partial least squares analysis on a data set of 208 online consumers. Findings – The results suggest that argument quality and argument perspective have positive impacts on perceived value, further influencing the adoption of online reviews. Moreover, the results confirm that the information credibility and quantity sufficiency of online reviews are positively associated with argument quality. The findings also indicate that argument quality mediates the relationship between argument perspective and perceived value. Originality/value – This work contributes to the literature by employing a value-based decision model to study the adoption of online reviews in the online shopping context, as well as the moderating effect of argument quality on the argument perspective to perceived value. The main conclusions of this study can be valuable to online marketing managers.