The Effect of On-Line Consumer Reviews on Consumer Purchasing Intention: The Moderating Role of Involvement
Do-Hyung Park, Jumin Lee, and Ingoo Han
International Journal of Electronic Commerce,
Volume 11, Number 4, Summer 2007, pp. 125.
Abstract: On-line consumer reviews, functioning both as informants and as recommenders, are important in making purchase decisions and for product sales. Their persuasive impact depends on both their quality and their quantity. This paper uses the elaboration likelihood model to explain how level of involvement with a product moderates these relationships. The study produces three major findings: (1) the quality of on-line reviews has a positive effect on consumers’ purchasing intention, (2) purchasing intention increases as the number of reviews increases, and (3) low-involvement consumers are affected by the quantity rather than the quality of reviews, but high-involvement consumers are affected by review quantity mainly when the review quality is high. These findings have implications for on-line sellers in terms of how to manage on-line consumer reviews.
Key Words and Phrases: Consumer involvement, elaboration likelihood model, electronic word-of-mouth, on-line consumer review, on-line word of mouth, product review.