An Empirical Examination of the Influence of Information and Source Characteristics on Consumers' Adoption of Online Reviews

Abstract

The growth of online commerce has given consumers a number of convenient options to shop from. This has led to the proliferation of e-commerce players that offer variety of products and services with customer-centric terms and conditions. However, absence of avenues to test the product(s) before buying, shoppers perceive inherent risk associated with online buying, especially related to products’ quality and features, terms and conditions of sales, etc. To overcome this pre-purchase dissonance and compensate for the lack of previous experience, they look for reliable information and guidance. Hence, to make decisions, e-buyers rely on the reviews provided by other shoppers. Therefore, it becomes imperative for e-retailers to determine antecedent factors that influence the adoption of online reviews. Using heuristicsystematic model, this study has identified the relative significance of information credibility, argument quality, quantity sufficiency and source credibility in influencing the adoption of reviews available online. It was observed that the two categories of influencers impact the reviews’ adoption albeit through the two mediators - perceived usefulness and perceived value of reviews. Theoretical and practical implications have also been highlighted.