Influence of movie-related online consumer reviews on movie choice: are there generational differences in processing information cues?

PurposeTo understand how three features of online consumer reviews - the strength of persuasiveness in online consumer reviews (argument quality), the number of online consumer reviews (volume of reviews), and source credibility – are related to the behavioural intentions in the movie consumption context. Besides, the present study aims to explore intergenerational differences (X, Y, and Z) in the patterns of association between three characteristics of online consumer reviews (argument quality, volume of reviews, and source credibility) and an individual’s choice of a movie intended to be watched.Design/methodology/approachThe study sample (n = 518) was recruited from a population of users of IMDb living in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Structural equation modelling and multi-group analysis were used to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results revealed that argument quality, the volume of reviews, and source credibility of movie-related online consumer reviews are positively related to the intention to watch a movie for all three generational cohorts (X, Y, and Z). Regarding biases in processing information cues, our findings indicate that movie viewers from all three generations (X, Y, and Z) make inferences between source credibility and argument quality. However, biases in the relation between the volume of reviews and the argument quality were found only among X-ers and Y-ers but not among Z-ers.Originality/valueThe present study contributes to the eWOM research stream by examining the role of different characteristics of online consumer reviews (argument quality, the volume of reviews, and the source credibility) in movie consumption. Moreover, it sheds light on how argument quality, the volume reviews and the source credibility interact with the behavioural intentions of different generations and whether these interactions exhibit similarities or differences across three distinct generation cohorts: X-ers, Y-ers, and Z-ers.