An Experimental Study on the Swaying Effect of Web-Personalization

The multi-dimensionality of online word-of-mouth not only provides rich attribute-level information but also influences the attribute preference construction of the online consumer. Though prior research affirms that consumer reviews impact the attribute preference assessment of a consumer in a non-personalized single-product environment, in a personalized, multiple alternative environment, consumers' behavior could be completely different and requires separate attention. Building on the information processing approach and constructive preference perspective, our research analyzes how personalization influences this swaying effect, i.e., the influence of personalization on the attribute preference of a consumer. We conducted a multi-group experiment with four different types of personalization - non-personalized information (no personalization), self-referent information, relevant information, and both self-referent and relevant information. Our results show evidence of a swaying effect of personalization on consumers' attribute preference for products. We found that users, when exposed to different types of personalization, experience different levels of the swaying effect on their attribute preferences of the product. This study contributes significantly to the current discourse on the setbacks of web personalization and also informs practicing managers on how to develop recommender system strategies.