Customer reviews are increasingly available online for a wide range of products and services. They supplement other information provided by electronic storefronts such as product descriptions, reviews from experts, and personalized advice generated by automated recommendation systems. While researchers have demonstrated the benefits of the presence of customer reviews to an online retailer, a largely uninvestigated issue is what makes customer reviews helpful to a consumer in the process of making a purchase decision. Drawing on the paradigm of search and experience goods from information economics, we develop and test a model of customer review helpfulness. An analysis of 1,587 reviews from Amazon.com across six products indicated that review extremity, review depth, and product type affect the perceived helpfulness of the review. Product type moderates the effect of review extremity on the helpfulness of the review. For experience goods, reviews with extreme ratings are less helpful than reviews with moderate ratings. For both product types, review depth has a positive effect on the helpfulness of the review, but the product type moderates the effect of review depth on the helpfulness of the review. Review depth has a greater positive effect on the helpfulness of the review for search goods than for experience goods. We discuss the implications of our findings for both theory and practice.

What Makes a Helpful Review? A Study of Customer Reviews on Amazon.com

As more and more marketers incorporate social media as an integral part of the promotional mix, rigorous investigation of the determinants that impact consumers’ engagement in eWOM via social networks is becoming critical. Given the social and communal characteristics of social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, MySpace and Friendster, this study examines how social relationship factors relate to eWOM transmitted via online social websites. Specifically, a conceptual model that identifies tie strength, homophily, trust, normative and informational interpersonal influence as an important antecedent to eWOM behaviour in SNSs was developed and tested. The results confirm that tie strength, trust, normative and informational influence are positively associated with users’ overall eWOM behaviour, whereas a negative relationship was found with regard to homophily. This study suggests that product-focused eWOM in SNSs is a unique phenomenon with important social implications. The implications for research...

Determinants of consumer engagement in electronic word-of-mouth in social networking sites

What makes a helpful online review? a study of customer reviews on amazon.com

The influence of user-generated content on traveler behavior: An empirical investigation on the effects of e-word-of-mouth to hotel online bookings

Consumer-generated content (CGC) is growing in importance. Especially online travel reviews written by consumers are ever more available and used to inform travel-related decisions. A Web-based survey of users of the most prominent travel review site, TripAdvisor, was conducted to investigate how other travellers’ reviews inform the trip planning process. Since current CGC statistics show generational and gender differences, the study also aimed at examining whether those carry over into the realm of travel review use. The results show that reviews are used mostly to inform accommodation decisions and are currently not used much for en route travel planning. Gender differences were found for perceived impacts of reviews, with females reaping greater benefits from using reviews, especially in terms of enjoyment and idea generation. Age differences occurred across a variety of perceptions and use behaviours. Implications for travel marketing and travel information systems design are provided.

Use and impact of online travel reviews

Online peer and editorial recommendations, trust, and choice in virtual markets

Flow and Internet shopping behavior: A conceptual model and research propositions

– To determine whether direct‐to‐consumer prescription drug advertising influences consumers' behavioral intentions., – Gathered data from 288 respondents using a pencil and paper mail survey. Respondents were asked about their knowledge and behavior regarding prescription drugs., – Indicated that while consumers generally have favorable perceptions of prescription drug advertising, their behavioral intentions are nevertheless influenced by a heightened awareness of specific branded drugs. Consumers feel empowered by the information provided in direct‐to‐consumer advertising and they are concerned about governmental attempts to regulate prescription drug advertising., – Data was collected from a relatively homogenous sample with respect to ethnicity. Future research efforts could include respondents from diverse ethnic backgrounds and could incorporate questions regarding respondents' actual behaviors with respect to branded prescription drug medications., – Useful information for researchers, public policy makers and prescription drug manufacturers. Results suggest that consumer motivation to request branded drugs may be impacted by factors related to the quality of advertisements, trust in their physician, and personal competence. Consumer interest in advertised drugs may also depend on the strength of the relationship that they have with their physician., – This research fills an identified gap in the literature. While researchers have examined consumers' general perceptions of direct‐to‐consumer prescription drug advertising, little research has been done on the link between consumer perceptions and behavioral intentions.

Direct‐to‐consumer prescription drug advertising: a study of consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions

This dissertation examines the impact of on-line interpersonal communication that occurs during consumer search processes for specific products on the Internet. While on-line communities have existed for many years, only recently have e-tailers begun to seriously examine the link between on-line word-of-mouth communication and on-line sales. The success of Internet sites such as E-pinions, where consumers share product related information, seems to indicate that communication between consumers can exert significant influence on the search process and the final purchase decision for specific products. The fact that the Internet provides consumers with a vast amount of product information and that there is now a proliferation of online peer reviewers who provide their own product evaluations raises several important questions. Do factors that are relevant to recommender selection within traditional word of mouth communication, such as tie-strength and recommender expertise, influence interpersonal communication within on-line environments? What source related factors influence consumer trust in the peer reviewer and do these vary depending on the purchase goal? 
We focus on consumer trust as the central construct that mediates the extent to which peer communication influences the decision-making process. Utilizing a three-dimensional conceptualization of trust as comprising of beliefs about competence, affiliation and moral integrity, we examine peer reviewer characteristics that could differentially impact these three dimensions. Specifically, we examine the importance of expertise and tie-strength within the context of trust formation during on-line decision-making. We hypothesize that each of these variables may influence trust more or less depending on the purchase context (e.g., utilitarian versus hedonic consumption). 
Specifically, we examine how the competence component of trust is related to the perceived expertise of the peer reviewer and how the affiliation component may be linked to the level of closeness (tie-strength) that exists between the consumer and the peer reviewer. We also manipulate the purchase goals of the consumer to show that the influence of peer recommender expertise and tie-strength can vary widely depending on the specific purchase objective.

Donnavieve Smith

Papers

Online peer and editorial recommendations, trust, and choice in virtual markets

Flow and Internet shopping behavior: A conceptual model and research propositions

Direct‐to‐consumer prescription drug advertising: a study of consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions

Trust me, would i steer you wrong? the influence of peer recommendations within virtual communities