The Effect of On-Line Consumer Reviews on Consumer Purchasing Intention: The Moderating Role of Involvement

TLDR

Online consumer reviews act as both informants and recommenders, shaping purchase decisions, with their persuasive power contingent on review quality and quantity. The study applies the elaboration likelihood model to investigate how product involvement moderates the effects of review quality and quantity on purchasing intention. Using this model, the authors analyze how varying levels of involvement influence the impact of review characteristics on consumer intentions. The findings reveal that review quality boosts purchasing intention, a greater number of reviews increases intention, and low‑involvement consumers are driven mainly by quantity, whereas high‑involvement consumers are influenced by quantity only when review quality is high.

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.