The good, the bad, and the expert: How consumer expertise affects review valence effects on purchase intentions in online product reviews

Abstract

This study aims to shed more light on the question whether, and under what circumstances, valence affects consumers' intention to buy a product after reading an online review. We hypothesize that receiver expertise could possibly moderate (a) the impact of review valence on consumers' purchase intentions, and (b) the asymmetric effects of positive and negative reviews. To test these hypotheses, we conducted an experiment, exposing participants (n = 470) to reviews varying in valence (i.e., positive, neutral, negative), with purchase-intention as the dependent variable. The results support the moderating role of receiver expertise for both the influence and weight of review valence effects. This explains the inconsistent results for review valence reported in previous studies.