Blogs and Customer Reviews 1

Séverine Lantin

May 10, 2018

Consumer Behavior

Blogs and Customer Reviews

Blogs and Customer Reviews 2

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of online reviews on consumer purchasing
decisions through the completion of an analysis of published literature on the subject. Review
and synthesis of current published literature on the subject indicated that online reviews,
regardless of the format in which they are presented, have a marked influence on consumer
purchasing decisions. Highly positive reviews will increase consumer purchase likelihood, while
highly negative reviews decrease the likelihood of consumer purchase. Other factors, such as the
level of trust the consumer has in the vendor, the written quality of the review, the price of the
item, and similar concerns also influence the consumer’s willingness to purchase the product or
service he or she is investigating. While aggregate reviews can influence consumer decisions to a
small degree, they do so only in that they provide additional data that will aid the consumer in
making a decision as to whether to read individual reviews; it is the individual reviews that
influence the consumer’s willingness to purchase in a direct manner.

Over the course of the past decade, the practice of documenting and reviewing products
online has increased in popularity, allowing individuals of all lifestyles to provide their own
perspectives and opinions on different products and services available for purchase and or
consumption. Some people prefer to use an online blog as a means of conveying the information.
Still other reviewers prefer to use YouTube, offering a video narrative of the product or service
received. Another option is the provision of online reviews on sites integrated into purchase
websites, like reviews through Amazon, or standalone online review sites, like Yelp, as a means
of conveying their opinions. In spite of the increase in popularity of this practice, the true
question is whether this behavior works to influence customer purchase decisions. It can be
argued that blogs, videos, and customer reviews do serve to influence customer-purchasing
decisions.

Reviews and Consumer Purchase Decisions

Park and Nicolau (2015) noted that consumers use reviews as a means of simplifying the
information needed to make a purchase decision. This assessment was based on an analysis of
the effect of review ratings on consumer perceived usefulness and enjoyment obtained from the
purchase itself. The researchers utilized a sample pool of 5,090 reviews of 45 different
restaurants located in London and New York, respectively. The researchers indicated that
consumers took into account more extreme ratings, either extremely positive or extremely
negative, in influencing the decision making process, as compared to the effects of more
moderate reviews. The conclusion was that the degree of effect the review would have was
dependent upon the level or degree of positivity or negativity associated with the given location.
The researchers did not note whether a higher number of overall negative or overall positive
reviews served as an influencing factor to consumer purchase decisions. They simply conducted
an overall analysis of the available reviews, concluding that a highly negative review or a highly
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positive review would have a more likely influence on the decision of the consumer to purchase
items from the location.

Ziegele and Weber (2014) wished to explore the effects of online reviews in detail, opting
to compare the difference in effects of a single customer review versus the effects of aggregate
reviews on the product evaluations of online shoppers. The researchers noted that a great many
online sites that allow customers to post reviews give customers the option of viewing single
reviews as well as exploring the average ratings provided to a product by all those who have left
a review of the product. The researchers hypothesized that individual reviews would be more
influential to the average consumer than aggregate reviews (Ziegele & Weber 2014). The
analysis of the results of the study led the researchers to conclude that, as long as the individual
review was well argued and the information was presented clearly and concisely, the individual
review had a higher level of effect on the willingness of the online consumer to purchase the
product (Ziegele & Weber 2014). The researchers further noted that aggregate review effects
were weaker than overall effects and that the influence that the aggregate reviews had on
consumer purchase decisions were based solely on the buyer’s interpretation of overall consumer
satisfaction with the given item (Ziegele & Weber 2014). This suggests that the consumer treats
the individual review like he or she would if the individual was discussing the product with him
or her in a face-to-face context. If the reviewer is able to make a compelling argument for or
against the item, the consumer is willing to listen to that information and factor that information
into his or her purchase decision. If a compelling argument is not made, the potential effect of the
review is reduced. Furthermore, the aggregate data presented to the consumer is likely to be
viewed, but is less likely to influence the individual’s purchasing habits, though a high aggregate
of extreme positive or extreme negative reviews may influence the consumer to read individual
reviews, thereby influencing their purchase decision in an abstract, but not an impactful, manner.

Elwalda, Lu, and Ali (2016) indicated awareness of the fact that customer reviews could
have a degree of influence on consumer purchasing decisions. In light of this premise, the
researchers sought to identify the derived attributes present in online customer reviews. Using
the model of perceived derived attributes, which was based on a combination of the technology
acceptance model and the theory of planned behavior, the researchers sought to identify the
different attributes that positively affected areas of customer trust and purchasing decisions and
the perceived level of control derived from the presence of those attributes in influencing the
customer decision making process in a positive manner (Elwalda, Lu, & Ali 2016). The
researchers noted that the majority of past studies into the area of online consumer reviews were
primarily focused on the influence of the reviews on customer attentions, without concentrating
on the specific attributes of those reviews that resulted in the applied influence on consumer
purchase decisions (Elwalda, Lu, & Ali 2016). The sample used in the completion of the study
consisted of 489 survey responses from participants who indicated their frequent use of Amazon
for online shopping (Elwalda, Lu, & Ali 2016). The researchers concluded that the areas of the
review that were most likely to influence consumer purchase decisions were the perceived
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usefulness of the item, the perceived ease associated with use of the item, and the perceived
enjoyment of the item (Elwalda, Lu, & Ali 2016). The level of trust that the consumer has in the
online vendor influences the degree to which he or she reported allowing the reviews to
influence his or her decision in the product purchasing process (Elwalda, Lu, & Ali 2016). The
more that the product is indicated to be useful, easy to use, and enjoyed by those who have
purchased the item previously, the more likely the individual is to allow the review to sway his or
her decision to purchase the product or service, particularly if he or she has a high level of trust
in the online vendor.

Beneke, de Sousa, Mbuyu, and Wickham (2015) noted that a great deal of the literature
conducted regarding the effects of online reviews on consumer purchasing habits focused
primarily on the effects of the positive reviews, or if negative reviews were discussed, they were
discussed in relation to the positive reviews. The identified gap was that the exploration of the
sole effects of negative reviews on consumer purchasing habits was missing from the literature
(Beneke et al. 2015). Specifically, the researchers explored the effects of negative online reviews
on the areas of brand equity, product involvement, and the credibility of the source (Beneke et al.
2015). Using a sample of 236 respondents, and a 3 x 2 factorial experiment, looking at high
quality vs. low quality vs. no reviews against high levels of product involvement vs. low levels
of product involvement, the researchers were able to reach certain conclusions on the adverse
effects of negative online reviews (Beneke et al. 2015). The researchers noted that negative
online reviews had negative effects in the areas of brand equity and the decision of the consumer
to purchase the item and that the higher the level of product involvement held by the potential
consumer, the more detrimental the influence of a negative review on the consumer’s decision to
purchase the product (Beneke et al. 2015). The researchers noted that reviews of higher quality,
documenting specifics as to why the product was negative, had a higher detrimental effect than
those that were simply generally negative (Beneke et al. 2015).

Kostyra, Reiner, Natter, and Klapper (2016) chose to deconstruct the effects of online
reviews in three different areas of influence: brand of the item, price of the item, and attributes of
the product. The researchers conducted a quantitative experimental study with consumers
purchasing hypothetical objects in order to identify the influence of online reviews based on
areas of brand, price, and product attributes (Kostrya et al. 2016). Online reviews have a varying
effect on brand, with the reviews themselves taking higher priority and exerting greater influence
on the consumer’s willingness to purchase, as compared to the influence of the brand (Kostrya et
al. 2016). Price influenced the degree to which the online reviews played a part in the
consumer’s willingness to purchase the item. When it came to product attributes, the review had
a higher level of influence on the consumer’s willingness to purchase the product, as compared
to the specific attributes of the product itself (Kostrya et al. 2016). In other words, if the item in
question had attributes that appealed to the customer, but the majority of the reviews were
overwhelmingly negative, the features of the product would not sway the customer, with the
result being a decreased likelihood of product purchase. Reviews discussing quality of the items
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themselves were less likely to be factored in if the price point was low enough; however, if the
item had a high price point, reviews discussing quality in either an extreme positive or an
extreme negative light would influence the likelihood that the consumer would be willing to
purchase the object.

Conclusion

Analysis of the literature on the subject of consumer reviews on the willingness of the
consumer to purchase the object reviewed indicate that there are several factors to take into
consideration. Overall, the presence of an extreme positive review will influence consumer
willingness to purchase in a positive manner, and the presence of an extreme negative review
will influence customer willingness to purchase in a negative manner (Park & Nicolau, 2015).
Furthermore, unless there are a high number of overwhelmingly positive reviews, or a high
number of overwhelmingly negative reviews, the aggregate review data presented to the
consumer is less likely to influence the consumer’s willingness to purchase the item to any
degree at all (Ziegele & Weber 2014). The more succinct, more detailed the review, the more
likely the review would affect consumer-purchasing decisions, as long as the consumer already
had a high level of trust in the vendor itself (Elwalda, Lu & Ali 2016). Negative reviews are
detrimental to the brand in general and to the willingness of the consumer to purchase a given
product (Beneke et al. 2015). However, other factors, including the price point of the item, the
product attributes, and the brand of the item all have influencing roles on willingness to purchase
that must be taken into consideration when exploring the effects of online reviews on consumer
purchasing behavior as well (Kostrya et al., 2016). With that being stated, however, ultimately,
the willingness of the customer to allow the reviews to influence his or her perceptions
determines whether the reviews have an effect on consumer willingness to purchase.
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References

Beneke, J., de Sousa, S., Mbuyu, M. and Wickham, B. (2015). The effect of negative online
customer reviews on brand equity and purchase intention of consumer electronics in South
Africa. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 26(2), pp. 171-
201.

Elwalda, A., Lü, K. and Ali, M. (2016). Perceived derived attributes of online customer
reviews. Computers in Human Behavior, 56, pp. 306-319.

Kostyra, D., Reiner, J., Natter, M. and Klapper, D. (2016). Decomposing the effects of online
customer reviews on brand, price, and product attributes. International Journal of Research in
Marketing, 33(1), pp. 11-26.

Park, S. and Nicolau, J. (2015). Asymmetric effects of online consumer reviews. Annals of
Tourism Research, 50, pp.67-83.

Ziegele, M. and Weber, M. (2014). Example, please! Comparing the effects of single customer
reviews and aggregate review scores on online shoppers' product evaluations. Journal of
Consumer Behaviour, 14(2), pp. 103-114.