COMPARING THE IMPACT OF PRESENTATION FORMAT OF CONSUMER GENERATED REVIEWS ON SHOPPERS' DECISIONS IN AN ONLINE SOCIAL COMMERCE ENVIRONMENT

• Published in: Journal of electronic commerce research Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 22 - 45
• Main Authors: Diwanji, Vaibhav S, Cortese, Juliann
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Long Beach Journal of Electronic Commerce Research 01.02.2021
• Subjects: Between-subjects design; Brands; Conceptual models; Consumers; Decision making; Electronic commerce; Experiments; Feedback; Format; Information sharing; Laboratories; Media richness; Pandemics; Popularity; Product reviews; Shopping; Social networks; Social support; Technology; Technology Acceptance Model; Technology utilization; Vendors; Websites
• ISSN: 1938-9027; 1526-6133

This research compared the impact of the presentation format of consumer generated reviews on online shoppers' perceptions, attitudes, and purchase intentions within an online social commerce environment, using an integrated conceptual model that combined technology acceptance model and media richness theory. As a new stream in e-commerce, e-marketplaces are increasingly evolving into social commerce platforms that allow online shoppers to co-create brand-specific content to help their peers in the purchase decision-making process [Hajli 2015]. Presentation format of reviews was a between-subjects factor. 339 online shoppers participated in an online survey. The results indicated that technology acceptance and media richness factors influence shoppers' acceptance of reviews, and therefore, purchase intentions. This study discusses the implications for social commerce research, theory, and practice, and makes several useful recommendations for future research.