The Valence of Online Consumer Reviews and Purchase Decision: Examining the Moderating Effects of Product Type and Consumer Expertise

The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effects of product type and consumer knowledge on the relationship between online consumer reviews and purchase decision. An experiment was conducted to test the hypotheses. The results substantiate the argument that the valence of online consumer reviews impacts the consumers’ purchase decision. That is, positive online consumer reviews will have positive effect on the purchase decision while the negative online consumer reviews impact the buying decision negatively. In addition, consumers are more likely to rely on the online consumer reviews to make the purchase decision for the durable products. For the non-durable products, online consumer review is only a supplemental information source for the purchase decision. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications conclude the remark