The influence of consumer reviews on the Internet on purchasing decisions

Before the Internet as a source of information existed, consumers could use product evaluations by sellers and trade journals as well as by experts or laypersons among acquaintances before making purchase decisions. Today, the Internet offers a wide range of consumer ratings and recommendations that can influence purchasing decisions (e.g., Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006). However, the importance of these compared to traditional information sources has not been experimentally investigated so far. In the present study, we used a choice-based conjoint analysis with 100 test persons (Internet users) to elicit the benefits of four information sources (trade journal, online community, personal expert, layperson from acquaintances) for purchase decisions (product categories cell phones and hotels). The information sources differed significantly from each other (main effect: p<.001; all corrected individual comparisons: p<.001). The personal expert had the highest utility value in both product categories, followed by the trade journal (for cell phones) or the Internet community (for hotels). Age and gender effects did not emerge. The own attribution of competence correlated negatively with the importance of expert recommendations. Contrary to previous survey results, the influence of online ratings must be put into perspective compared to conventional expert recommendations.