Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/311907 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Citation: 
[Journal:] Electronic Markets [ISSN:] 1422-8890 [Volume:] 32 [Issue:] 3 [Publisher:] Springer [Place:] Berlin, Heidelberg [Year:] 2022 [Pages:] 1187-1220
Publisher: 
Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Abstract: 
Consumer-generated reviews play a decisive role in creating trust and facilitating transactions on digital platforms. However, prior research shows various problems, e.g., only a small number of consumers providing reviews, fake reviews, and inconsistent reviews. We use an experiment in the context of a restaurant booking platform to examine the impact of inconsistent reviews on the duration of consumers' transaction decisions. In a second experiment, we investigate the relative importance of the review components in the case of inconsistent reviews. Drawing on the dual-process theory and media richness theory, we predict that inconsistent reviews result in a longer time required for consumers' transaction decisions (H1) and lead to users' transaction decisions being predominantly based on the qualitative component (H2). Although we do not find general support that inconsistent restaurant reviews negatively determine the duration of transaction decisions, we find evidence that in the case of inconsistent restaurant reviews, the polarity of the qualitative component is crucial for both the duration of the transaction decision and the decision itself.
Subjects: 
Consumer reviews
Online reviews
Inconsistent reviews
Reputation
Digital platform
Consumer decision-making
JEL: 
M31
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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