Online consumer reviews (OCRs) have become one of the most helpful and influential information in consumers purchase decisions. However, the proliferation of OCRs has made it difficult for consumers ...to orientate themselves with the wealth of reviews available. Therefore, it is paramount for online organizations to understand the determinants of perceived information diagnosticity in OCRs. In this study, we investigate consumer perceptions and we adopt the Elaboration Likelihood Model to analyze the influence of central (long, relevant, current, and factual OCRs) and peripheral cues (source credibility, overall ranking scores) on perceived information diagnosticity (PID). We consider the potential moderating effect of consumer involvement, and tested the robustness of the theoretical framework across time.
Based on two surveys carried out in 2011 and in 2016, this study demonstrates the dynamic nature of the antecedents of PID in e-WOM. We found that long reviews are not perceived as helpful, while relevant and current reviews as well as overall ranking scores are perceived as diagnostic information in both samples. The significance of the predicting power of review factuality and source credibility has evolved over time. Both central (review quality dimensions) and peripheral cues (ranking score) were found to influence PID in high-involvement decisions.
•We study the antecedents of information diagnosticity in consumer reviews over time.•Long reviews are not perceived as diagnostic information.•Relevant reviews and overall ranking are perceived as diagnostic over time.•The influence of review factuality and source credibility has evolved over time.•Central and peripheral cues influence information diagnosticity in high-involvement.
With the ever-increasing popularity of online consumer reviews, understanding what makes an online review believable has attracted increased attention from both academics and practitioners. Drawing ...on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), this study examines four information cues used to evaluate the credibility of online reviews: Argument quality, source credibility, review consistency, and review sidedness, under different levels of involvement and expertise. We conducted an online survey that involved users of Epinions.com, a popular online consumer review website, to test the research model empirically. Consistent with previous research, the results reveal that argument quality, a central cue, was the primary factor affecting review credibility. Participants also relied on peripheral cues such as source credibility, review consistency, and review sidedness when evaluating online consumer reviews. Review sidedness had a stronger impact on review credibility when the recipient had a low involvement level and a high expertise level. However, the other interaction effects were not significant. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these results. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
This study investigates the moderating effect of recommendation source credibility on the causal relationships between informational factors and recommendation credibility, as well as its moderating ...effect on the causal relationship between recommendation credibility and recommendation adoption. Using data from 199 responses from a leading online consumer discussion forum in China, we find that recommendation source credibility significantly moderates two informational factors' effects on readers' perception of recommendation credibility, each in a different direction. Further, we find that source credibility negatively moderates the effect of recommendation credibility on recommendation adoption.
•We probe source credibility's moderating role in the model.•Source credibility has moderating effect with both informational factors.•Source credibility has moderating effect with recommendation credibility.
Companies increasingly use micro-celebrities for product endorsement. However, there are concerns around the self-presentation and credibility of this source of information online. This study ...examines the relationships between source credibility, self-presentation, and consumer behavior towards micro-celebrity endorsements. In-depth interviews were conducted with 38 female active users of Instagram, from Russia, to explore the impact of micro-celebrities' credibility and self-presentation upon consumer purchase decisions. This study attempts to construct an extended source credibility framework applicable to the online context. The findings show that users deem micro-celebrities credible if they follow certain criteria of online behavior and self-presentation.
Nowadays social network influencers play an important role in marketing by introducing products to their audience. In this article, we investigate the persuasion cues related to beauty and fashion ...influencers present on YouTube and Instagram. More precisely, we investigate how the para-social interaction (PSI) the audience creates with the online influencer, along with their perceived credibility, are related to the purchase intention and how they are, in turn, related to the social and physical attractiveness and attitude homophily. We base our research on four beauty influencers popular in France and control our results by the age of the participants and by the influencer. We find that attitude homophily is positively related to PSI but, surprisingly, the physical attractiveness shows negative relationship or no evidence of relationship. Both credibility of the influencers and PSI exhibit significant and positive relationships to purchase intention.
•We study how the credibility of the blogger and para-social interaction (PSI) are related and influence the purchase intention.•We collect a survey-based dataset related to four beauty and fashion bloggers in France: EnjoyPhoenix, DazzlingDrew, Sananas2016 and Georgia Secret (Horackova).•A partial least squares (PLS) approach was used to test the model. Multi-group analysis by age and by influencer were performed.•Attitude homophily is strongly related to both credibility and para-social interaction, which are positively related to the purchase intention.•No evidence that social or physical attractiveness is related to para-social interaction, particularly for the young population.
In the past few years, expenditure on influencer marketing has grown exponentially. The present study involves preliminary research to understand the mechanism by which influencer marketing affects ...consumers via social media. It proposes an integrated model-the social media influencer value model-to account for the roles of advertising value and source credibility. To test this model, we administered an online survey among social media users who followed at least one influencer. Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling results show that the informative value of influencer-generated content, influencer's trustworthiness, attractiveness, and similarity to the followers positively affect followers' trust in influencers' branded posts, which subsequently influence brand awareness and purchase intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
There is a systematic and suggestive analogy between grounding and causation. In my view, this analogy is no coincidence. Grounding and causation are alike because grounding is a type of causation: ...metaphysical causation. In this paper I defend the identification of grounding with metaphysical causation, drawing on the causation literature to explore systematic connections between grounding and metaphysical dependence counterfactuals, and I outline a non‐reductive counterfactual theory of grounding along interventionist lines.
This study examines the impacts of news veracity, source credibility, collective social endorsement, and perceptions of Twitter's utility on perceived credibility of and engagement with social media ...news posts. We conducted a 2 (Veracity: real vs. fake) × 2 (Source Credibility: credible vs. non-credible) x 2 (Collective Social Endorsement: high vs. low) online experiment (N = 271). In processing news posts, news veracity and source credibility influenced users' perceptions of post credibility, in that real news posts from credible sources were perceived as more credible than fake news posts from non-credible sources. Contrary to previous findings, social endorsement cues did not affect users' perceptions of post credibility or news engagement intent. More importantly, users' perceptions of Twitter's helpfulness in staying informed were associated with post credibility and intent to ‘like’ or share. Users with higher perceptions of Twitter's helpfulness were more likely to perceive posts as credible and more likely to engage with posts on social media. The results of this study have important implications for future research on news assessment and spread on social media.
•News veracity and source credibility influence assessments of post credibility.•Social endorsement does not affect post credibility perceptions or behavioral intent.•Twitter believers more likely perceive posts as credible and engage on social media.
Previous research established that readers acquire accurate and inaccurate information from fiction. The current study explored factors that might moderate these effects. Participants read fictional ...stories that each contained three assertions. The first two assertions in each story were either correct information or implausible misinformation, allowing a manipulation of the (implicit) credibility of the narrator. The last assertion in each story was the critical one, and was correct information, implausible misinformation, or plausible misinformation. After reading, participants answered general knowledge questions that were related to the critical assertions they encountered during reading. Encountering misinformation led to lower accuracy than being presented with correct information, and being presented with plausible misinformation led to higher production of that misinformation. The narrator credibility manipulation interacted with the type of critical assertion: When the critical assertion was presented accurately in a story, credible narrators presenting true critical assertions led to greater accuracy on the general knowledge test than when noncredible narrators presented this same information. These findings are discussed with respect to theories of validation during language comprehension.
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