| dc.description.abstract | Checking online reviews before purchasing has become a no-brainer today, with
86% of consumers reading reviews before visiting a local business (BrightLocal,
2018). More than just a way of knowing what to expect, reviews can also encourage
consumption (Chevalier & Mayzlin 2006), or encourage consumers not to consume:
43% of consumers will not use a business if it has less than 4 stars (BrightLocal,
2018). Previous research demonstrated that reading online reviews before
purchasing is a way to reduce purchase risk by seeking more information from a
third party (Chakravarty, Liu, and Mazumdar 2010). Consumers appreciate being
able to read Online Customer Reviews (OCR) because they find them to be a more
credible source of information than the usual sales pitch (Dewenter and Heimeshoff
2015). More than useful, customer reviews are also extremely powerful, being a
one-to-many means of communication, between one writer and many readers
(Litvin et al., 2008). | en_US |
