Saliency effects of online reviews embedded in the description on sales: Moderating role of reputation

Abstract

This study explores the effects of online reviews embedded in the product description (OED) on sales. Drawing on the frameworks of previous studies on the saliency effect, the effects of online reviews, and seller reputation on sales, we propose that from the perspective of saliency effect, OED is a helpful tool for making purchase decisions, and reputation plays a moderating role in the relationship between OED and sales. We explore experimentally and empirically the roles of OED and reputation. Results indicate that OED has a positive effect on sales, and a high reputation strengthens the impact of OED on sales. Our findings demonstrate the importance of OED and reputation, as well as their significant practical implications for customers and online sellers.

How nutrition information influences online food sales

“…Logically, fixation duration on nutrition information should also influence consumer purchase decisions. The lab experiment enabled us to directly examine the information set used in purchase decisions (Wang et al 2016b. We used the total fixation duration (without zeros) to measure the mean duration of fixation among the AOIs in seconds.…”

“…To gain a more direct understanding of the impact that nutrition information has on consumer purchase decisions, we designed a lab experiment in which we tracked consumers' eye fixations when choosing a product. The eye-tracking system experiment allowed us to directly examine the information set is in purchase decisions (Wang et al 2016b. We expect that participants would pay attention to nutrition information, and those participants with longer fixation times would be more likely to choose a seller who offers such information.…”

“…Given that consumers use cues related to products (e.g., price, brand, and warranty) to make purchase decisions (Cox 1967;Olson and Jacoby 1972), online sellers provide particular features to differentiate from competitors. For example, sellers have adopted new ways of presenting reviews in their product descriptions to increase sales (Wang et al 2016b. In the case of food products, cues regarding nutrition information (Appendix 1) might be one differentiator to change perceived product quality. However, because online sellers already offer an abundance of available cues to inform and persuade consumers-such as price, seller reputation, history sales, and online reviews-this practice could lead to information overload.…”

Online review helpfulness: Impact of reviewer profile image

“…Online reviews have turned into a valuable information source that affects consumer choices. Their influence on consumer purchase intention [39], product choice [22], and sales [6,8,11,13,61,65] has been well documented in the literature.…”

Validação De Um Instrumento Para Mensurar Os Fatores De Design Em Sites De Comércio Social

“…Nesse sentido, as OPRs disponíveis nos sites de comércio social contribuem na redução da incerteza pelo consumidor ao tomar decisões de compra (WANG et al, 2016). Além disso, as recomendações de produtos online são uma fonte de informação essencial e tendem a influenciar a decisão do usuário (TAGLIAPIETRA, 2018;LI, 2019).…”