The Impacts of Online Reviews on Consumers Purchase Intention of Video Game Items in China

Abstract

As an important vehicle for audiences to gain information about video game items, online reviews have been wildly leveraged by game developers to conduct influencer marketing to promote game items in China. However, the commercial nature of sponsorship could threaten the perceived trustworthiness of influencers and online reviews. To achieve this, a valid sample of 289 Chinese game players was collected through the questionnaire survey, and experimental research with a between-subject design was conducted to compare the purchase intention of video game items in different consumer groups that were exposed to three types of reviews. The studys key finding is that sponsored influencer reviews will lead to lower consumer purchase intentions, compared to both user-generated reviews and influencer reviews.