The usefulness of online reviews in financial services Online publication date: Tue, 15-Mar-2016
by Monica D. Guillory; Ritu Lohtia; Naveen Donthu
International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing (IJEMR), Vol. 7, No. 1, 2016
Abstract: As consumers become savvier in their consumption process, they seek out sources of information that will help them in their decision-making. Online reviews have become an important part of this process. Shoppers will search the internet for product information, which includes expert or editorial reviews and user-generated content. In this scenario-based experimental study, we examine the effect of review source, user or expert, on their usefulness to consumer reviews, and the impact of valence and internet experience on that usefulness in the financial services industry. Our research demonstrates that there is no significant difference between the usefulness of user reviews and expert reviews alone. However, we also show that both internet experience and valance can have an influence. Our research demonstrates that although the fundamental theories developed in marketing apply to this medium, we need to continue to do research to understand how they specifically apply to social media.
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