Title: A comparison of consumer reviews on the sales of experience and search goods

Authors: Bin Wang

Addresses: College of Business Administration, University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX 78539, USA

Abstract: Online consumer ratings and reviews have become very popular among online retailers and are found to be influential in affecting the sales of experience goods. However, the effects of such ratings and reviews on the sales of search or quasi-experience goods remain unknown. Using data collected from Amazon.com, this research examines how the impacts of consumer ratings and reviews differ across product categories. The results suggest that the sales of experience goods such as books are affected by consumer ratings and reviews, but the sales of quasi-experience and search goods such as digital cameras and USB flash drives are not. In addition, as the price of an experience item increases, consumer ratings and reviews become more influential on sales. In this paper, theoretical and practical implications of the research results are discussed.

Keywords: word of mouth; WoM; search goods; digital cameras; USB flash drives; experience goods; books; electronic commerce; e-commerce; Amazon.com; consumer reviews; online ratings; consumer ratings; online reviews; product categories; product prices; sales.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSS.2013.058228

International Journal of Services and Standards, 2013 Vol.8 No.4, pp.332 - 346

Received: 13 Aug 2013
Accepted: 24 Aug 2013
Published online: 30 Sep 2014 *

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