Additional reviews, perceived credibility and consumer online purchasing behavior: a study of university students in China

Abstract

Purpose

This study explores the link between additional reviews, credibility, and consumers’ online purchasing behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

We employ a 2 × 2 between-subjects design to measure subjects’ purchasing behavior with versus without additional reviews and with important versus non-important attributes. A total of 529 valid questionnaires are collected from university students across 30 Chinese provinces.

Findings

The addition of negative reviews to a positive initial review enhances consumers’ perceived credibility of the reviewer and the overall review content. This effect is positively moderated by the attribute importance in additional reviews. Moreover, we find that as the time interval increases, consumers’ perceived credibility gradually increases but eventually decreases after reaching a certain threshold. In addition, the attribute importance in additional reviews negatively moderates the impact of perceived credibility on consumer purchasing behavior.

Originality/value

Existing studies on first and subsequent reviews mainly focus on the difference in perceived usefulness between the two. They do not examine how additional reviews affect potential customers’ perceived credibility and their purchase decision-making. This study bridges the gap between the word-of-mouth literature and marketing practices.

Citation

Wang, X., Bai, X. and Zhao, L. (2024), "Additional reviews, perceived credibility and consumer online purchasing behavior: a study of university students in China", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-04-2024-0535