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Engaging customers through credible and useful reviews: the role of online trust

Musarrat Shaheen (Department of Human Resource, ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE University), IBS Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India)
Farrah Zeba (Department of Marketing and Strategy, ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE University), IBS Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India)
Namrata Chatterjee (Department of Human Resource, ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE University), IBS Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India)
Raveesh Krishnankutty (Department of Finance and Economics, Rajagiri Business School, Kochi, India)

Young Consumers

ISSN: 1747-3616

Article publication date: 1 October 2019

Issue publication date: 13 May 2020

3108

Abstract

Purpose

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is growing rapidly and the e-retailers are finding it pertinent to enhance customers’ online shopping experiences and engage them with e-commerce portals. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual model of customer engagement, where credibility and usefulness of online reviews are found to trigger the adoption of reviews and customer trust that augments customer engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey method design has been used to capture responses from 219 young customers (university students) of a reputed university in India. The hypothesized relationships have been examined through multiple regression analysis.

Findings

The findings of this study corroborate that the credibility and information usefulness of online reviews induce the adoption of reviews and propensity to trust e-commerce websites. The propensity to trust the reviews has been found to lead the adoption of reviews. The adoption of reviews is found to have a significant impact on the customer’ engagement with these portals.

Research limitations/implications

The present study contributes to the theories of online marketing in the space of e-shopping, online reviews, customer trust, customer engagement and online shopping behavior. Further, this study provides a framework for managers to engage customers by triggering customers’ online trust through the facilitation of credible and useful reviews.

Originality/value

The study aims at understanding the role of different attributes associated with the online reviews’ credibility and information usefulness in driving customer engagement with specific focus on online shopping through the utility of online devices. The study is one of the pioneering empirical studies that explore the role of online reviews in driving customer engagement.

Keywords

Citation

Shaheen, M., Zeba, F., Chatterjee, N. and Krishnankutty, R. (2020), "Engaging customers through credible and useful reviews: the role of online trust", Young Consumers, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 137-153. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-01-2019-0943

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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