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Exploring the influence of online reviews and motivating factors on sales: A meta-analytic study and the moderating role of product category

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  • Li, Kunlin
  • Chen, Yuhan
  • Zhang, Liyi

Abstract

Online reviews, which significantly influence product sales, have been a central research topic in the field of marketing. Meanwhile, some motivating factors related to online retailers have been linked to product sales. While several articles have examined the impact between online reviews and motivating factors on product sales, many of the conclusions drawn are contradictory. From 28 studies focusing on online reviews and sales, this study performs a meta-analysis to analyze the true impacts of six review-related factors (i.e., the number of reviews, star ratings, standard deviation of ratings, helpfulness, review length and sentiment), and two motivating factors (i.e., price discounts and special shipping) on product sales. Meanwhile, this paper also studies how one product-related factor (i.e., product age) and one reviewer-related factor (i.e., reviewer's reputation) influence the relationship between online reviews and product sales. In addition, to study the moderating effect of product category, we divide the selected literature into two subgroups which are search and experience products. The results indicate that only review length and special shipping have no significant impact on product sales, while product category has a valid and specific moderating effect on the relationship between these determinants and sales. The presented conclusions will have important implications for academic research and for future industry practice.

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  • Li, Kunlin & Chen, Yuhan & Zhang, Liyi, 2020. "Exploring the influence of online reviews and motivating factors on sales: A meta-analytic study and the moderating role of product category," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:55:y:2020:i:c:s0969698919304011
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102107
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    4. Soyoung An & Weolho Kim & Bongkoo Lee & Jungho Suh, 2022. "A Study on the Tourism-Related Information Consumption Process of Tourists on Social Networking Sites," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-16, March.
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    7. Ganguly, Boudhayan & Sengupta, Pooja & Biswas, Baidyanath, 2024. "What are the significant determinants of helpfulness of online review? An exploration across product-types," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Liyi Zhang & Daomeng Guo & Xuan Wen & Yiran Li, 2022. "Effect of other visible reviews’ votes and personality on review helpfulness evaluation: an event-related potentials study," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 351-375, June.
    9. Hossin Md Altab & Mu Yinping & Hosain Md Sajjad & Adasa Nkrumah Kofi Frimpong & Michelle Frempomaa Frempong & Stephen Sarfo Adu-Yeboah, 2022. "Understanding Online Consumer Textual Reviews and Rating: Review Length With Moderated Multiple Regression Analysis Approach," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.
    10. Kong, Juan & Lou, Chen, 2023. "Do cultural orientations moderate the effect of online review features on review helpfulness? A case study of online movie reviews," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    11. Fernandes, Semila & Panda, Rajesh & Venkatesh, V.G. & Swar, Biranchi Narayan & Shi, Yangyan, 2022. "Measuring the impact of online reviews on consumer purchase decisions – A scale development study," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    12. Verma, Deepak & Prakash Dewani, Prem & Behl, Abhishek & Pereira, Vijay & Dwivedi, Yogesh & Del Giudice, Manilo, 2023. "A meta-analysis of antecedents and consequences of eWOM credibility: Investigation of moderating role of culture and platform type," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    13. Fan, Liu & Wang, Yawei & Mou, Jian, 2024. "Enjoy to read and enjoy to shop: An investigation on the impact of product information presentation on purchase intention in digital content marketing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    14. Moon, Sangkil & Jalali, Nima & Erevelles, Sunil, 2021. "Segmentation of both reviewers and businesses on social media," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    15. Baidyanath Biswas & Pooja Sengupta & Boudhayan Ganguly, 2022. "Your reviews or mine? Exploring the determinants of “perceived helpfulness” of online reviews: a cross-cultural study," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(3), pages 1083-1102, September.
    16. Ku, Hsuan-Hsuan & Shang, Rong-An & Fu, Yi-Fan, 2021. "Social learning effects of complaint handling on social media: Self-construal as a moderator," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    17. Perez, Dikla & Stockheim, Inbal & Baratz, Guy, 2022. "Complimentary competition: The impact of positive competitor reviews on review credibility and consumer purchase intentions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    18. Kübler, Raoul V. & Lobschat, Lara & Welke, Lina & van der Meij, Hugo, 2024. "The effect of review images on review helpfulness: A contingency approach," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 5-23.

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