The Effect of Experience Congruity on Repurchase Intention: The Moderating Role of Public Commitment

There is scant research examining the impact of posting reviews on the reviewer. To bridge that gap, we investigate the impact of other consumer online reviews (congruent versus incongruent) on the focal consumer’s repurchase intention, and propose that public commitment (posting a review) moderates the relationship. Our findings indicate that, when posting a review about their positive experience, consumers show similar levels of embarrassment regardless of whether other consumer reviews are congruent or incongruent with their own experience. Conversely, when the consumer doesn’t write a review, other consumers’ incongruent reviews induce feelings of embarrassment, thus diminishing attitude certainty and consequent repurchase intention. Additionally, reviewers felt marginally less embarrassed than nonreviewers when they were exposed to other consumers’ incongruent reviews. Conversely, nonreviewers felt less embarrassment than reviewers when exposed to other consumers’ congruent reviews. However, such an effect is mitigated when the focal consumer’s experience is negative. The study findings demonstrate that embarrassment and attitude certainty are the underlying mechanisms explaining the effects.