Title – Impact of online reviews on customer trust
Author – Pranav Zope
Roll No – 110
Div- B
Literature Review:
1. Online Reviews & Consumer Trust
The present study (Araujo Soares, et al, 2022) analyses the relationship between online reviews and consumer trust in online stores, considering the conjoint effects of the characteristics of online reviews and product offers in the social commerce context. Methods: the study is characterized as a laboratory experiment that simulated the environment of an online store considering different scenarios, totalling 602 cases for analysis. Results: the results indicate that the relationship established between the consumer and the reviewers moderates the relationship between reviews and trust, suggesting that positive and negative reviews from friends and acquaintances affect the consumer’s trust more than those reviews made from strangers. However, this effect is not always significant, depending on the price offered. Still, the type of the product moderates the effect of the online reviews on trust when the store displays higher prices than the competition. In such cases, the impact of reviews on trust is more intense in high-value product advertisements. Conclusions: the study can help managers and website developers create more appropriate processes and strategic alternatives in the social commerce context, based on a better understanding of the relationships among the variables studied in this research.
2. Reviews, Trust & Consumer Equity
(Asano, et al, 2019) used a restricted probability sample of 269 participants, the key findings were: (a) that negative online reviews have a higher negative impact on customer equity than positive online reviews; this is a significant finding because previous findings were mainly short-term focus (on willingness to purchase) and long-term measurement such as ‘customer equity’ could provide management with new knowledge on negative online reviews; (b) ‘brand equity’ driver has the greatest impact on customer equity as compared to the other two drivers (‘value’ and ‘relationship’). This is a significant new finding which could assist management in redirecting its resources; (c) brand trust was unexpectedly found to have a negative relationship with the drivers of customer equity.This could be that long-term outcome as brand trust may prove to be difficult to measure in a cross-sectional study. Furthermore, online reviews have no significant relationship with ‘brand trust.’ This may be that brand trust may be more important in short-term outcomes with online reviews.
3. Online Review Characteristics & Trust
(Dong, et al, 2019) studied that consumers and companies are increasingly concerned about fake reviews posted online. To make appropriate managerial decisions about online reviews, it is crucial to understand what drives consumer trust in online reviews. Research examining the linkage between online reviews and trust is sporadic and lacks a comprehensive framework. To address this gap, this research investigates the individual and joint impact of three review attributes—valence, rationality, and source—on the benevolence, ability, and integrity dimensions of trustworthiness of the reviewer, which further determines trust in online reviews. Using behavioral experiments, the study finds that positive reviews, factual reviews, and reviews appearing on social networks lead to perceptions of greater benevolence, ability, and integrity than negative reviews, emotional reviews, and reviews appearing on retailer sites, respectively. In addition, review rationality and review source moderate the link between review valence and the dimensions of reviewer trustworthiness: the effect of valence is stronger for emotional reviews than for factual reviews and for retailer sites than for social networks. Furthermore, the study analyzes data from the United States and China to examine generalizability and cultural nuances of the proposed relationships. This study provides important insights into consumer trust in online reviews and offers guidelines for decision making in communication strategy, system design, and operations by manufacturers, retailers, service providers, and online platforms to more effectively manage online reviews.
4. Impact of Reviews on Sustainable Food Products
This research (Hussain, et al, 2025) analyzes the effect of online reviews on the adoption of organic goods in the context of a sustainable product through the serial mediation of consumer trust and perceived value. In marketing, online reviews are an important aspect of newly emerging product and service strategies as they affect customer behavior and perception regarding the quality, credibility, and value of a product. Primary data was collected from 290 respondents in Pakistan using a structured questionnaire. According to the findings of the study, it was found that online reviews are profoundly consequential to the sustained adoption of organic food products, with consumer trust and perceived value as the main mediating variables. Online trust increases consumers’ confidence in the product, which enhances the perceived value and adoption rate of the product. The mediation analysis also corroborated that the collective moderating effect of trust and perceived value cuts across the positive effects produced by the online reviews in a consumer’s decision. The outcomes provide useful information for marketers who operate within the organic food sector, particularly on how consumer trust can be enhanced, and product value can be articulated via online reviews to promote sustainable consumption practices.
5. Customer Engagement Through Online Trust.
(Shaheen, et al, 2020) the purpose of 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.
6. Vendor Guarantees, Reviews & Buying Intentions
This study (Stouthuysen,et al, 2018) experimentally investigates the effects of vendor-specific guarantees and customer reviews (1) on the formation of initial consumers’ trust —separating institutional and competence trust—and (2) on first-time consumers’ intentions to buy. In addition, we examine how differing levels of online shopping experience moderate the relationship between trust and consumers’ intentions to buy. The empirical results of the study reveal the relative effectiveness of the two vendor mechanisms, with vendor-specific guarantees having a more positive effect on institutional trust and customer reviews on competence trust. While our results also show that initial trust is a central concept in explaining consumers’ intentions to buy, we find that this relationship is more pronounced for competence trust in case when consumers are more experienced with online shopping. Meanwhile, institutional trust seems a necessary prerequisite for both experienced and inexperienced online shoppers to actually buy from an unfamiliar vendor. Our study provides important managerial implications that are of interest to online vendors, especially for newly established or unknown web-based businesses.
7. Effect of OCR on Purchase Intention
(Dhahak, et al, 2020) The goal of this research is to examine the impact of Online Consumer Review (OCR) on online customer purchasing intention in online shopping sector in Turkey. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, quantitative research techniques were utilized. Primary data of the study was collected through a self-administered Likert type online survey. In total, 200 volunteer participants familiar with online shopping filled the study survey. The research model of the study was analysed with the help of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equational model (SEM) techniques. Findings – According to the findings of this research, customer decision to shop online from vendors and their trust in them are influenced by perceived effectiveness, perceived ease of use, perceived control, perceived usefulness, and perceived usefulness from OCRs. Discussion – OCRs has recently been known and considered as a very important tool for both businesses and customers to get information needed about any products and services through different experiences of previous customers. This study investigated the role of OCRs in influencing online customer purchasing intention. Trust was found to have a mediator role between OCR related factors and online purchase intention. Finding of this research can be used by online business owners to enhance the experience level of their customers.
8. Eco-Friendly Claims, Reviews & Consumer Response
(Sarmad,et al, 2024) Manufacturers have to offer truthful information about their ecofriendly goods to win over consumers. However, some producers lie to consumers by claiming that their goods are completely green. Therefore, we need to conduct studies on consumer behavior and their response to information about green goods. This research investigates the relationship between the asymmetry of information about green products, the quality of online reviews, consumers’ trust to believe, review adoption, and their purchase behavior. The survey included 300 consumers who purchased green goods. Partial least squares structural equation modelling evaluated the data for the research, and social media channels shared an online questionnaire for the research. The results show that online review quality positively affects propensity to trust reviews, review adoption, and purchase behavior. We also found that information asymmetry positively influences online review quality, adoption, and green product purchasing behavior. The propensity to trust reviews was beneficial for both purchase behavior and review adoption, and review adoption was helpful for the purchase of green products. Our findings show that information asymmetry highlights the importance of consumer reviews to consumers’ decisions to purchase green products. Therefore, consumer feedback and knowledge asymmetry both influence the use of green products. Manufacturers of environmentally friendly goods must adjust their products, production methods, packaging, and advertising to balance perceived value and consumer trust while developing their green marketing strategy.
9. Profile Photos’ Impact in Online Reviews
(Broeder, Peter, 2022) In the context of the continuous expansion of e-commerce worldwide, online consumer reviews have become the most accessible and influential form of electronic worth-of-mouth available to everyone on the internet. This raises a challenge for companies with local as well as global customers. It is germane to know whether there are cultural differences reflected in online reviews, as consumers from distinctively different cultures might trust the evaluation of the same product or service differently. In the present study, Dutch and Japanese individuals (N = 166) were presented with two variations of an online excursion review on a holiday booking website. The review with a profile photo of the reviewer was perceived as more realistic. However, this did not directly influence consumers’ booking intention. Meanwhile, the degree of trust in the review affected the inclination to book the excursion. Some cultural differences were found. The Dutch group reported higher booking intentions and trust than the Japanese group, both with the photo-absent review as well as the photo-present review. The implications of these findings contribute to a better understanding of cultural specifics and global universals in e-commerce, enabling the development of more effective online marketing communications.
10. Reviews, Group Similarity & Purchase Intentions
(Ahn, et al, 2024) Consumers often rely on evaluations such as online reviews shared by other consumers when making purchasing decisions. Online reviews have emerged as a crucial marketing tool that offers a distinct advantage over traditional methods by fostering trust among consumers. Previous studies have identified group similarity between consumers and reviewers as a key variable with a potential impact on consumer responses and purchase intention. However, the results remain inconclusive. In this study, we identify self-construal and group similarity as key factors in the influence of online review ratings on consumers’ purchase intentions. We further investigate the role of consumers’ self-construal in shaping consumers’ perceptions of online reviews in terms of belongingness and diagnostic. To test the hypothesis, we conducted a 2 (online review rating) × 2 (group similarity) × 2 (self-construal) ANOVA on 276 subjects collected through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), and contrast analysis and PROCESS macro model 12 were used for the interaction effect analysis and moderated mediation analysis. Our findings reveal that consumers with an interdependent self-construal are sensitive to both review ratings and group similarity with regards to their purchase intentions. They demonstrate a positive purchase intention when both group similarity and online review ratings are high. However, their purchase intention is not influenced by review ratings when group similarity is low. Conversely, consumers with an independent self-construal exhibit a more positive purchase intention when the online review rating is high, irrespective of group similarity. Additionally, our study highlights the mediating roles of perceived diagnostic and belongingness in the relationship between online review ratings, group similarity, self-construal, and purchase intentions. Results show significant indirect effects for perceived diagnostic and belongingness, meaning that the impact of online review ratings on purchase intention is mediated by these two variables. The outcomes of our research offer theoretical and practical EBSCO Export implications concerning online reviews and suggest new avenues for future research in the area of online consumer behavior.
11.Conclusion:
Online products that are talked about really influence us. They influence the level of trust we have in a brand and whether or not we decide to purchase from them. A lot of research shows that reviews online are a huge influence on our decision. When we see good reviews, we trust the brand and are more likely to return and even refer them to our friends. But what’s that which makes a review seem trustworthy? It’s not just whether it’s positive or negative, or whether it’s based on facts or feelings. The author of the review and whether it seems like they’re being truthful is a huge influence on how much we trust them and what decision we make next.
When we’re reading reviews, we want to be sure they’re genuine and not made up. We need to feel like we can trust what the person is saying. If a review seems trustworthy, we’re more likely to take the next step and buy something. But if it seems fake or biased, we’ll probably back off and take our business somewhere else. So, it’s really important that reviews are trustworthy. It’s not just about what’s being said, but about the person who’s saying it and why they’re saying it. We want to know that the reviewer is being honest and not just trying to manipulate us. When we trust a review, we’re more likely to trust the product or service too. And that’s what matters most, feeling confident in our purchasing decisions.
When it comes to how people feel about a company, negative comments can have a bigger impact than positive ones, especially when we’re thinking about long-term relationships with customers. Trust is a pretty complicated thing. It’s not just about believing in a company, but also about thinking they’re good at what they do, that they mean well, that they’ll keep their promises, and that they’re honest. When companies make promises they intend to keep, it can make us trust them more. And when we read reviews from other customers, it can make us feel more confident in the company’s ability to deliver. But how much we trust a company based on reviews depends on a lot of things, like how much something costs, what kind of product it is (especially if it’s something really valuable), where we live, how much experience we have shopping online, how much we identify with the person writing the review, and our own self-perception. All these factors can influence how we feel about a company and whether we decide to trust them or not.
When we’re talking about eco-friendly products, what other people think really matters. If lots of people say good things about a product, it helps us trust the company that makes it. This is especially true when we’re shopping online, because we can’t actually see the product before we buy it. Hearing from other people who have used it helps us feel more confident in our choice. And it’s not just about trust when people say good things about a product, it also makes us more likely to keep coming back to the company and buying from them again. So, online reviews are a really powerful tool for helping us decide what to buy, especially when it comes to things like eco-friendly products that are good for the planet.
12. References:
Ahn, Y., & Lee, J. (2024, June 1). The impact of online reviews on consumers’ purchase intentions: Examining the social influence of online reviews, group similarity, and self-construal.
Araujo Soares, M., Bittencourt Dolci, D., & Lunardi, G. L. (2022, November 2). Interaction effects between online reviews and product characteristics on consumer’s trust.
Asano, G., Cheng, T. P. V., Rhodes, J., & Lok, P. (2019, October 1). The influence of online reviews on brand trust and consumer equity.
Broeder, P. (2022, September 1). Profile photos’ impact in online reviews: The effect of cultural differences.
Dhahak, K., & Huseynov, F. (2020, April 1). The impact of online consumer reviews (OCR) on online consumers’ purchase intention.
Dong, B., Li, M., & Sivakumar, K. (2019, June 1). Online review characteristics and trust: A cross-country examination.
Hussain, Z., Khan, A., Qureshi, M. A., Bansal, R., & Pruthi, N. (2025, August 1). The impact of online reviews on sustainable product adoption in the food industry: A serial mediation effect of consumer trust and perceived value.
Sarmad, I., Hassan Bukhari, S. M., & Hafeez, S. (2024, December 1). Consumer responses to eco-friendly product claims: The role of information asymmetry and online reviews.
Shaheen, M., Zeba, F., Chatterjee, N., & Krishnankutty, R. (2020, April 1). Engaging customers through credible and useful reviews: The role of online trust.
Stouthuysen, K., Teunis, I., Reusen, E., & Slabbinck, H. (2018, January 1). Initial trust and intentions to buy: The effect of vendor-specific guarantees, customer reviews, and the role of online shopping experience.