The impact of online customer reviews on apparel purchase intention

: the mediating role of review helpfulness

Abstract

Internet is commonly used in the pre-purchase phase and one of the things that influence consumers´ decision making process are OCRs. Past studies show the importance for companies to manage this aspect, since it can influence purchase intention and price sensitivity, among others.The research objective of this dissertation consists of detecting potential differences in apparel´ purchase intention, depending on the characteristics of the OCRs and on the perceived OCRs´ helpfulness. In order to address the Research Questions, an experimental design was implemented, where participants were exposed to one of the four scenarios, where they could see an OCR with hedonic or utilitarian cues and with a moderate or a long text. The data was analyzed for the effects on perceived review helpfulness and consumers´ purchase intention (PI).In total, 305 answers were analyzed. It was concluded that the type of information present in the OCR has an impact on both perceived review helpfulness and purchase intention, being OCRs with utilitarian cues perceived as more helpful and the ones who lead to a higher purchase intention. In addition to this, it was found that the perceived OCR helpfulness act as a mediator in the relationship between the type of information and the PI. No differences were found between a moderate and a long OCR, in what regards perceived review helpfulness and PI.Limitations and implications are explained and suggestions for future research are indicated.

Date of Award	4 Feb 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Daniela Langaro (Supervisor)