在线评论数量和质量对网络购物意愿的影响:认知需要的调节作用

The Impact of Online Reviews' Quality and Quantity on Online Purchasing Intention: The Moderating Effect of Need for Cognition

为探讨在线评论数量和质量以及认知需要对个体网络购物意愿的影响及其作用机制。以320名有网购经历的在校大学生为被试,采用2(在线评论质量:高vs.低)×2(在线评论数量:多vs.少)×2(认知需要水平:高vs.低)的实验设计。结果发现:(1)在线评论质量和数量对网络购物意愿都有着积极影响;(2)在线评论质量和数量对网络购物意愿的影响会受到认知需要的调节,即在线评论数量和质量对不同认知需要水平个体的影响不同:低认知需要个体会受到在线评论数量的影响,而高认知需要的个体则会受到在线评论质量的影响。研究结果深化了在线评论对网络购物购买决策影响的研究。

By the end of June 2015, the number of Chinese online shopping users has roached 374 million, which makes up 40.7% of all the interact users in China. Online shopping has become one of the most popular activities online. The rapid development of the online shopping market has also made the influencing factors of online shopping the focus of researchers. Just like in real life, others＇ comments play an important role in the decision- making of online shopping. Relevant research has found that all the comprehensive score, timeliness, quantity, quality and valence of online reviews, as well as the credibility of reviewers could affect individuals＇ purchase decision online. As the most important attribute, the quantity and quality of online reviews get more attention. Though many studies have revealed that both of them have positive effect on purchase decision, there is still a dispute about the relative effect size. With the deepening of research, researchers are more and more inclined to think that the impact of online reviews on purchase decisions is essentially a process of processing and accepting the review information, and the Elaboration Likelihood model （ELM） is also applied to this field. This theory points out that attitude change may occur via two mutes of influence： the central route and the peripheral route, and these two alternative routes differ in the amount of thoughtful processing of information or ＂elaboration＂ - the intensity of motivation and the ability to process the information. The theory explains why people will be differently affected when they are facing the same information. Based on this theory, studies have found that the product category and involvement affect purchase intention through different information processing motivations and routes, and they could moderate the impact of online reviews on product sales. And need for cognition is an important reflection of individuals＇ different information processing motivation. Therefore, this study aims to explore the impact of online reviews＇ quality and quantity on online purchase intention and its mechanism from the perspective of ELM. A between-group experimental design of 2 （quality of online reviews： high vs. low） x 2 （quantity of online reviews： more vs. less） x 2 （level of need for cognition： high vs. low） was adopted. To guarantee the ecological validity, the reviews were first selected from a real shopping website, and then evaluated to select out the ones of high and low quality; as to the quantity of reviews, there were 12 for greater quantity group and 2 for less quantity group; and the participants were categorized as high or low in need for cognition via a median split. A total of 320 undergraduate students participated in the online experiment. The results showed a significant main effect of review quality and a significant main effect of review quantity. Also, the results showed a significant review quality ~ need for cognition interaction and a significant quantity x need for cognition interaction. Further, the simple main effect test showed that individuals with high need for cognition would be affected by the quality of the online reviews, while individuals with low need for cognition would be affected by the quantity of online reviews. This study deepened the research on online reviews＇ impact on purchase decision.