THE IMPACT OF ONLINE CONSUMER REVIEWS ON SALES IN B2C E-COMMERCE

摘要

Word of mouth (WOM) has been proved to be one of the most effective marketing tools in increasing sales. With the availability of Internet and the growing popularity of electronic commerce, firms begin to build an online consumer opinion platform, extending the traditional WOM to online environment in order to foster sales in virtual environment. This paper examines the impact of consumer reviews, as the most effective form of eWOM on sales in online environment. The result of the discussion shows that only the quantity or volume of consumer reviews has positive impact on sales. The quality and valence of reviews, although has the capability of influencing consumers' buying behavior, have not been proved to have any relation to sales. The result also indicates that the degree of consumer review impact on sales will vary, depending on the types and popularity of product.