The role of product reviews on mobile devices for in-store purchases: consumers' usage intentions, costs and store preferences

摘要

Product reviews help consumers in purchase decisions. In contrast to reviews obtained from websites on the desktop, it is open if they are adopted for in-store purchases on mobile devices. Further, it is open to which degree free product reviews provided by users or paid product reviews provided by experts are adopted and influence consumers' preferences for stores that offer access to them. To address these questions, a theoretical model based on innovation diffusion theory, technology acceptance model and theory of planned behaviour is developed and empirically tested with 116 subjects. Results indicate that consumers intend to use product reviews on mobile devices for in-store purchases. Moreover, they are willing to pay almost 5% of the product's price for a review. Based on these findings, new business models for providers of product reviews and store managers are feasible, which extend physical products with value-added online services.