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Online customer reviews and their perceived trustworthiness by consumers in relation to various influencing factors

Quambusch, N. (2015) Online customer reviews and their perceived trustworthiness by consumers in relation to various influencing factors.

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Abstract:Online customer reviews have become increasingly important to the business world nowadays as more and more users make use of social media platforms to look for product information. For the tourism industry this problem is especially prevalent due to the fact that its products and services are high risk and intangible. The role of the reviewer’s profile has not been researched extensively so far and may play a role in the perceived trustworthiness of a review. The present study, which has been conducted as an online survey, aims at finding out more about the problem by assessing personal opinions and presenting different reviews to the participants. The results show that the respondents’ general attitude towards online customer reviews is positive and that they generally find them honest and credible. Gender and age do not seem to have an effect on the perception. However, the profile of the reviewer does seem to influence the perceived trustworthiness in a linear relationship. Implications of these results are that marketers may be able to identify which reviews are most likely to influence their business and why. They may prioritize which customer reviews to react to in order to reduce the negative effect of particular reviews.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:International Business Administration BSc (50952)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/68513
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