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Inconsistencies between Review Sites and Facebook Comments about Web Shop Experiences

Hoefter, Moritz (2017) Inconsistencies between Review Sites and Facebook Comments about Web Shop Experiences.

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Abstract:The Internet provides multiple sources of opinions about online shops and services. Among these, review sites may be the most popular. However, social media and social networks like Facebook catch up and generate more and more reviews. Different sources often lead to contradicting information about the trustworthiness of an e- vendor and force the consumer to make trade-offs. The present thesis examines how consumers deal with information inconsistencies between Facebook and review sites. A comprehensive analysis on web shops in the UK revealed that comments on Facebook are more negative than reviews on the review site Trustpilot. In a survey among 95 students, the particular importance of these two sources of opinions was examined through a conjoint analysis. The findings of this survey indicate that Facebook comments have less impact on the purchase decision than Trustpilot content. However, there is a large group that relies more heavily on Facebook when inconsistencies occur. Knowing how review sources differ in their information and their effect on consumers’ decision, shop owners can react accordingly and increase sales figures. Furthermore, the findings could be beneficial in the development of multi-platform reputation systems. Knowing the impact of different platforms can enhance the calculation of cross-platform trust scores.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:Business Administration MSc (60644)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/71860
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