Online reviews of experience goods : the effect on consumers’ purchase intention towards beauty products

The use of online consumer reviews is increasing. This raises the question of what the effect of these online consumer reviews is on consumers' purchase intention. In this research, the effect of these online consumer reviews on the purchase intention of consumers of experience products, beauty products in particular has been researched. It was found that reviews can effect consumers' purchase intention towards beauty products. Specifically, the valence of reviews (positive, negative, mixed) and the volume of reviews (high, low) influence this purchase decision. In addition, the expertise and involvement of consumers with beauty products have found to be influencing this relationship. However, they were not moderating between reviews and purchase intention and therefore, further investigation is needed in order to find out what the exact roles of customer involvement and customer expertise are.