The influence of online consumer reviews on consumer buying behavior in the buying process: With a focus on high and low involvement products

Abstract: Customers’ use of online consumer reviews is increasing as a method of finding product information before making the buying decision. Online consumer reviews is a form of electronic word-of-mouth which is an unpaid form of communication. Earlier customers of an organization write their experiences and opinions of products, which becomes available to read for a large number of people. These reviews are published on both independent review websites and organizational websites.
The purpose of the thesis is to examine how online consumer reviews influence consumer buying behavior in the consumer buying process. This is examined with a focus on high andlow-involvement products. Four research questions were developed to reach the purpose ofthe thesis;
RQ1 How can online consumer reviews influence on consumer buying behavior when purchasing high involvement products, be described?
RQ2 How can online consumer reviews influence on consumer buying behavior when purchasing low involvement products, be described?
RQ3 How can customers’ use of online consumer reviews during the different steps of the buying process, when purchasing high involvement products, be described?
RQ4 How can customers’ use of online consumer reviews during the different steps of the buying process, when purchasing low involvement products, be described?
The main findings in the thesis are that customers are motivated to search and process information in online consumer reviews for high involvement products. Customers of high involvement products value review quality as an important review factor because theyperceive these reviews to be most efficient in delivering accurate product information. Customers of high involvement products mostly use online consumer reviews in the stages of information search and post-purchase in the consumer buying process. The purchase decision
is made outside of the Internet after customers’ have complemented online consumer reviews with information from social contacts. Customers do not use online consumer reviews when buying low involvement products, instead they rely on traditional word-of-mouth and product popularity.
The thesis key concepts are; Consumer buying process, Customer-to-customer interactions, Electronic word-of-mouth, online consumer reviews as well as high- and low involvement products. The thesis main theoretical model is the elaboration likelihood model.