The Use Of Free And Paid Digital Product Reviews On Mobile Devices In In-Store Purchase Situations

Digital product reviews provided by users and experts are used as purchase decision cues. In contrast to reviews obtained by websites on the desktop, it is open if they are adopted in in-store purchase situations on mobile devices. In addition, it is an open issue to which degree free digital product reviews provided by users or paid digital product reviews provided by experts are adopted and influence consumers’ preferences for stores that offer access to them. To answer these questions, a theoretical model is proposed based on Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Then, the model is empirically evaluated by conducting a study with 116 subjects. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), one-sample t-tests and Pearson correlation coefficients are used to examine the data. Results indicate that digital product reviews are adopted on mobile devices in in-store purchase situations, especially when they are provided for free and refer to consumer electronics. On average, consumers are willing to pay 2.9 percent of the product’s price for a corresponding review. Based on these findings, new business models for providers of reviews and store managers are conceivable that extend physical products with free or paid digital content through the use of product identification technologies at the point of sale.