Differential Effects of Provider Recommendations and Consumer Reviews in E-Commerce Transactions: An Experimental Study

Despite the importance of online product recommendations (OPR) in e-Commerce transactions, there is still very little understanding about how different recommendation sources affect consumers' beliefs and behavior, and whether these effects are additive, complementary or rivals for different types of products. This study investigates the differential effects of provider recommendations (PR) and consumer reviews (CR) on the instrumental, affective and trusting dimensions of consumer beliefs, and show how these beliefs ultimately influence continued OPR usage and product purchase intentions. This study tests a conceptual model linking PR and CR to four consumer beliefs (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived affective quality, and trust) in two different product settings (search products vs. experience products). Results of an experimental study (N = 396) show that users of PR express significantly higher perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use than users of CR, while users of CR express higher trusting beliefs and perceived affective quality than users of PR, resulting in different effect mechanisms towards OPR reuse and purchase intentions in e-Commerce transactions. Further, CR were found to elicit higher perceived usefulness, trusting beliefs and perceived affective quality for experience goods, while PR were found to unfold higher effects on all of these variables for search goods.