How has the credibility of online reviews become a new area of scientific research?

Before the internet people used to use traditional word-of-mouth forms of communication and product reviews. But thanks to the internet consumer reviews go far beyond the local community and people can globally access online reviews. Online reviews have become an essential source of product-related information. Online customer reviews can shape customers´ attitudes and affect their purchase decisions. But with all the different reviews online, it is more difficult to judge the credibility of reviews. Credibility is defined as the believability or the characteristic that makes people believe and trust someone or something. Reviews with high credibility positively impact the degree to which uses adopt information. 

What is the elaboration likelihood model?

The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) is a theory of informational influence. It provides a theoretical framework for understanding how people process messages that are intended to be persuasive. The ELM distinguishes two routes by which persuasive messages are processed:

• The central route. This route involves a high level of elaboration. When someone processes a message through this route, they carefully consider the issues presented in the message and evaluate the merits of the arguments. They will use further cognitive processing and use more effort to evaluate the message.
• The peripheral route. This route entails a low level of elaboration and it requires less cognitive work. People use simple heuristic cues or informational indicators to assess the believability of a message.

People tend to evaluate messages on both these routes. The degree of elaboration through both of these routes depend on peoples´ ability and motivation.

Which variables affect the message´s influence?

Variables related to the message, the source, and the recipient affect the influence of a message. There are many message-related and source-related variables, such as argument quality, review consistency, source credibility, and review sidedness. These variables take on either central or peripheral cues to evaluate consumer reviews. Four of these variables are discussed in more detail:

• Argument quality refers to the person´s subjective perception of the arguments in the persuasive message as strong and cogent on the one hand versus weak and specious on the other. A review with a stronger argument should be perceived as more credible.
• Review consistency refers to the extent to which information in a review is consistent with information in other reviews. People are more likely to accept a viewpoint that is consistent with other reviews, and more likely to be skeptical towards a viewpoint that is different from other reviews.
• Source credibility refers to a person´s perception of the credibility of a message source, while not being concerned with the message itself. A review from a reputable source will be perceived to be more credible than one from a less reputable source.
•  Review sidedness sees if a review is one- or two sided. A one-sided review contains either a positive or a negative comment. A two-sided review contains both positive and negative comments. A two-sided review is generally perceived as more credible than a one-sided review.

What role do the expertise and motivation of the recipient play?

How much the above-mentioned variables are able to exert influence depend on the involvement and expertise of the recipient. The expertise refers to the recipient´s prior knowledge about the issue, while the involvement refers to the personal relevance of the issue. People with expertise have the knowledge and ability to evaluate a message, and people with high involvement are engaged and motivated enough to understand a message. For them, central cues play a bigger role in their judgement and they are more likely to judge a message based on argument quality. When a person is not able or motivated to consider a message, peripheral cues play a bigger role in shaping judgement.

How can the elaboration likelihood model help investigate the credibility of online reviews?

The elaboration likelihood model can help us understand how consumers use various characteristics of online reviews to assess the credibility of individual reviews. It can help answer the questions of what the predominant central and/or peripheral variables are that are being used for credibility judgement, and how those variables function for readers at different levels of motivation and ability. The answers to these questions can help marketers to design better websites and reputation systems that enhance their credibility while increasing review quality.

Using ELM as a theoretical basis, what are the roles of different review cues in the evaluation of online customer reviews?

• Argument quality is the most influential factor in the evaluation of online consumer reviews. The influence of argument quality did not significantly vary across different levels of expertise and involvement.
• People who were involved and knowledgeable relied more on central cues (such as argument quality), but people who were not involved or knowledgeable did not rely more on peripheral cues (such as source credibility).
• Consumers tend to rely more on source credibility and review consistency in the evaluation of online reviews when their expertise level is low, but their involvement is high.
• People with a high expertise level perceived two-sided reviews more favorably. A possible explanation for that is that two-sided reviews are useful for people who are able to judge the validity of the information. A knowledgeable person is able to judge the significance of the pros and cons in a review and make their decision independently. A person with little knowledge about the product may prefer a one-sided review from a credible source, as they would find a two-sided review ambiguous.

How can these results be used by marketers?

Review websites that provide effective means that facilitate the identification and evaluation of credible reviews can attract more users. People trust a review more when it provides supportive evidence and explanations. Online consumer review providers should encourage and help reviewers to provide better reviews, for example by providing them with a review template and encouraging them to add details such as time and location and photographs. The providers can also prioritize reviews according to the quality of the review and/or the rating of the reviewers. That way they provide a more focused and targeted approach to their reputation management and highlight the reviews that are likely to have a bigger impact on user decisions.