Online reviews and impulse buying behavior: the role of browsing and impulsiveness

Abstract

Purpose Online reviews have shown important information that affects consumers’ online shopping behavior. However, little research has examined how they may influence consumers’ online impulse buying behavior. The purpose of this paper is to bring theoretical and empirical connections between them. Design/methodology/approach The framework of this study was tested on three popular online group shopping websites in China (ju.taobao.com, dianping.com, and meituan.com). An online survey with 315 participants who had experience using these websites was recruited to verify the effects of consumers’ perceived value from reading online reviews on urge to buy impulsively and impulse buying behavior. Findings The empirical findings show that consumers’ perceived utilitarian and hedonic value from reading online reviews enhance their browsing behavior. Browsing positively affects consumers’ urge to buy impulsively and finally affects their impulse buying behavior. Further, this study finds that consumers with high impulsiveness focus more on hedonic value of online reviews, whereas consumers with low impulsiveness put more emphasis on utilitarian value. Browsing demonstrates a stronger effect on urge to buy impulsively for consumers with high impulsiveness. Originality/value This study is one of the early studies to investigate the relationship between social influence (e.g. influence of online reviews) and impulse buying. It draws upon the perspectives of browsing and consumer’s perceived value from the literature. This research also considers consumer differences regarding the level of impulsiveness.

The individual performance outcome behind e-commerce

“…Information is everything that is visible to the user, from content to design. The quality of information disposal regarding the seller, quality certificates and seals, accurate product/service descriptions, payment and shipment details, and other customers' reviews, can increase users' perceptions of satisfaction when using an e-commerce platform (Zhang, Xu, Zhao, and Yu, 2018). Indeed, Bennett (1983) suggested that the information provided by a system has an impact on user satisfaction.…”

Antecedents and Consequences of Browsing With Impulsiveness As Moderator

“…tersebut (Rezaei, Ali, Amin, & Jayashree, 2016;Zhang, Xu, Zhao, & Yu, 2018). Oleh karena itu, penting bagi para pengelola toko online untuk mengetahui pengaruh online reviews yang mendorong konsumen untuk melakukan kegiatan browsing terhadap kecenderungan konsumen untuk melakukan impulse buying.…”

“…Tingkat hedonis konsumen diukur melalui tiga dimensi, yaitu 1) adventure shopping, konsumen berbelanja karena adanya pengalaman dan dengan berbelanja konsumen serasa memiliki dunianya sendiri; 2) Social shopping, konsumen beranggapan bahwa kenikmatan dalam berbelanja akan tercipta ketika konsumen menghabiskan waktu bersama dengan keluarga atau teman; 3) Gratification shopping, berbelanja merupakan salah satu alternatif untuk mengurangi stres, mengatasi permasalahan yang buruk, dan sarana untuk melupakan masalah-masalah yang sedang dihadapi (Kim, 2006). Nilai hedonis sebagai persepsi konsumen mengenai sejauh mana ulasan online dapat memberikan kepuasan dan kesenangan kepada konsumen (Zhang et al, 2018).…”

“…Karakteristik konsumen dikelompokkan menjadi dua yaitu: high impulsiveness dan low impulsiveness (Zhang et al, 2018;Wells, Parboteeah, & Valacich, 2011). Impulsiveness merupakan perilaku pembelian secara spontan (tidak terencana), dan tidak tertahankan (Park, Kim, & Forney, 2006).…”

“…Terdapat tiga dimensi impulsiveness 1) motor impulsiveness; 2) non-planning impulsiveness; dan 3) cognitive impulsiveness (Stanford & Barratt, 1995). Konsumen dengan tingkat impulsive rendah adalah konsumen yang bijaksana, selalu mengendalikan diri dengan baik dan mempertimbangkan manfaat dan biaya dari suatu produk (Zhang et al, 2018). Selain itu, menunjukkan bahwa impulsiveness dapat memperkuat hedonic value konsumen pada perilaku browsing konsumen (Zhang et al, 2018).…”