“…Many studies in consumer behaviour have demonstrated that recommendations coming from friends, in particular, are likely to influence consumer decisions (see, e.g., Chu and Kim, 2011 and See-To and Ho, 2014). Consumers typically regard these personal recommendations as trustworthy, with the trust stemming from the recommendation source's social ties as friends are perceived to have no vested interest in promoting a product, whereas experts and, particularly, companies are perceived to be biased or to have ulterior motives (Cheung et al, 2008;Li et al, 2018). According to a study by Chen et al (2011), consumers are more likely to share and respond to online WOM from friends (vs. strangers or experts) because it aligns with their social connections and dependencies.…”