Yelp Reviews

Online reviews, a form of online word-of-mouth (eWOM) have become one of the most important sources of information for modern consumers, and have attracted considerable research in the recent past. However, much of the existing research focuses on transmission and impact of online reviews but sheds less light on the underlying processes that drive consumers’ reception of online reviews (to understand the basic qualities of reviews themselves, and how these qualities induce consumers’ trust). Similarly, few studies have explored the recipients’ perspective in the context of various services. This study addresses the aforementioned gaps in extant literature. The research model of source credibility in this study is built upon the rich stream of literature related to how people are influenced by information and tested on reviews collected from Yelp.com, a popular online advisory website dedicated to services businesses across various cities in the United States. The results show that a combination of both reviewer and review related characteristics are significantly correlated with perceived credibility of reviews. The authors present the results of the study and discuss their significance for research and practice.