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Herding in online product choice
Author(s) -
Huang JenHung,
Chen YiFen
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.20119
Subject(s) - herding , psychology , product (mathematics) , the internet , marketing , herd behavior , advertising , social psychology , computer science , business , world wide web , geometry , mathematics , forestry , geography
Previous research has shown that people are influenced by others when making decisions. This work presents three studies examining herding in product choices on the Internet. The first two studies addressed how two cues frequently found on the Internet, that is, sales volume and customer reviews, influence consumer on‐line product choices. The third study examined the relative effectiveness of two recommendation sources. The experimental results revealed that subjects used the choices and evaluations of others as cues for making their own choices. However, herding effects are offset significantly by negative comments from others. Additionally, the recommendations of other consumers influence the choices of subjects more effectively than recommendations from an expert. Finally, implications of this work are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.