{"title":"Sending mixed signals: How congruent versus incongruent signals of popularity affect product appeal","authors":"Sarit Moldovan , Meyrav Shoham , Yael Steinhart","doi":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2023.08.008","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>A high volume of sales or online reviews can make a product seem more popular and established and consequently enhance its appeal. But is it advisable to display both metrics? We focus on the interplay between volume of sales and number of reviews and explore what happens when these signals are perceived as congruent versus incongruent. Five experimental studies and an analysis of field data demonstrate that consumers find products with congruent (vs. incongruent) ratios of reviews to sales more appealing. We distinguish between two types of incongruities: when the volume of sales clearly exceeds that of the reviews (over-purchased products) versus many reviews compared to sales (over-reviewed products). We argue that both reduce consumer confidence in the product’s merit, but that the latter has a more pronounced impact. However, the effects are attenuated when contextual cues explain the incongruities.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48298,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Research in Marketing","volume":"40 4","pages":"Pages 881-897"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Research in Marketing","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167811623000629","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
A high volume of sales or online reviews can make a product seem more popular and established and consequently enhance its appeal. But is it advisable to display both metrics? We focus on the interplay between volume of sales and number of reviews and explore what happens when these signals are perceived as congruent versus incongruent. Five experimental studies and an analysis of field data demonstrate that consumers find products with congruent (vs. incongruent) ratios of reviews to sales more appealing. We distinguish between two types of incongruities: when the volume of sales clearly exceeds that of the reviews (over-purchased products) versus many reviews compared to sales (over-reviewed products). We argue that both reduce consumer confidence in the product’s merit, but that the latter has a more pronounced impact. However, the effects are attenuated when contextual cues explain the incongruities.
期刊介绍：
The International Journal of Research in Marketing is an international, double-blind peer-reviewed journal for marketing academics and practitioners. Building on a great tradition of global marketing scholarship, IJRM aims to contribute substantially to the field of marketing research by providing a high-quality medium for the dissemination of new marketing knowledge and methods. Among IJRM targeted audience are marketing scholars, practitioners (e.g., marketing research and consulting professionals) and other interested groups and individuals.
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