Exploring the effects of online customer reviews, regulatory focus, and product type on purchase intention: Perceived justice as a moderator

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effects of online customer reviews, regulatory focus, and product type on purchase intention, as well as the effect of whether purchase intention is moderated by perceived justice. Experiment 1 compares the effects of regulatory fit and regulatory non-fit on purchase intention after a consumer is exposed to online customer reviews. Experiment 2 examines whether product type (i.e. ‘search goods’ versus ‘experience goods’) moderates the relationship between regulatory fit (or non-fit) and purchase intention for a consumer who has been exposed to online customer reviews. Additionally, in Experiment 2, the moderating role of perceived justice in the link between regulatory fit (or non-fit) and purchase intention is explored. The findings of Experiment 1 indicate that regulatory fit has a more significant effect on purchase intention than the non-fit condition. The results of Experiment 2 also confirm that regardless of regulatory fit, consumers have a lower purchase intention for search goods than for experience goods after exposure to negative online customer reviews. Finally, this study reveals that consumers with high perceived justice demonstrate higher purchase intention compared with consumers with lower perceived justice, regardless of regulatory fit effect or product type.