The influence of online review dispersion on consumers’ purchase intention: The moderating role of dialectical thinking

This study examines how dialectical thinking impacts the effects of product review dispersion on purchase intentions and the related underlying mechanism and boundary conditions. We propose that more (less) review dispersion should increase purchase intentions among consumers with high (low) dialectical thinking through increased credibility perceptions. Additionally, product type should moderate the effects of review dispersion, such that consumers with high (low) dialectical thinking should prefer more (less) dispersed reviews only for hedonic products; for utilitarian products, highly dialectical consumers’ preference for high review dispersion should diminish. We empirically test these hypotheses across multiple experiments that use different operationalizations of dialectical thinking. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.