Decide Now or Later: Making Sense of Incoherence Across Online Reviews

Consumers read online reviews to decide whether to buy a product. Extensive research examines what makes a single review helpful or credible, yet there is very limited understanding of how a collection of reviews facilitates purchase decisions. Such understanding is critical because consumers rarely consult all reviews or a single review. They often start by reading the “top reviews” that a website highlights, then deciding whether to read additional reviews and how many. This paper investigates how inconsistency among top reviews affects a consumer’s purchase deferral—the likelihood to decide immediately or defer the decision until after obtaining more information. We found that, if different reviewers disagree on their opinions about the same feature of a product, consumers are more likely to defer the purchase decision and consult more reviews. Further, this effect is weaker when reviewers provide specific details about their needs or use of the product along with their opinions. This work provides guidance to review platforms on how to select and present a set of top reviews. Our findings also inform retailers and product manufacturers on how to focus their attention in dealing with reviews and when a focus only on the top reviews is not sufficient.