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Socially Nudged: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Friends’ Social Influence in Online Product Ratings

Author

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  • Chong (Alex) Wang

    (Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, 100871 Beijing, China)

  • Xiaoquan (Michael) Zhang

    (CUHK Business School, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong)

  • Il-Horn Hann

    (Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742)

Abstract

Social-networking functions are increasingly embedded in online rating systems. These functions alter the rating context in which consumer ratings are generated. In this paper, we empirically investigate online friends’ social influence in online book ratings. Our quasi-experimental research design exploits the temporal sequence of social-networking events and ratings and offers a new method for identifying social influence while accounting for the homophily effect. We find that rating similarity between friends is significantly higher after the formation of the friend relationship, indicating that with social-networking functions, online rating contributors are socially nudged when giving their ratings. Exploration of contingent factors suggests that social influence is stronger for older books and for users who have smaller networks, and that relatively more recent and extremely negative ratings cast more salient influence. The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2017.0741 .

Suggested Citation

  • Chong (Alex) Wang & Xiaoquan (Michael) Zhang & Il-Horn Hann, 2018. "Socially Nudged: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Friends’ Social Influence in Online Product Ratings," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 641-655, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:29:y:2018:i:3:p:641-655
    DOI: isre.2017.0741
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