Cross-cultural differences in uses of online experts

Existing research on how consumers utilize online reviewers to make purchasing decisions has generally taken a Western viewpoint. However, the majority of new online consumers come from Eastern nations. Therefore, the present article takes a cross-cultural view of how consumers from Eastern nations, such as China and India, respond to expert and non-expert online reviewers, in comparison with consumers from Western nations, such as the United States and Canada. The results from an experimental study of 134 North American respondents and 132 Asian respondents reveal that Asians are more likely to rely on advice from an online reviewer, while North Americans are more skeptical of and less reliant on non-expert reviewers. Asians are more forgiving of non-experts and do not necessarily distinguish between experts and non-experts when deciding on whom to rely. This article thus highlights a clear difference between Asian and North American expectations of online reviewers.