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Third-Party Product Review and Firm Marketing Strategy

Author

Listed:
  • Yubo Chen

    (Eller College of Management, University of Arizona, McClelland Hall 320, P.O. Box 210108, Tucson, Arizona 85721-0108)

  • Jinhong Xie

    (Warrington College of Business Administration, University of Florida, 212 Bryan Hall, P.O. Box 117155, Gainesville, Florida 32611-7155)

Abstract

Product reviews by third parties are growing in popularity. This paper examines when and how a manufacturing firm should adapt its marketing strategies to such reviews. For example, should a firm receiving an unfavorable review reduce its price or adjust its advertising? Should a winning product of a product review (e.g., “editor’s choice”) boost its advertising expenditure to spread the good news? How should firms’ strategic responses to product reviews differ across different types of product reviews (description vs. recommendation) and different advertising media (the reviewer’s publication vs. other media)? We develop a theory to address these issues and derive firms’ optimal responses to product reviews under different product/market/review/media conditions. We show that firms should choose rather than as a strategic variable in response to product reviews when enough consumers value horizontal product attributes. Surprisingly, we find that using a review-endorsed (i.e., advertisements containing third-party award logos) to broadcast its victory can hurt the winning product of a product review. Also, it is not necessarily wise for the winning products to boost to spread the good news. Data from two industries—printers and running shoes—are used to illustrate some of our findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Yubo Chen & Jinhong Xie, 2005. "Third-Party Product Review and Firm Marketing Strategy," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 218-240, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:24:y:2005:i:2:p:218-240
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.1040.0089
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    References listed on IDEAS

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