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When crowding‐in and when crowding‐out? The boundary conditions on the relationship between negative online reviews and online sales

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  • Ao Shen
  • Peng Wang
  • Yongyuan Ma

Abstract

Drawing on the motivation crowding theory, we propose a novel framework concerning the moderating effects of customer‐initiated reviews and merchant‐initiated replies on the relationship between negative online reviews and online sales performance. Using 14,096 online reviews collected from Meituan.com, we found that the detrimental effect of negative online reviews will be mitigated with a greater level of customer‐initiated reviews and a medium level of merchant‐initiated replies. This study enhances the current understanding of the dyadic interaction between online customers and offline merchants, thereby suggesting the crowding‐in and crowding‐out effects of the merchant online replies toward negative online reviews.

Suggested Citation

  • Ao Shen & Peng Wang & Yongyuan Ma, 2022. "When crowding‐in and when crowding‐out? The boundary conditions on the relationship between negative online reviews and online sales," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2016-2032, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:43:y:2022:i:6:p:2016-2032
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.3505
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