網路上產品選擇之從眾行為探討

Abstract

過去研究顯示人們在作決策時會受到其他人的影響。當人們在網路上，視其他人對產品的評估，為此產品品質良窳的指標時，便會產生網路從眾行為。本論文使用五個實驗設計，來驗證網路上購書之從眾現象。前三個實驗使用網路上常見之從眾線索，以探討其對消費者產品選擇的影響。這些網路上的從眾線索，包括發行量，讀者評價星號，以及讀者評論。後二個實驗，則針對不同的網路資訊來源對消費者影響之有效性進行探討。研究結果顯示，受試者會以其他人的選擇和評估為線索來作選擇。然而，從眾的影響也會因為其他人所給予的負面評價，而有明顯的抵銷現象。此外，其他讀者的推薦對於受試者產品選擇的影響，會比專家推薦有效。最後，由推薦系統所產生的推薦效果，會比由網站本身推薦更有效。本論文結果可提供行銷業者一些建議：網路行銷業者應善用網路線索，以提高消費者購買慾望，並注意負面的讀者評論。此外，亦應善加利用群眾的力量，以及運用推薦系統來增加網路的銷售量。

Previous research has shown that people are influenced by others when making decisions. While people use others’ product evaluations as an indicator of product quality on the Internet, the online herding behavior occurs. This work presents five studies examining herding behavior of online book purchasing. The first three studies addressed how three cues frequently found on the Internet, i.e., sales volume, star number of average customer review, and customer reviews, influence consumer online product choices. The last two studies examined the relative effectiveness of different recommendation sources. The experimental results revealed that subjects used the choices and evaluations of others as cues for making their own choices. However, herding effects were offset significantly by negative comments from others. Additionally, “the recommendations of other consumers” influenced the choices of subjects more effectively than “recommendations from an expert.” Finally, “recommendations from recommender system” also influenced subject choices more effectively than “recommendations from website owner”. The results of this research have implications for marketers. Online marketers may use cues to induce purchase intentions and pay attention to negative customer reviews. They should also exploit the power of crowds and use recommender system to promote online sales.