Product attitude formation on online review sites with social networks

The emerging social networking technology demonstrates as a promising technology that fosters user interaction and information communication. This research attempts to investigate how product attitude forms on online review sites with social networks. The implementation of social networking technology on online review sites can challenge our prior understanding about the weak tie assumption of online reviews. Building upon the literature on process theories of attitude formation and social network perspective, we develop a theoretical model to delineate how perceptions developed from social networking activities and information processing behavior can lead to the formation of consumers' product attitude. An online survey (n=297) on a Chinese online review site was conducted to empirically test the research model. The findings confirmed all our proposed hypotheses. It highlights that social networking technology is capable of improving the influence of online reviews. Discussions on theoretical and practical implications are provided.