Deciphering Individuals’ Preference for User Generated Content: An Empirical Test of the Impact of Personality on Users’ Processing of Online Review Information

The explosive growth of user generated content presents a window of opportunity for online service providers (i.e., online review website) to utilize both forms of review information, namely numerical rating and opinionated review to facilitate trust building with users. Nevertheless, users’ trust in a website can be undermined by the irreconcilable dissonance between both forms of review information and their personality preferences. Consequently, it is important for websites to personalize the provision of numerical rating and opinionated review in order to convey trustworthiness to users through online consumer review. To empirically validate our research mode, we conducted a field study on a custom developed online review website with a sample of 170 college students. Results suggest that dissonance between numerical rating and opinionated review, as well as individuals’ preferences for self-reference and content relevance when processing online review information moderate the positive relationship between online consumer review and trust.