Perceived Expertise vs. Perceived Trustworthiness: The Suppressed Effect of Source Type on Review Attitude

Mediated communication is moving away from the traditional concept of oneway mass communication in which a centrally located sender addresses a mass audience. In today’s interactive media landscape, people formerly known as ‘the audience’ (Rosen, 2006, June 27) are increasingly dictating the creation and dissemination of information. The opportunity for people to actively engage in the public-information process provides consumers with a rich and varied set of consumer opinions, often posted in the form of online product reviews. Online product reviews are seen as a persuasive source of information in the consumerdecision making process, shaping not only consumers’ attitudes but also their purchase behaviors (Bickart and Schindler, 2001; Chevelier and Mayzlin, 2006; Park and Kim, 2008; Senecal and Nantel, 2004).