The Effect of Online Review Portal Design : The Moderating Role of Explanations for Review Filtering

The flood of non-constructive and fake online consumer reviews erects a considerable barrier to consumers making efficient decisions. Various review filtering algorithms have been developed to address this challenge, but the design of post-development review portals continues to lack a consensus. In review portals, disclosing more transparent reviews is efficient for enhancing users’ trust. However, it will cause users’ diminished focus on recommended reviews, leading to sub-optimal decisions. A research model is then developed to investigate users’ cognitive processes in their responses to three review exhibition designs (i.e., informed silent display design, filtered review display design, and composite display design) regarding trust in the review portal and perceived decision quality. We also suggest that explanations for review filtering play a moderating role in users’ perceptions, which appears to be a viable resolution to this dilemma. This paper provides significant theoretical and practical insights for the review portal design and implementation.