Investigating the Signaling Mechanism of Consumer Reviews Toward Online Grocery Shopping

Online grocery shopping is booming since COVID-19. Consumers often post reviews to reflect their shopping experiences. Based on signaling theory, we propose a conceptual framework to investigate the signaling mechanism of online grocery shoppers' review writing behaviors and how they act to signaling environment (i.e., COVID-19 pandemic). We find signal quality (review characteristics) affects signaling effectiveness (review helpfulness), and such effect is alleviated during the pandemic. We further evaluate review reliability using the alignment between observed signal (review characteristics) and intended signal (reviewer overall star rating). We find the review reliability significantly depends on various review characteristics—review content and linguistic characteristics—and these predictive relationships are stronger during the pandemic. Across the review content, we find signals relating to product delivery logistics such as delivery efficiency, last-mile connectivity, or packaging, are critical but under-investigated. Such signals may not directly correlate to the product value. However, their role in online delivery may become more significant and influential in the post-COVID era. In addition, we find signal inconsistency (discrepancy among review characteristics) affects consumers' promptness in posting subsequent reviews but is less significant during the pandemic. Our findings provide a holistic view of the signaling mechanisms in the online consumer community by revealing the varying signaling effects across the pandemic and business-as-usual and further facilitate online platform managers to better navigate the new normal.