Word of Mouth (WOM) is powerful, and online reviews are often the most accessible WOM information source in electronic commerce. Maintaining favorable online reputation has been the top priority for businesses, and investments in improving online review valence have been increasing. Extensive studies explored how online reviews might influence sales, however, the results have been inconsistent. This study explores whether and how consumers might incorporate online reviews into decision making based on signaling theory and examines when online review valence influences sales and when it might not. In a signaling perspective, online reviews might serve as a product quality signal, and subsequently, consumers might incorporate less the online review information into decision making if other product information cues such as expert ratings or brands help to verify the product quality. The findings from 633,029 consumer decisions on a hotel-booking website indicate that product quality information cues moderate the effect of online reviews on purchase likelihood. Also, product quality information cues were highly endogenous in estimating the effect of online reviews on sales. Online reviews are not likely to be a significant influencer on sales if the seller signal product quality with convincing information cues.

口碑 (WOM) 功能强大，在线评论通常是电子商务中最容易获得的 WOM 信息来源。保持良好的在线声誉一直是企业的首要任务，提高在线评论效价的投资一直在增加。广泛的研究探讨了在线评论如何影响销售，然而，结果并不一致。本研究探讨了消费者是否以及如何基于信号理论将在线评论纳入决策，并检查在线评论效价何时影响销售以及何时可能不影响。从信号的角度来看，在线评论可能作为产品质量信号，随后，如果其他产品信息线索（如专家评级或品牌）有助于验证产品质量，消费者可能会将较少的在线评论信息纳入决策。来自酒店预订网站上 633,029 项消费者决策的调查结果表明，产品质量信息线索可调节在线评论对购买可能性的影响。此外，产品质量信息线索在估计在线评论对销售的影响方面具有高度内生性。如果卖家通过令人信服的信息提示表明产品质量，在线评论不太可能对销售产生重大影响。产品质量信息线索在估计在线评论对销售的影响方面具有高度内生性。如果卖家通过令人信服的信息提示表明产品质量，在线评论不太可能对销售产生重大影响。产品质量信息线索在估计在线评论对销售的影响时具有高度内生性。如果卖家通过令人信服的信息提示表明产品质量，在线评论不太可能对销售产生重大影响。