Exploring the influence of social recommendation on choice overload phenomenon

Abstract

The introduction of the internet had brought about two significant agenda

the emergence of social network services and relentlessly increasing product variety. Recent research rebutted the traditional eco-nomic and psychological belief - more is better - and proved that there are negative consequences to having an extensive choice variety. The present research aims to extend this research and shed light on how social rec-ommendations, readily accessible on social network platforms and e-Commerce websites today, influence consumers faced with too much variety in the process of purchase decision-making. The primary objectives of this research are three-folds

a) to test for choice overload phenomenon in online-based/ computer-mediated consumer decision-making settings, b) to elucidate the influence of social recommendation on choice overload outcomes, and c) to exemplify the moderating role of social distance on the social recommendation to choice overload relationship. A 2 $\times$ 2 factorial design was used to test the main and interaction effects between the two focal variables

social recommendation and assortment size, moderated by social distance. Findings indicate that a) choice overload phenomenon occurs in online-based/ computer-mediated consumer decision-making settings, b) social recommendation significantly aggravates online consumer decision-making pro-cesses in small assortment by exposing consumers to an increased level of cognitive conflict, and c) social distance moderates the influence of social recommendation on choice overload outcomes. The implications are further discussed to provide a direction for the future researchers as well as business managers that are interested in the avenue of social interaction and choice overload phenomenon.