LDD7007M

Applied research project

Project proposal presentation

 Title and Introduction
 Research project proposal presentation is regarding
“The decision-making process of consumers in the retail
sector and how it is influenced by online reviews”

 Proposal comprises:
i. Background
ii. Literature Review
iii. Aim and Objectives
iv. Methodology
v. Timeline
 Background to Research

 Consumer behaviour can be defined as the set of decisions and

actions that a consumer undertakes when purchasing goods or
services for personal consumption (Qazzafi, 2019).
 Behaviour comprises both the pre-purchase as well as the post-
purchase situation and its identification allows companies to
make the best out of these opportunities.
 Understanding these stages is highly important for businesses as
it allows for benefitting against competitors, provides insights
for marketers, increases sales, and expands the customer base
(Indeed, 2022).
 Background to Research
(contd.)
 various models of customer
Recognising Needs
decision-making exist such as
one proposed by Nicosia and
Mayer or Anderson
Information Search
 Most popular is the five-stage
model (Panwar et al., 2019)
 Economic concerns such as Evaluation of Alternatives
affordability, marketing mix
factors, functional factors,
psychological, social, cultural, Purchase
and finally personal factors
(Chakraborty, 2017) influence
purchase decisions Reflection on Purchase

 But recently, the influence of

online reviews on purchase
 Literature Review
 Online reviews are read by almost 90% of
consumers
 83% agree that the reviews influence their
final decisions (Channel Advisors, 2011
cited in Chen et al., 2018).
 Negative reviews are given much higher
importance by individuals
 Factors of reviews influencing online
purchase decisions:

a. Details e. Readability
b. Agreement f. Subjectivity
c. Credibility g. Informality
Importance of online reviews as per consumers
d. Linguistic accuracy (Trustmary, 2023)
Literature Review (contd.)
 Contemporary industry surveys
also suggest the same
 Electronic Word-of-Mouth (e-
WOM) has been identified as
gaining increased prominence in
Importance of Online Reviews (PNGKey, n.d.)
academic studies
 Forums, websites and online
reviews generated by past
customers are important sources
of e-WOM as well (Gottschalk
and Mafael, 2017 cited in
Fernandes et al., 2022).
 Social presence of online reviews
as well as the perceived
Importance of online reviews on purchase decisions
information quality can influence (Byrne, 2022)
consumer trust in a product or
service
 Aims and Objectives

“To investigate the effect of online reviews on

AI the decision-making process of consumers in the
retail sector”
M
Research Objectives

 To identify the factors that influence the persuasiveness of online

reviews.
 To explore the influence of online reviews on the purchase
decision-making process.
 To develop evidence-based recommendations for retailers
concerning the methods to optimise the use of online reviews to
influence the consumer decision-making process.
 Research Design
Research • Qualitative
Method
Research Data • Secondary Data

Source • Online Databases

Year Range • Published in last 5

years
Research • Cross-sectional
Design descriptive
 Timescale
 To provide a detailed presentation of the step-by-step
process, a Gantt Chart has been provided in this section

Activity Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8

Identify suitable areas of

research
Develop research questions and
strategy
Draft Proposal and Submit

Undertake Literature Review

Collect Data

Analyse Data

Develop a draft of the research

Make suitable changes based on

the review
 References
Aggarwal, R. and Ranganathan, P., 2019. Study designs Part 2–descriptive studies. Perspectives in clinical research, 10(1), p.34. https://doi.org/10.4103%2Fpicr.PICR_154_18
Byrne, S. (2022). Why ratings and reviews are important for your business. Bazaar Voice. Retrieved on 16/04/23 from
https://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/why-ratings-and-reviews-are-important-for-your-business/
Chakraborty, P. (2017). 7 Important Factors That Influence The Buying Decision Of A Consumer. LinkedIn. Retrieved on 18/04/23 from
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-important-factors-influence-buying-decision-pallabi-chakraborty/
Chen, J., Kou, G. and Peng, Y., 2018. The dynamic effects of online product reviews on purchase decisions. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 24(5),
pp.2045-2064. http://dx.doi.org/10.3846/tede.2018.4545
Chen, T., Samaranayake, P., Cen, X., Qi, M. and Lan, Y.C., 2022. The Impact of Online Reviews on Consumers’ Purchasing Decisions: Evidence From an Eye-Tracking
Study. Frontiers in Psychology, p.2723. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.865702
Deng, W., Su, T., Zhang, Y. and Tan, C., 2021. Factors affecting consumers’ online choice intention: a study based on Bayesian network. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, p.731850.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.731850
Fernandes, S., Panda, R., Venkatesh, V.G., Swar, B.N. and Shi, Y., 2022. Measuring the impact of online reviews on consumer purchase decisions–A scale development
study. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 68, p.103066.
Indeed, 2023. 23 Research Databases for Professional and Academic Use. Career Guide. Retrieved on 17/04/23 from
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/research-databases
Lemon, L.L. and Hayes, J., 2020. Enhancing trustworthiness of qualitative findings: Using Leximancer for qualitative data analysis triangulation. The Qualitative Report, 25(3),
pp.604-614.
Nalkande, S. (2022). Social media’s impact on consumer behaviour. Reader’s Blog Times of India. Retrieved on 18/04/23 from
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/marketingempire/social-medias-impact-on-consumer-behavior-44636/
Panwar, D., Anand, S., Ali, F. and Singal, K., 2019. Consumer decision-making process models and their applications to market strategy. International Management
Review, 15(1), pp.36-44.
PNGKey (n.d.). Online Review Stats - Google Reviews Are Important. Retrieved on 18/04/23 from https://www.pngkey.com/maxpic/u2w7e6e6q8w7o0t4/
Qazzafi, S., 2019. Consumer buying decision process toward products. International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development, 2(5), pp.130-134.
Ramachandran, K.K. and Karthick, K.K., 2019. Gantt chart: An important tool of management. Int. J. Innov. Technol. Explor. Eng, 8(7).
Trustmary (2023). Online Reviews: Statistics That Will Blow Your Mind [2023]. Retrieved on 18/04/23 from
https://trustmary.com/reviews/online-reviews-statistics-that-will-blow-your-mind/
Wu, Y., Liu, T., Teng, L., Zhang, H. and Xie, C., 2021. The impact of online review variance of new products on consumer adoption intentions. Journal of Business Research, 136,
pp.209-218. https://doi,org/10.1016/J.JBUSRES.2021.07.014
Zhang, J., Zheng, W. and Wang, S., 2020. The study of the effect of online review on purchase behaviour Comparing the two research methods. International Journal of Crowd
Science, 4(1), pp.73-86. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCS-10-2019-0027