The Role Of Online Customer Testimonials In Brand Trust: Utilization Of The Expectancy-Disconfirmation Model

Abstract

Customers have a tendency of need for confirmation when it comes to product quality and its features so that they are able to get maximum benefits for their money, there is an automatic cost and benefit analysis going on in the mind of the customers while selecting the product. Online testimonials are the most convenient source of fulfilling that need for confirmation which either make a customer trust a brand or vice versa. This study explores the role of online testimonials when it comes to brand trust, it strives to explore various aspects of the online testimonials which contribute in the pre-purchase phase perceptual development of the customer, furthermore Expectancy disconfirmation model was utilized as a theoretical foundation. Data was collected through semi-structured In-depth interviews which were taken from habitual online shoppers of Karachi. The data was analyzed through Nvivo to identify codes, from the codes, categories were extracted, and the categories were refined to extract final themes. The paper identifies certain the tendency of the role of online testimonials when it comes to brand trust along with some elements of online testimonials that customer deems important for decision making.