Influencing perceived consumer experiences, before and after they have happened - A quantitative study of ratings influence on perceived consumer experience in both a pre- and post-experience setting

Sammanfattning: Academia has for a long time studied the influence of word of mouth, specifically reviews, on consumers' purchase intentions of products and the transformative effects thereof. Managers use this knowledge heavily to their advantage, i.e. to attract new customers. Ratings, i.e. the aggregated review, are increasingly being employed e.g online and in mobile apps, and we are expected to answer them more often. It is hard to escape them as we are faced with ratings wherever we go and whatever we do, both provided by the company itself and third party platforms. We know that ratings that we receive increase our purchase intentions - but how do they relate to the actual perceived consumer experience, i.e. how consumers rate their own experience, their perceived satisfaction and fulfillment of expectations on the experience? Using two experimental studies, i.e. a taste experience and a film experience, we managed to show that ratings can influence consumers' perceived experiences both if the rating thereof is received before living the experience and after, i.e. when the consumer has already had their chance to form an opinion about it. The exposure to a rating moves the evaluation of the experience in the direction of the rating, i.e. a low rating lowers the evaluation and vice versa. The findings provided are of high value and importance for both theoretical and managerial use.