Freeware Downloads: An Empirical Investigation Into the Impact of Expert and User Reviews On Demand for Digital Goods

Electronic word-of-mouth, or eWOM, on e-commerce platforms has become ubiquitous and has recently generated renewed interest among researchers to explore its impact in the e-marketplace. However, published research to date has yet to study the impact of expert reviews on digital goods and their combined impact with users’ reviews. In this paper, we conduct an empirical study of 143 freeware to measure the impact of two distinct types of eWOM, those produced by experts (professional reviewers) and those offered by users (consumers) on the number of downloads. Despite the fundamental difference in motivations of posting a review, our findings suggest that the impacts of both types of eWOM are nearly identical in significance and importance. While we found that the existence of either or both types of reviews impacts consumption (software download), the review valence does not matter. The findings of this research could help e-commerce operators – intermediaries and direct sellers alike – integrate eWOM in the formulation of their e-business models.