How social influence through information adoption from online review sites affects collective decision making

In this study, we explore the common phenomenon of using online review sites to acquire information for decision-making. Nowadays, online review sites such as Yelp in the US and OpenRice in Hong Kong, which provide effective platforms for consumers to share their post-purchase experiences, are getting popular. While we get into a collective decision such as dinner gathering, social influence will also play a role in the decision making process. Based on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and social influence theory (SIT), we develop a research model to investigate how participating in online review sites influences collective decisions.