The Co-construction of Credibility in Online Product Reviews

Jo Mackiewicz Auburn University

Abstract

Reviews of products on Web sites like Epinions.com make explicit the ways in which credible identities are co-constructed. Product reviews reveal not only how reviewers construct credibility for themselves but also how readers of reviews, through their comments about reviews, ratify and contribute to reviewer credibility. I present a framework and analyze examples of reviews of digital cameras to examine how reviewers of a technical product convey credibility and how review readers coconstruct reviewers' credibility. The framework and analysis can help identify those reviewers who are likely to influence review Web site users.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2010-09-27
DOI
10.1080/10572252.2010.502091
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (10)

  1. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. College Composition and Communication
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Communication Design Quarterly
Show all 10 →
  1. Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  4. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication

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