Exploring the influence of online reviews on consumer purchase intentions in the take-out O2O platform

The take-out O2O (online-to-offline) industry has seamlessly integrated into various facets of consumer life, leveraging its distinctive strengths. Within this landscape, the information disseminated through take-out O2O platform reviews has emerged as a pivotal factor influencing consumer decisions when opting for food delivery services. This study centers on scrutinizing online reviews sourced from take-out O2O platforms. It establishes a research framework wherein online reviews function as the independent variable, consumer purchase intentions as the dependent variable, perceived risk as the mediator impacting the influence of online reviews on purchase intent, and consumer trust propensity as the moderator in the relationship between online reviews and perceived risk. Hypotheses are formulated and rigorously examined through empirical methodologies to ascertain the validity of the research framework and its underpinning assumptions. The findings of this study affirm that online reviews on take-out O2O platforms, encompassing criteria such as review quantity, quality, valence, timeliness, and visual cues, wield a marked positive influence on consumer purchase intentions. Furthermore, online reviews exhibit a discernible negative impact on perceived risk. Notably, perceived risk plays a pivotal role as a partial mediator in the pathway through which online reviews influence consumer purchase intentions. Moreover, the study elucidates that consumer trust propensity operates as a vital moderator, particularly affecting how two key dimensions of online reviews—review valence and quality—influence perceived risk. This moderating effect manifests as a mechanism that introduces a mitigating influence to a certain extent.