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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Commun.
Sec. Advertising and Marketing Communication
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1460321

Reviews, Trust and Customer Experience in Online Marketplaces: The Case of Mercado Libre Colombia

Provisionally accepted
Nathalie Peña-García Nathalie Peña-García 1,2*Mauricio Losada-Otalora Mauricio Losada-Otalora 3David Pérez David Pérez 4María Paula Cruz María Paula Cruz 4
  • 1 College of Higher Administration Studies (CESA), Bogotá, Colombia
  • 2 Colegio de Estudios Superiores de Administración (CESA), Bogotá, Colombia
  • 3 Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia
  • 4 Independent researcher, Bogotá, Colombia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Purpose -The research focuses on the crucial role of online reviews in shaping consumer trust in ecommerce platforms, examining the impact of perceived authentic and fake reviews on purchasing decisions and platform reputation. It assesses how consumers perceive review authenticity and quality and their effects on trust levels in reviews, marketplaces, and reputation systems. It also explores the relationship between trust forms and overall experiences.Design/methodology -A quantitative approach is employed, utilizing a questionnaire distributed to recent Mercado Libre buyers. To test hypotheses, data from 326 valid responses are analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).Findings -Findings reveal that fake review perception negatively affects trust in rating systems, while high-quality reviews positively influence all trust forms. Customer experience is directly impacted by trust in marketplaces and rating systems, indicating a mediation effect of trust in the rating system on the relationship between fake review perception and customer experience.Research limitations/implications -Limitations include using a convenience sample and focusing on trust in the rating system rather than reviews or the marketplace, suggesting avenues for future research. Practical implications include recommendations to ensure review quality, enhance rating system controls, and promote review usage in the purchase process.The study addresses a timely and relevant gap in understanding the impact of reviews on e-commerce trust, particularly within the context of Latin America and Mercado Libre's dominance in the region's e-commerce landscape.

    Keywords: Trust, Fake reviews, Customer experience, Marketplace, Colombia

    Received: 08 Jul 2024; Accepted: 05 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Peña-García, Losada-Otalora, Pérez and Cruz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Nathalie Peña-García, College of Higher Administration Studies (CESA), Bogotá, Colombia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.