Paws and Reflect: Assessing the Impact of User Reviews and Ratings on Pet Food E-commerce Purchase Decisions

Main Article Content

Ronnel Relao
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5235-7304
Paula Sharmaine Delos Santos
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0764-8411

Abstract

The pet food industry in the Philippines is thriving as the leading country in Southeast Asia in pet ownership. This study explores this growing sector and its e-commerce landscape, anchored in Rotter’s Expectancy-Value Theory. It uses a quantitative design to examine how online user reviews and ratings influence Filipino pet owners' expectancy & value as the independent variables, motivation with purchase decisions as the dependent variable, and celebrity endorsement as a moderating factor. The study also assesses the credibility and reliability of online reviews and employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) for analysis. The study’s results indicate that respondents highly value a product's attributes when making a purchase decision. While product value significantly impacts purchase decisions, expectations about online reviews and ratings do not influence buying motivation.  Celebrity endorsements, however, do affect motivation. This study suggests that marketers and pet food retailers should focus on enhancing the quality of user reviews and ratings, engaging with industry experts, and improving customer interactions to foster credibility, trust, and informed purchasing.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

Relao, R., & Delos Santos, P. S. (2024). Paws and Reflect: Assessing the Impact of User Reviews and Ratings on Pet Food E-commerce Purchase Decisions. SEISENSE Business Review, 4(1), 118-131. https://doi.org/10.33215/02vbn632
Research Articles

Copyright (c) 2024 Ronnel Relao, Paula Sharmaine Delos Santos

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [RR], upon reasonable request.

Ahmed, S., & Ashfaq, A. (2013). Impact of Advertising on Consumers’ buying behavior through Persuasiveness, Brand Image, and Celebrity endorsement. Global Media Journal, 6(2), 149

Ahmed, R., Seedani, S., Ahuja, M., & Paryani, S. (2015). Impact of celebrity endorsement on consumer buying behavior. Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2666148

Brown, P., & Jones, L. (2016). The Limits of Celebrity Influence: Investigating the Moderating Role of Celebrity Credibility. Journal of Advertising, 45(2), 214-225.

Chen, L., et al. (2019). Perceived Value, Price Sensitivity, and Consumer Purchase Intentions in Social Commerce: An Empirical Study. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 45, 17-29.

Cosgrove, N. (2023, September 26). 11 Philippines Pet Ownership Statistics to Know in 2023. Pet Keen. https://petkeen.com/pet-ownership-statistics-philippines/

Dela Cruz, P., et al. (2018). Challenges and Solutions: Maintaining the Integrity of User Reviews in Online Marketplaces in the Philippines. International Journal of Business Ethics and Management, 4(1), 28-39.

Euromonitor International. (2023, May). Other Pet Food in the Philippines - Analysis. In www.portal.euromonitor.com.

Euromonitor International. (2023, May 4). Pet Care in the Philippines. In www.portal.euromonitor.com.

Fernandez, R. (2020). Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Brand Loyalty: Evidence from the Philippines. International Journal of Business Studies, 12(3), 78-92.

Garcia, A., & Reyes, M. (2018). The Power of Celebrity: Influencing Consumer Perception in the Philippines. Journal of Marketing Studies, 15(2), 45-58.

Garcia, A., & Reyes, M. (2021). User-Generated Content and Customer Loyalty in the Philippine Online Retail Market. Journal of Consumer Engagement and Retention, 4(2), 145-160.

Geng, R., Wang, S., Chen, X., Song, D., & Yu, J. (2020). Content marketing in e-commerce platforms in the internet celebrity economy. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 120(3), 464-485. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-05-2019-0270

Goldbach, D. (2023). Consumer Behavior and Motivation. FAIMA Business & Management Journal, 11(2), 26-33.

Guillen, N. B. (2023). Leveraging Beauty Pageants For Brand Exposure: An Analysis Of Sponsorships And Advertising Opportunities In Philippine Pageantry. Marketing Science & Inspirations, 18(4).

Guillen Jr, N. B. (2023). Retail Marketing Competencies in an Omnichannel World: A Post-Pandemic Shopping Revolution. SEISENSE Business Review, 3(1), 76-94.

Kim, J., & Lennon, S. (2018). The Effects of Website Quality on Customer Online Purchase Intentions in the B2C E-commerce Context. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 46(3), 242-259.

Liu, Y., & Yang, R. (2020). Understanding Consumers' Emotional Motives in Impulsive Online Shopping: The Role of Positive and Negative Anticipated Emotions. Information Systems Frontiers, 22(2), 425-439.

McKinney, V., Yoon, K., & Zahedi, F. (2002b). The Measurement of Web-Customer Satisfaction: an expectation and disconfirmation approach. Information Systems Research, 13(3), 296–315. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.13.3.296.76

Meyer, J., Fleckenstein, J., & Köller, O. (2019). Expectancy value interactions and academic achievement: Differential relationships with achievement measures. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 58, 58–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.01.006

Obermiller, C., & Spangenberg, E. R. (2017). Development of a Scale to Measure Consumer Skepticism toward Advertising. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27(1), 117-133.

Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). (2020). Consumer Trends in Pet Food Preferences: A Survey.

Pet Fair South-East Asia. (n.d.). Philippines Pet Market. https://www.petfair-sea.com/asia-markets/southeast-asia-pet-market/philippines-pet-market

Rakuten Insight. (2021). Pet ownership in Asia. https://insight.rakuten.com/pet-ownership-in-asia/

Sheu, P., & Chang, S. C. (2022). Relationship of service quality dimensions, customer satisfaction and loyalty in e-commerce: a case study of the Shopee App. Applied Economics, 54(40), 4597–4607. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2021.1980198

Smith, A. (2016). Emotion and Shopping Behavior: When Rationality Trumps Logic. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 15(3), 223-232.

Statista. (2022). Average monthly expenses of pet owners in the Philippines 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1320780/philippines-average-monthly-expenditure-of-pet-owners/

Statista. (2022). Rate of pet ownership Philippines 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1320689/philippines-pet-ownership-rate/

Statista. (2023). Users of e-commerce Philippines 2023, by age group. https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1315489/philippines-ecommerce-users-by-age-group

Statista. (2023). Philippines: E-commerce GMV 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1125455/e-commerce-market-size-philippines/

Statista. (2023). Penetration rate of e-commerce Philippines 2018-2027. https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1396746/e-commerce-penetration-rate-in-philippines

Statista. (2023). Influences on online purchasing decisions in the Philippines 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1381423/philippines-influences-on-online-purchasing-decision/

Statista. (n.d.). Pet Food - Philippines | Statista market forecast. https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/food/pet-food/philippines

Tyler, J. (2023). Pet food sales gaining speed in the Philippines. Pet Food Processing. https://www.petfoodprocessing.net/articles/16614-pet-food-sales-gaining-speed-in-the-philippines

Wang, D., & Zhang, Y. (2017). Socially Enhanced Services Shopping: An Empirical Study of Purchase Intention in Social Commerce. Information & Management, 54(3), 303-312.

Wang, X., Lin, X., & Spencer, M. (2019). Exploring the Effects of Extrinsic Motivation on Consumer Behaviors in Social Commerce: Revealing consumers’ Perceptions of Social Commerce Benefits. International Journal of Information Management, 45, 163–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.11.010

Yamada, K. (2019). The Effects of Customer Expectations for Consumer Behavior in Reputation Information Sites. Procedia CIRP. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2019.02.036

Yin, J. Y. B., Saad, N. H. M., & Yaacob, Z. (2022). Exploring sentiment analysis on E-Commerce business: Lazada and Shopee. TEM Journal, 1508–1519. https://doi.org/10.18421/tem114-11