The effect of personality on post-purchase dissonance and the mediation of
online review reading in the e-commerce context
Author: Sofie Gustavsson Student Number: 11169486
Supervisor: Dr. Young-Shin Lim Word count: 7252
University of Amsterdam
Graduate School of Communication
Master’s Programme Communication Science
Master’s Thesis February 2nd, 2017
Abstract
Cognitive dissonance is a widely studied concept by Festinger (1957) that describes the level of psychological discomfort felt when one experiences mental inconsistencies. Its
applicability to consumer behavior is referred to as post-purchase dissonance involving the discomfort experienced from making a purchase decision (Keng & Liao, 2009). The theory suggests that individuals will differ in their tendency to experience cognitive dissonance as well the magnitude of cognitive dissonance felt (Festinger, 1957). However, the relationship between personality and cognitive dissonance remains hugely understudied. This research gap is even larger when the relationship is applied to the online shopping context (Yap & Gaur, 2014). Furthermore, the frequency of reading online reviews is also believed to impact this relationship. This research therefore asks the question to what extent the relationship between personality (specifically, neuroticism, extraversion and conscientiousness) and post-purchase dissonance is mediated by customer review reading frequency in the online shopping
environment. The hypotheses were that neuroticism increases online review reading
frequency prior to purchase, which then decreases post-purchase dissonance. Extraversion on the other hand was predicted to decrease online review reading, which furthermore decreases post-purchase dissonance. Conscientiousness was hypothesized to increase review-reading frequency, which then decreases post-purchase dissonance. The research was conducted through the use of online surveys with participants living in the Netherlands who have, at one stage or another, purchased an item online. The results indicated that the model could not be supported. However, the research did find a strong, direct, and positive effect of neuroticism on post-purchase dissonance. The findings therefore fundamentally aided in bridging the aforementioned research gap and provide important insight for researchers and practicing marketers regarding personality, online review reading, and post-purchase dissonance in the e-commerce context.
The effect of personality on post-purchase dissonance and the mediation of online review reading in the e-commerce context
From the year 2014 to 2015, the Netherlands witnessed a 17.4% increase in online shopping. Dutch consumers spent 16.04 billion euros in the year 2015 (“Nederlands shoppen in 2015”, 2016). A total of 92% of the population are active internet users, and 92% of these users have purchased at least one item online (Ecommerce News, 2015). Shopping online is one of the most rapid growing internet activities providing consumers with advantages, such as convenience, product variety, and price comparisons (Huseynov & Yildirim, 2015). The interest of studying this phenomenon within consumer behavior is hence growing within academia in order to comprehend what drives and inhibits the online shopping process for the consumer (Chaparro-Peláez, Agudo-Peregrina & Pascual-Migues, 2015).
One particular concept that has been studied in relation to consumer behavior is cognitive dissonance. The theory of cognitive dissonance is a widely used psychological theory that entails that when faced with mental inconsistencies, the individual will attempt to reduce these in order to maintain psychologically consistent (Festinger, 1957). The theory has been applied to marketing (referred to as post-purchase dissonance), which involves
conflicting feelings in regards to the purchase choice made as a result of choosing one product over others. Its application within consumer behavior therefore mainly involves determining means of reducing dissonance in order for the consumer to be satisfied with the choice made (Harmon-Jones & Harmon-Jones, 2007). However, its application within the field of
consumer behavior is fairly limited, especially within its relation to online shopping (Yap & Gaur, 2014). There are several perceived risks that consumers experience in relation to online shopping, such as product risk, financial risk and non-delivery risk (Ariff, Sylvester, Zakuan, Ismail, & Ali, 2014). According to Beasly (2016), risk is also an antecedent of cognitive
dissonance. One can therefore determine the grave need of studying post-purchase dissonance in relation to online shopping.
Festinger (1957) states that individuals will experience varying levels of cognitive dissonance in the form of some people finding cognitive dissonance painful, while others will not. One can thus witness how the topic of personality traits influencing cognitive dissonance is touched upon, but not entirely explained. Festinger (1957) never states why some
individuals will find it more painful or why certain individuals are more prone to experience it. This is also a hugely understudied research topic within academia as a whole, even though a multitude of researchers state that individuals differ in their tendency to experience
cognitive dissonance as well as the amount experienced (Festinger 1957; Murray, Wood & Lilienfeld, 2012; Yap & Gaur, 2014). This study consequently utilizes the Big Five factor model in order to determine the relationship between personality (specifically, neuroticism, extraversion and conscientiousness) and post-purchase dissonance. As previously mentioned there is also a need to study the post-purchase dissonance phenomenon in relation to online shopping based on the research gap in applying the concept to the e-commerce environment. Therefore, the effect of personality on post-purchase dissonance will be studied in relation to online shopping.
Furthermore, Festinger (1957) also suggests that seeking external information can be used as a means of preemptively reducing cognitive dissonance. External information search has been studied in relation to cognitive dissonance, but primarily its effect after the purchase has been made (Keng & Liao, 2009). When applying this to online shopping, the external information search can be related to reading online customer reviews possessing the potential of preemptively reducing dissonance. Reading customer reviews is hence believed to be a mediating factor between personality and post-purchase dissonance. This is a vital
dissonance decreases consumer satisfaction and repurchase intentions (Keng & Liao, 2009; Sweeney & Soutar, 2003). Marketers therefore need to understand the mental processes that occur during the online shopping process in order to ensure that the consumer is satisfied.
The aim of this research is to provide insight into how the personality traits of neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness affect post-purchase dissonance, and how this relationship is mediated by customer review reading. This contributes to the professional field of marketing as it allows for marketers to provide more targeted and specific means of preemptively reducing post-purchase dissonance or reducing these feelings once the item has been bought. It also makes several theoretical contributions in filling the research gaps of providing insight into post-purchase dissonance in the online shopping context as well as its relationship with both personality and review reading. The overarching research question of this study is hence to what extent the relationship between personality and post-purchase dissonance is mediated by customer review reading frequency in an e-commerce
environment.
Theoretical Framework
Cognitive Dissonance
The theory of cognitive dissonance was developed by Leon Festinger in order to explain both the reason and the subsequent effects of experiencing psychological discomfort due to having mental inconsistencies (Festinger, 1957). The theory is based on the notion that people want to remain psychologically consistent. These inconsistencies arise from
experiencing conflicting beliefs, opinions, items of knowledge or conflicts between attitude and behavior, which results in the motivation to attempt to reduce the experienced discomfort. Simply put, cognitive dissonance can be explained as a psychological discomfort experienced due to conflicting thoughts or behavior (Festinger, 1957). Festinger (1957) provides the
example of a smoker that continues to smoke (behavior) even though the individual is aware of the damaging effects to her/his health (attitude), which results in an inconsistency between attitude and behavior leading to cognitive dissonance.
The amount of dissonance experienced is dependent upon the importance of the cognitions (Harmon-Jones, Harmon-Jones, & Levy, 2015). This can be reduced by
psychological work, which entails that one can for example convince oneself that the risks of smoking are worth it or to avoid situations in which one is likely to feel dissonant in regards to the topic (Festinger, 1957). One common application of the theory is within the field of marketing and consumer behavior (Yap & Gaur, 2014).
Post-purchase dissonance
The concept of cognitive dissonance in relation to consumer behavior is often referred to as post-purchase dissonance (Kaish, 1967). Post-purchase dissonance can be defined as experiencing inconsistent mental cognitions after a purchase resulting in a psychologically uncomfortable state of mind (Keng & Liao, 2013). Even though Festinger (1957) does not specifically associate cognitive dissonance with consumer behavior it can be directly related to a vital element of the theory, which is the dissonance derived from decision-making (Harmon-Jones & Harmon-Jones, 2007). Festinger (1957) states that dissonance is almost inevitable when choosing one alternative over others. The individual will compare the alternatives along with their respective elements. Once a product is chosen this also entails that other alternatives are rejected. Therefore, dissonance arises from the positive elements from the unchosen alternatives as well as the negative elements from the chosen alternative (Festinger, 1957).
Post-purchase dissonance is an important concept to both marketing professionals and researchers due to its grave effect on consumers. Experiencing post-purchase dissonance
decreases consumer satisfaction and repurchase intention (Keng & Liao, 2009; Sweeney & Soutar, 2003). It is therefore vital for researchers to study its precursors in order for marketers to know how to reduce or prevent post-purchase dissonance in practice. In the theory’s
application to consumer behavior there is also a tendency to use post-purchase dissonance and post-purchase satisfaction interchangeably. However, the concepts are significantly different (Yap & Gaur, 2014). Satisfaction can be explained by the expectation-confirmation theory, which involves two processes. The first process is the creation of expectations about the product, while the second process is concerned with confirming or disconfirming these expectations through using the actual product (Park, Cho, & Rao, 2015). Post-purchase dissonance significantly differs from this concept as it involves psychological discomfort in regards to the fear of being dissatisfied in relation to the unchosen alternatives rather than the dissatisfaction of the product itself (Yap & Gaur, 2014). Dissatisfaction is consequently a potential result of post-purchase dissonance, rather than them being interchangeable concepts (Keng & Liao, 2009).
The focus of post-purchase dissonance research within consumer behavior is to comprehend why consumers behave the way they do after a purchase and what marketers are able to do in order to reduce the psychological discomfort experienced (Telci, Maden, & Kantur, 2011). This is often conducted in a manner, where post-purchase dissonance is manipulated in order to determine its effect on post-purchase satisfaction, repurchase intention (Chang & Tseng, 2014; Kim, 2000; Keng & Liao, 2009) or attitude change (Sweeney, Hausknecht, & Soutar, 2000). Several factors are explored in relation to their influence on post-purchase dissonance, such as product involvement (Kim, 2000), anxiety, and self-confidence (Keng & Liao, 2013). However, there is a lack of a clear understanding of what factors evoke post-purchase dissonance, which is vital in order to understand the ways in which dissonance can be reduced. Several researchers agree that the influence of
post-purchase dissonance on consumer behavior is under-researched and remains unclear (Koller & Salzberger, 2012; Sweeney & Soutar, 2003; O’Neill & Palmer, 2004).
Studying post-purchase dissonance in relation to online shopping is also of great theoretical importance. This is due to the information being presented online rather than in a physical environment in which the products can be felt or tried prior to purchase (Hill & Bonds-Raacke, 2015). Ariff et al. (2014) identify three risks that are associated with online shopping. These are product risk (not being able to physically examine the product), financial risk (the risk of online security in regards to payments online) and non-delivery risk (concerns with the delivery process, such as products getting lost or damaged), which are all negatively associated with consumer attitude towards online shopping (Ariff et. al, 2014). Due to the increase in the perceived risks faced during the online shopping experience, and with
perceived risk and uncertainty being a predictor of cognitive dissonance (Beasly, 2016), one can assume that buying products online will increase the post-purchase dissonance
experienced in comparison to an offline setting. Further research on post-purchase dissonance in an online context is hence vital. However, within this context not all individuals will experience post-purchase dissonance to the same extent (Schaffer & Hendrick, 1974). This research therefore explores the effect of personality on post-purchase dissonance in the e-commerce environment.
Personality and Post-Purchase Dissonance
According to Festinger (1957), the discomfort of experiencing cognitive dissonance is more painful for certain individuals in comparison to others. This entails that the discomfort is more bearable for some individuals. Certain situations will also evoke differing levels of cognitive dissonance depending on the individual (Schaffer & Hendrick, 1974). Yap and Gaur (2014) describe this in terms of individuals having different thresholds for experiencing
cognitive dissonance. However, Festinger (1957) does not specifically state what personality traits influence cognitive dissonance. This is also a fairly unexplored research area, including only a few studies researching the relationship between personality traits and cognitive dissonance. Keng and Liao (2009) found a positive relationship between anxiety and low self-confidence with cognitive dissonance. Schaffer and Hendrick (1974) state that dogmatism and ambiguity intolerance positively affect cognitive dissonance. Dogmatic individuals orient themselves towards defending oneself against anxiety and threat, demonstrating a relationship with Keng and Liao’s (2009) study on anxiety and cognitive dissonance. Ambiguity intolerant individuals on the other hand perceive ambiguous information as threatening.
Even though specific elements of ones personality have been examined within research (Schaffer & Hendrick, 1974; Keng & Liao, 2009), there is a scarcity of exploratory research with the aim of determining what personality traits impact cognitive dissonance. This research therefore utilizes the Big Five based on the Five Factor Model measuring personality traits in order to achieve this. It consists of the following five personality traits: neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, and agreeableness (Gurven, von Rueden, Maxim, Hillard, & Marino, 2013). However, this study solely focuses on neuroticism, extraversion and conscientiousness due to openness and agreeableness being deemed as unfitting for the conceptual model.
Neuroticism and Post-Purchase Dissonance
Neuroticism is a personality trait that involves hostility, depression, self-consciousness and vulnerability. Highly neurotic people are characterized as people with lower emotional stability, are more likely to experience negative feelings, and are also more likely to be affected by negative life events (Judge, Higgins, Thoresen, & Barrick, 1999). When making decisions under pressure, neurotic individuals are very likely to be negatively affected by the
decision-making process. They are more susceptible to pressure in regards to decision-making due to the anxiety experienced, resulting in making suboptimal decisions (Byrne, Silasi-Mansat, & Worthy, 2014). One can thus see the relationship between neuroticism and the decision-making process of choosing and purchasing an item online.
The personality trait of neuroticism is one of the few out of the Big Five personality traits that has previously been studied in relation to cognitive dissonance. This is due to its close relation to anxiety, which is also a characteristic of the state of dissonance (Al Otaibi, 2012; Byrne, Silasi-Mansat, & Worthy, 2014). Festinger (1957) does not directly characterize dissonance as anxiety, but its relationship is implied in his description of the state as
psychologically uncomfortable and a mental tension, which can be reinterpreted as anxiety (Suinn, 1965). Suinn (1965) also found support for a positive relationship between anxiety and cognitive dissonance. Furthermore, Al Otaibi (2012) discovered that high neuroticism is directly correlated with a high level of cognitive dissonance. This research therefore predicts that neuroticism will positively influence post-purchase dissonance.
H1: The personality trait of neuroticism has a positive direct effect post-purchase dissonance.
Extraversion and Post-Purchase Dissonance
Individuals who are extraverted are characterized as socially oriented, possessing characteristics such as being active, assertive and outgoing (Matz, Hofstedt, & Wood, 2008). They tend to be adventurous and ambitious in comparison to the self-preoccupied and
introspective introverts (Judge et al., 1999). A fundamental difference is also that extraverts are less likely to experience negative emotions, such as psychological discomfort due to having a less excitable nervous system when arousal levels are elevated in comparison to introverts (Matz et al., 2008). When relating this to post-purchase dissonance, this would
entail that not only would extroverts be less likely to experience post-purchase dissonance, but the level of discomfort when dissonance is experienced would also be lower.
Extroverts also prefer higher levels of risk, meaning that risks are less likely to be avoided or result in negative feelings (Vestewig, 1977). The risk of purchasing an item online would hence be lower for extroverts in comparison to introverts, which one can assume leads to lower levels of post-purchase dissonance. Matz et al. (2008) found support of extraversion being a personality trait that moderates the level of cognitive dissonance in that cognitive dissonance was significantly higher for introverts in comparison to extroverts. This research therefore predicts that high extraversion leads to lower post-purchase dissonance as
demonstrated in the hypothesis below.
H2: The personality trait of extraversion has a negative direct effect on post-purchase dissonance.
Conscientiousness and Post-purchase Dissonance
The conscientious individual is efficient, and prefers to do a thorough job (Lang et al., 2011). Other characteristics include being industrious, dependable and orderly (Judge et al., 1999). Conscientious individuals tend to be very goal-driven and are capable of organizing their work and time well (Heinström, 2000). The personality trait is commonly studied in relation to work performance. Conscientious employees or students generally perform well as is evident through the aforementioned characteristics, which are important for accomplishing work tasks (Barrick & Mount, 1991). However, its application outside the realm of work performance remains very limited. Al Otaibi (2012) studied the relationship between
personality and cognitive dissonance and found that conscientiousness negatively influences cognitive dissonance. In theory this makes a lot of sense in the context of post-purchase dissonance. Post-purchase dissonance arises from decision-making (Harmon-Jones &
Harmon-Jones, 2007) and due to conscientious individuals being competent, organized and goal-oriented (Heinström, 2000) one would assume that decision-making would not be a difficult task. The individual would hence have a lower tendency of experiencing post-purchase dissonance as well as to a lesser magnitude. Based on this the third hypothesis was created.
H3: The personality trait of conscientiousness has a negative direct effect on post-purchase dissonance.
Reading Online Reviews and Post-Purchase Dissonance
Online customer reviews are a form of user-generated content (Cheung, Lee, &
Rabjohn, 2008) in which consumers share product information and evaluations on the basis of their individual experiences with the product (Wei & Lu, 2013). Online customer reviews have not only increased in number, but also in influence. They have become a fundamental source for gaining product information aiding the consumer in making purchase decisions (Elwalda, Lü, & Ali, 2016). With over 32,000 online stores in the Netherlands and 71% of the Dutch population buying products online (Pieters, 2016), it is evident that there is a need to study the mental processes involved for the consumer during the online shopping experience.
There is a fundamental research gap regarding reading online reviews prior to making a purchase decision and its effect on post-purchase dissonance. Keng and Liao (2009)
investigated the effect of post-purchase dissonance on external information search and found a positive effect, but no research was found on the reverse relationship. However, according to Kaish (1967), cognitive dissonance can also be experienced prior to purchase, which is consistent with Festinger’s (1957) statement that motivation to seek information can preemptively be used as a means to reduce cognitive dissonance. This entails that reading online reviews can be used as a means to reduce cognitive dissonance before the individual
experiences it. This would suggest that reading online reviews is negatively correlated with post-purchase dissonance. Some researchers suggest that reading online reviews can lead to information overload (Park & Lee, 2008), which would provide reason to predict that review reading increases post-purchase dissonance. However, Kwon, Kim, Duket, and Catalán (2015) discovered that this is not the case due to consumers having the tendency to ignore the majority of reviews displayed and rarely reading beyond the first page. Therefore, review reading should still reduce post-purchase dissonance, which is hypothesized below and portrayed in figure 1.
H4: Online review reading frequency prior to purchase has a negative effect on post-purchase dissonance.
Personality and Reading Online Reviews
Numerous studies have been conducted determining why consumers write customer reviews as well as the factors involved in making the consumers adopt the opinions of the online reviews (Cheung, Lee, & Rabjohn, 2008). Researching what elements of the review make it appear trustworthy and appealing to other consumers is another common research area (Fileri, 2016). However, there is a great lack of information on what drives consumers to read online reviews to aid their purchasing decisions (Cheung, Lee, & Rabjohn, 2008). The reason why it is an important matter to study is due to personality having a fundamental impact on decision-making (Byrne, Silasi-Mansat, & Worthy, 2015). Since online reviews are used as a means to assist decision-making (Elwalda, Lü, & Ali, 2016), one can assume that there is a relationship between personality and the tendency of reading online reviews.
In regards to personality traits and review reading habits or frequency only one study was found, which researched the effect of each personality trait from the Big Five scale on purchase intention after reading online reviews (Chou, Picazo-Vela, & Pearson, 2013).
However, the effects of the personality traits on purchase intention after review reading were not statistically significant, which demonstrates the necessity to further investigate the
relationship between personality and the tendency to read online reviews. This study therefore created individual hypotheses concerning the personality traits studied (neuroticism,
extraversion, and conscientiousness) based on extensive research on each trait.
Figure 1
Model displaying the predicted relationships of neuroticism, extraversion and
conscientiousness on post-purchase dissonance with the mediation of online review reading frequency
Neuroticism and reading online reviews
Reading online reviews is done in order to aid the consumer in making a purchasing decision (Elwalda, Lü, & Ali, 2016). However, neurotic individuals often experience decision-making deficits due to their anxiety, low self-esteem and lack of control. Highly neurotic individuals also have a higher tendency in experiencing shame in case of a failure (Hilbig, 2008). When relating this to reading online reviews prior to purchase, neurotic people Neuroticism
Online review reading frequency
Post-purchase dissonance Extraversion
may have a stronger tendency to seek information based on their decision-making deficits and in order to avoid the fear of being unsatisfied, which would result in a sense of shame.
Festinger (1957) supports this premise by stating that motivation to seek information can preemptively be used as a means to reduce cognitive dissonance.
Furthermore, the characteristics of neuroticisms such as low self-esteem and anxiety can also be related to the state of feeling uncertain in relation to decision-making. According to the uncertainty reduction theory, information seeking can aid in satisfying these feelings of uncertainty (Stefanone, Hurley, & Yang, 2012). However, according to the attentional control theory, trait anxiety (a construct of neuroticism) results in less available cognitive resources for the individual due to the worries and intrusive thoughts caused by their anxiety (Studer-Luethi, Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, & Perrig, 2012). This can be related to the abundance of online customer reviews and information available online, which may cause information overload hindering the consumer from coming to a firm decision (Park & Lee, 2008). However, as previously explained, information overload is a rare phenomenon within review reading due to consumers mainly scanning through a small selection of reviews (Kwon et al., 2015). This research hence predicts that neuroticism increases the frequency of reading online reviews (based on the uncertainty reduction theory), which in turn reduces post-purchase dissonance. This relationship is hypothesized below and is visually demonstrated in Figure 1.
H5: Online review reading frequency prior to purchase will mediate the positive relationship between neuroticism and post-purchase dissonance in that high neuroticism leads to a higher tendency to read online reviews reducing the level of post-post purchase dissonance.
Extraversion and reading online reviews
Based on the self-confident and assertive nature of extraverts, online reviews may not be needed in order to make a purchase decision (Matz et al., 2008). Information searches and
decision-making research is lacking in its relation to extraversion, but some support can be found for this premise. Tan and Tang (2013) found that extraversion has a negative influence on tourism information search. This was explained by the fact that extraverts are more likely to “venture forth with confidence into the unknown” (Tan & Tang, 2013, p. 399). Support in regards to this conclusion can also be found in regards to decision-making under pressure. Byrne, Silasi-Mansat, and Worthy (2014) discovered that extraversion does not have an influence on performing pressured decision-making. Based on this, one can assume that extraverted individuals do not feel a need to read online customer reviews due to their confidence in decision-making. Based on these findings, the hypothesis below was created, which is also demonstrated in figure 1.
H6: Online review reading frequency prior to purchase will mediate the negative relationship between extraversion and post-purchase dissonance in that high extraversion leads to a lower tendency to read online reviews, which furthermore reduces the level of post-post purchase dissonance.
Conscientiousness and reading online reviews
Conscientious individuals implement a strategic approach to learning and hence use a systematic and orderly manner of information seeking. They have a tendency to put time and effort into information seeking in order to obtain the most amount of relevant information possible (Heinström, 2000). The conscientious individual is not impulsive, but generally carefully deliberates before acting (Al Otaibi, 2012). When applying this to reading online reviews, one would assume that conscientious individuals would conduct extensive research prior to making online purchase decisions. The tendency for conscientious individuals to seek information and the tendency to do this in a meticulous manner provides strong support towards conscientiousness positively influencing online review reading. The hypothesized
relationship between conscientiousness, review reading, and post-purchase dissonance is stated below and can be seen in Figure 1.
H7: Online review reading frequency prior to purchase will mediate the negative relationship between conscientiousness and post-purchase dissonance in that high extraversion leads to a higher tendency to read online reviews, which furthermore reduces the level of post-post purchase dissonance.
Methodology
An online survey was used for this research. It was sampled through the use of nonprobability sampling for which the methods of convenience and snowball sampling were used. The sampling frame consisted of adults above the age of 18 who live in the Netherlands, and who have ever purchased at least one item online. The survey was predominantly
disseminated through social media platforms. Participants were also encouraged to share the link of the survey. The total amount of completed surveys was 124 with a drop out rate of 31%. Female participants consisted of 68.5% of the sample and 31.5% were male. The mean age was 27.68 with a standard deviation of 8.47. From the participants 41.1% were Dutch out of a total of 25 different nationalities.
Operationalization
For the cognitive dissonance variable, the well-established and widely used 22-item scale by Sweeney, Hausknecht, and Soutar (2000) was utilized. This was measured on a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. This measure was reliable for this study (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.91). Examples of items included asking participants to what extent they feel in despair or angry after the purchase or to what extent they wondered if
they had made the right choice or been fooled. The scale was adjusted to specifically refer to online rather than offline purchases.
The Big Five personality traits were measured with a shortened 15-item scale by Lang, John Lüdtke, Schupp, and Wagner (2011). This was then measured on a five-point Likert scale also ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Neuroticism consisted of three items asking participants whether they see themselves as someone who worries a lot, gets nervous easily and whether they remain calm in tense situations, which was a reliable measure (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.69). Extraversion contained three items asking whether the participant sees her- or himself as an individual who is talkative, outgoing and sociable, and reserved. This measure was also reliable (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.74). Finally,
conscientiousness consisted of three items asking if the individual tends to do a thorough job, tends to be lazy, and whether she or he does things efficiently. However, the
conscientiousness scale was not deemed as reliable for this study due to the low Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.47. Therefore, this variable had to be excluded from further analysis.
The frequency of reading of reading online reviews before purchasing an item was also measured on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from never to always. It was based on two items, which consisted of the following two questions: before buying products I read online customer review, and I search for online customer reviews before buying products online. The measure was reliable with a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.83.
Control Variables
In order isolate the relationship between personality, frequency of reading online reviews and post-purchase dissonance, the following control variables were included: openness, shopping impulsivity, perceived risks and benefits of online shopping, internet literacy and online shopping frequency. All control variables were measured using a
five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree, except for the final control variable of online shopping frequency.
The first variables that were controlled for included the remaining two personality traits from the Big Five (agreeableness and openness). Agreeableness consisted of three items asking participants whether they are sometimes rude to others, have a forgiving nature and whether they are kind and considerate to almost everyone. However, due to agreeableness not being a reliable measure it was excluded from further analysis (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.55). Therefore, Openness was the only control variable that was included (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.79). Openness consisted of three items including whether the participant is original and comes up with new idea, whether she or he values artistic, aesthetic experiences and whether they have an active imagination. The scale derives from the same shortened Big Five scale that was used to measure neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness (Lang et al., 2011).
The tendency for a consumer to impulsively purchase products online was included based on impulsive purchases altering the level of cognitive dissonance experienced.
Depending on the context shopping impulsivity may either increase or decrease post-purchase dissonance (George & Edward, 2009; George & Yaoyuneyong, 2010; Chang & Tseng, 2014). It is therefore a vital variable to control for. The nine-item scale by Rook and Fisher (1995) was utilized to operationalize this variable containing items such as, “I often buy things spontaneously” and “Buy now, think about it later describes me” (Rook & Fisher, 1995, p. 308). This was a reliable measure for the study (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.89).
Perceived benefits and risks of shopping online was another crucial variable to control for. This is due to enjoyment, perceived usefulness of online shopping, and the ease of use influencing an individual’s online shopping behavior (Forsythe, Liu, Shannon, & Gardner, 2006). Previous studies have also demonstrated that the perceived risks associated with
purchasing an item online will also have an effect on a consumer’s online shopping habits (George & Edward, 2009; George & Yaoyuneyong, 2010). Therefore, one can assume that an individual who enjoys and sees the benefits of shopping will experience differing levels of post-purchase dissonance in comparison to an individual who focuses on the risks of purchasing an item online. A scale consisting of the perceived benefits and risk of online shopping was therefore utilized created by Forsythe, Liu, Shannon and Gardner (2006). This consisted of 32 items, such as “I can shop in privacy home” and “My personal information may not be kept”. The measure was reliable with a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.81.
Internet literacy was also used as a control variable, due to its impact on an
individual’s tendency to shop online. Low internet literacy is associated with insecurities in regards to using and navigating the internet (Perea y Monsuwé, Dellaert, & de Ruyter, 2004). One can therefore assume that low literacy would impact post-purchase dissonance due to the lack of confidence regarding internet usage. Furthermore, low literacy could also influence a consumer’s tendency to read online reviews prior to purchase due to a lack of knowledge and experience with navigating the internet. The scale consisted of six items, which is a shortened version of the full scale created by van Deursen, Helsper, & Eynon (2015). The scale
consisted of various skills including information navigation, creative and mobile. The
information navigation aspect was chosen for the survey due to its close relation to navigating the internet, rather than being able to produce creative content or using a mobile device, for example. Items for this scale included, “I find it hard to find a website I visited before” and “Sometimes I end up on websites without knowing how I got there” (Deursen, Helsper, & Eynon, 2015, p. 13), which was a reliable measure for this study (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.82).
The final variable that was controlled for was online shopping frequency, which consisted of one item asking the participant how many times she/he purchases products online, with the selection options being once a week or more, two to three times a month,
every few months, and once or twice a year. This variable was controlled for based on the assumption that more frequent online shoppers would acquire a higher level of comfort with shopping online, thus impacting the level of post-purchase dissonance experienced.
Results
Preliminary Analysis
Before determining the relationship between the variables in the proposed model, variance inflation factor was measured in order to ensure that the independent variables do not possess collinearity. The collinearity statistics demonstrated that the variance inflation factor was 1, and are therefore not collinear. Pearson’s correlations were also conducted together with the main variables and control variables. Each control variable had significant
correlations with at least one of the main variables (see table 1), which furthermore supports their inclusion for the main analyses. The table also demonstrates one significant correlation between two of the main variables (neuroticism and post-purchase dissonance).
Main analyses
To test the proposed hypotheses PROCESS macro was used as developed by Hayes (2013). Model 4 using 5,000 bootstrap samples at a 95% confidence level was utilized in order to measure the indirect effects. PROCESS macro was run twice due to the inclusion of two independent variables (neuroticism and extraversion). Firstly, the mediation of online review reading frequency was measured between neuroticism and post-purchase dissonance. Following this, the mediating effect of online review reading frequency on extraversion and post-purchase dissonance was measured.
The first hypothesis predicted that high neuroticism would have a positive effect on post-purchase dissonance. This was conducted with the inclusion of the control variables of openness, shopping impulsivity, internet literacy, perceived advantages and disadvantages of online shopping, and online shopping frequency. The second independent variable
(extraversion) was also controlled for. PROCESS indicated a direct and positive effect of neuroticism on post-purchase dissonance (b =.11, SE = .05, t (115) = 2.25, p = .027). Hypothesis one was therefore supported.
Hypothesis two stated that high extraversion negatively affects post-purchase
dissonance. The aforementioned control variables were included for this analysis, except that extraversion was replaced with neuroticism. This was also done for the following hypotheses with the inclusion of either extraversion or neuroticism as a control variable depending on the independent variable measured. There was no direct effect between the variables (b = -.05, SE = .05, t (115) = -1.02, p = .308). Therefore, hypothesis two was rejected.
The relationship between review reading frequency and post-purchase dissonance was predicted in hypothesis three in that an increase in review reading would negatively influence
post-purchase dissonance. However, no relationship was found between the two variables (b = .00, SE = .04, t (115) = .02, p = .986). Hypothesis three was therefore rejected.
The fourth hypothesis was concerned with the indirect effect of neuroticism on post-purchase dissonance through the mediation of review reading frequency. Review reading frequency was not a mediator of neuroticism and post-purchase dissonance (point estimate = .0001, 95% CI [-.0136, .0142]). Therefore, hypothesis four was rejected.
The fifth and final hypothesis predicted that review-reading frequency would mediate the relationship between extraversion and post-purchase dissonance. However, there was no indirect effect between the variables and hypothesis four therefore had to be rejected (point estimate = .0000, 95% CI [-.0102, .0121]).
Discussion
The results of this research indicate that the proposed model cannot be supported. However, there was a direct effect between neuroticism and cognitive dissonance. This
supports previous research that neuroticism affects the post-purchase decision-making process leading to higher levels of post-purchase dissonance (Byrne, Silasi-Mansat, & Worthy, 2014; Al Otaibi, 2012). There was no relationship found between neuroticism and review reading frequency or review reading frequency and post-purchase dissonance. The relationship between extraversion and post-purchase dissonance with review reading frequency being a mediator was also not supported. This would suggest that extraversion does not impact reading online reviews or post-purchase dissonance. Furthermore, as previously stated the measure of conscientiousness was not used for further analysis as it was deemed as unreliable (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.47). Therefore, it’s relationship with review reading frequency and post-purchase dissonances remains unknown.
Implications for Theory
Even though most relationships between the variables were not significant, the results still have several important implications for theory. As previously stated, there is a
pronounced research gap in regards to personality and cognitive dissonance despite of the general agreement between researchers that individual differences impact the level of
cognitive dissonance experienced (Festinger 1957; Murray, Wood, & Lilienfeld, 2012; Yap & Gaur, 2014). Based on the findings of this research it can be concluded that neuroticism is the primary personality trait that impacts the level of post-purchase dissonance experienced in an online shopping environment. High levels of neuroticism will increase the amount of post-purchase dissonance experienced after an online post-purchase.
The results also demonstrate the importance of studying post-purchase dissonance in relation to online shopping. Even though this research did not compare online and offline shopping, it shows that post-purchase dissonance is present in an e-commerce environment. As for the insignificant results one can determine that extraversion is not a personality trait that impacts online review reading frequency or post-purchase dissonance. This research hence provides elaboration on Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory in that neurotic individuals have a higher tendency of experiencing cognitive dissonance and at a higher magnitude. Also, it expands it through its application of decision-making to consumer behavior in relation to online shopping.
Implications for Practice
The findings of this research are highly beneficial to practicing marketers. The implications are that marketers must attempt to reduce the post-purchase dissonance for neurotic individuals. This can be done preemptively in order to avoid post-purchase dissonance arising in the first place as well as after the purchase has been made in order to
reduce post-purchase dissonance (Yap & Gaur, 2014). Research supports this premise in that post-purchase dissonance negatively affects post-purchase satisfaction and repurchase intention (Keng & Liao, 2009; Sweeney & Soutar, 2003). This would suggest that neurotic individuals are more prone to experience post-purchase dissonance and at a higher magnitude, which would be followed by a higher chance of being unsatisfied with the purchase and a lower chance of purchasing more products from that particular brand. Marketers therefore need to take personality traits into consideration within the e-commerce context in order to improve purchase satisfaction and repurchase intention for neurotic individuals.
Even though this research did not find a relationship between personality and review reading or with review reading and post-purchase dissonance, it did support that consumers tend to read online reviews prior to their purchases. A total of 91.1% of the participants indicated that they read online customer reviews before making an online purchase. This demonstrates that it is an important phenomenon for marketers to take into consideration. However, there are several limitations to this study that that researchers and marketing professionals need to take into account.
Limitations
There are several limitations that may explain some of the results of this research, and should be used as improvements for future research. One fundamental limitation was the fairly small sample size of 124 participants. The reason for this was the high drop out rate of 31% along with time constraints. A higher number of participants (perhaps around 200) would provide for more reliable results that allow for more generalizable results towards the population.
Another limitation is the scale that was utilized in order to measure the Big Five personality traits. The shortened scale utilized (Lang et al., 2011) resulted in two personality
dimensions being excluded for further analysis due to not being reliable measures for this study (conscientiousness and agreeableness). As a result the relationship between
conscientiousness, review reading frequency and post-purchase dissonance remains unknown, while agreeableness could not be used as a control variable. Therefore, in order to make the overall scale more reliable, a suggestion for future research would be to include the original 44-item scale by Goldberg (1992).
Another fundamental limitation to the research is a social desirability bias. This could particularly be seen by the answers measuring post-purchase dissonance. The results
demonstrated a strong skewness towards not experiencing post-purchase dissonance. According to Festinger (1957), individuals want to remain psychologically consistent. Admitting to experiencing post-purchase dissonance would entail that one admits to feeling psychologically inconsistent. There is therefore a possibility of a self-reporting bias in order to not want to admit to others and oneself that one experiences inconsistent cognitions. An experiment may hence be more useful in measuring post-purchase dissonance.
The final and most prominent limitation to this study is the research setting.
Participants were asked to indicate how they felt after previous online purchases were made. However, the participant may not remember how she or he felt at that moment. This provides strong support for utilizing an experimental setting in which the participant has to order items online, followed by the measurement of post-purchase dissonance. This type of setting would also provide the opportunity to measure whether the participant wishes to look up online reviews prior to their purchase or not. A more realistic setting would greatly increase the reliability and validity of the results.
Due to the rather exploratory nature of the research, rather than finding conclusive results it has opened up a lot of interesting possibilities for further research. One research area would be to investigate the relationship between conscientiousness, online review reading and post-purchase dissonance, as this research was unable to do so. Utilizing a longer and more reliable personality scale could provide further interesting findings into the topic of
personality and post-purchase dissonance as a whole. Furthermore, the difference between online and offline shopping and its relationship with post-purchase dissonance would also be a possible area of future research. Due to the previously mentioned increase in perceived risks of online shopping (Ariff et. al, 2014) in comparison to offline shopping, this could
potentially lead to higher levels of post-purchase dissonance.
Based on the findings of this study that demonstrated a strong, direct, and positive relationship between neuroticism and post-purchase dissonance, it may also be useful to look into variables that moderate rather than mediate this relationship. This would provide further insight into the exact variables involved in this relationship. Furthermore, the research also discovered that both shopping impulsivity and the perceived advantages of reading customer reviews correlate with cognitive dissonance (p = .001, p = .002). These were both control variables and hence not discussed in the results, but provide interested areas that one could further explore in future research.
Online review reading is another variable that should receive attention within research. The frequency that consumers read online customer reviews was not influenced by
personality and a significant relationship was also not found with post-purchase dissonance. However, perhaps the type of online reviews read may influence post-purchase dissonance rather than the frequency. Consumers often have a bias when reading online reviews. They have a tendency to read reviews that are in line with their own opinions as well as finding these reviews more persuasive (Zhang, Craciun, & Shin, 2010). Therefore, one can assume
that a conflict in cognitions would not arise, thus reducing post-purchase dissonance. Comparing reading online reviews that are in line with ones own opinion to reviews that contrast ones own opinion could provide insight into review reading and post-purchase dissonance. One can hence determine that the research has provided important areas that should be further researched.
Conclusion
The research conducted provides vital information into filling the research gap concerning the preceding elements involved in cognitive dissonance within the context of consumer behavior in an online environment. Even though the proposed model was not supported, a direct and positive relationship between neuroticism and post-purchase
dissonance was found. Referring back to the research question to what extent the personality and post-purchase dissonance is mediated by customer review reading frequency in an e-commerce environment, once can determine that there was no mediating relationship found. However, the study does conclude that neuroticism is the most prominent personality trait associated with post-purchase dissonance and provides conclusive support for post-purchase dissonance being experienced in the context of online shopping. Due to the previously stated limitations to this study, further investigating the relationship between personality, online review reading, and post-purchase dissonance is crucial to research and practicing
professionals. However, important findings were still found that aid in understanding the factors influencing post-purchase dissonance (personality), thus contributing with useful information for practicing marketers to take into account in the e-commerce context in order to avoid and to reduce post-purchase dissonance.
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