Quantic’s Dr. Nan Zhang examines the science and psychology of online reviews

Quantic faculty member, Dr. Nan Zhang had her research “Enhancing consumer online reviews: the role of moral identity”recently published in the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing.

Her research aims to provide a theory-based means for firms to improve customers’ likelihood to provide reviews and elicit reviews that are more accurate accounts of customers’ consumption experience. The research also examined the moderating impact of type of review (whether the reviews are anonymous or identified) on the effect of moral identity on the likelihood to provide reviews and accuracy of the reviews. Two experiment studies were used to collect measurements for variables. Data were analyzed with structural equation models.

The research shows that moral identity positively impacts the likelihood that customers will agree to provide reviews and the accuracy of the reviews. Also, the type of review moderates the effect of moral identity for those whose moral identity was not activated (i.e. uninfluenced). However, the type of review did not moderate the effect of moral identity when participants’ moral identity was activated or primed.
Strategies currently used to elicit online reviews yield low conversion rates or elicit reviews that potential customers do not trust. This research provides an empirically tested, theory-driven means for managers of digital platforms to improve customer engagement behaviors such as “liking”, tweeting, sharing and product reviews.

Dr. Zhang is a leading marketing Subject Matter Expert at Quantic School of Business and Technology. She has worked in multiple roles as researcher, consultant, and professor. Her research focus is the impact of consumer’s identify on social media communication. She received her PhD in marketing from Southern Illinois University.

Dr. Zhang’s publications can be seen in leading marketing journals such as Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing. She presented as keynote speaker at American Marketing Association and Society of Marketing Advances, and has been working on the editorial board of Journal of Consumer Research. Dr. Zhang has worked extensively with business practitioners and serves as marketing strategic consultant and mentor to help startups and small and medium enterprises.

She is certified in project-based teaching by the Association of College and University Educators. She is also a certified analyst in marketing stack tools such as Google Analytics and Tableu.

Out of work, she is an enthusiastic VR gamer. Her favorite game is Room VR. She also enjoys water sports, especially kayaking and diving.

Hear more about Dr. Zhang’s work and research in her recent Quantic Conversations interview: