Abstract

Based on the attribution theory, this study explores the impact of distributor bias given different critic valence on consumers’ acceptance of critics’ reviews. The authors also incorporate “consumer-distributor identification” as an important moderator since consumers’ reaction toward a critic’s distributor bias will depend on their prior attitude toward the distributor. An experimental study was conducted where a critic’s distributor bias and critic valence were manipulated and consumer-distributor identification was matched in a between-subject factorial design. The results suggest that consumers’ acceptance of positive critics are higher than negative ones, but critics with distributor bias and low consumer-distributor identification will both diminish the differences, while high consumerdistributor identification will inflate them. In addition, when exposed to critics with distributor bias, positive critics are more influential than negative ones for consumers with high consumer-distributor identification, however, negative critics are more influential than positive ones for consumers with low consumer-distributor identification. Our findings enrich the current research streams regarding the impact of professional critics and deepen their theoretical foundations, with important managerial and marketing implications for movie marketers who need favorable consumers’ movie evaluations.  

Keywords

distributor biascritic valenceconsumer-distributor identification