The Effect of Facebook Comments and Likes on Risk Perception of Organic Food

The Internet and social media are increasingly becoming important sources of information. Social media enables consumers to share their viewpoints online with hundreds or even thousands individuals and/or organisations.... [ view full abstract ]

The Internet and social media are increasingly becoming important sources of information. Social media enables consumers to share their viewpoints online with hundreds or even thousands individuals and/or organisations. Especially Facebook has become popular among internet users. This growth in popularity makes it relevant to examine to what extent consumers are influenced by the opinions of other consumers that they encounter on Facebook.
We investigated how online social proof - the opinions of others that are posted online - impacts consumers’ perceptions, feelings and behaviour towards eating organic foods. Insights from this study contribute to risk communication as knowledge about the way individuals are influenced by online social proof can help understand how consumers respond to information coming from a variety of sources and how the comments and likes on Facebook posts have an effect on risk perception.
In an online experiment using a representative sample of Dutch internet users (n = 184), we examined reactions on a fake Facebook page image with four comments about eating organic food, in which the comment valence (positive vs negative) and endorsement (the number of likes: high vs low) were manipulated. Two conditions in which there were as many positive as negative comments were added, because it was expected that the likes would be especially important in these two conditions. Consumers’ perceptions, feelings and behaviour towards eating organic foods, such as risk perception, benefit perception, emotions and information need, were measured.
The presentation of the results will especially focus on the effect of the two manipulations (comment valence and number of likes) and an interaction hereof on personal health risk perception of organic food. Results showed that comment valence had an effect, while the number of likes did not have an effect when valence was constant. The interaction between comment valence and the number of likes was also significant. In addition, differences in scores on the dependent variables between the two conditions in which there were as many positive as negative comments will be discussed. Both theoretical and practical implications will be given.