The Power of Review Contiguity: How Sequential Viewing Shapes Consumer Judgment

ABSTRACT

Online reviews are a prominent source of information in consumer decision making, yet little is known about how review presentation and order jointly affect consumer judgments. Drawing on eWOM literature and working memory theory, we propose that sequential presentation makes consumers more sensitive to the grouping of reviews. Across four experiments, we show that when reviews are viewed sequentially, grouping minority reviews into a contiguous run increases their perceived prevalence and in turn shifts product evaluations accordingly, whereas scattered minority reviews have weaker effects. This grouping effect emerges for both positive and negative minority reviews, is attenuated under cognitive load, and is stronger under mobile than desktop viewing conditions. Perceived minority prevalence mediates the effect on product evaluations. Our findings identify structural contiguity as a distinct source of review order effects and demonstrate how ostensibly functional choices about review presentation and sorting can shape consumers' perceptions and judgments.