Paper ID
1401
Paper Type
short
Description
With the proliferation of mobile apps to promote healthy diets, it is important to understand the influence of evaluation information presented through these apps on users' decisions. Deriving from information processing concepts, we examine the influence of information cues (authority and social proof cues) obtained via food literacy apps on users’ food product choices. We employ clickstream data from such an app that provides labeling information, expert grades, and user ratings/reviews of food products. We use a regression discontinuity design to uncover the effects of authority cue (expert grade) and Poisson regression to analyze the effects of social proof (user rating, review) on food product choices. The initial results add to our knowledge of the influence of these two key cues (authority and social proof) on food product choice. There are also salient implications for the app providers, for experts evaluating food products, for users, and for public health.
Recommended Citation
Shin, Jieun; Oh, Hyelim; and Kankanhalli, Atreyi, "Effects of Expert- and User-Generated Evaluations on Food Product Choices via a Food Literacy App" (2019). ICIS 2019 Proceedings. 1.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2019/is_health/is_health/1
Effects of Expert- and User-Generated Evaluations on Food Product Choices via a Food Literacy App
With the proliferation of mobile apps to promote healthy diets, it is important to understand the influence of evaluation information presented through these apps on users' decisions. Deriving from information processing concepts, we examine the influence of information cues (authority and social proof cues) obtained via food literacy apps on users’ food product choices. We employ clickstream data from such an app that provides labeling information, expert grades, and user ratings/reviews of food products. We use a regression discontinuity design to uncover the effects of authority cue (expert grade) and Poisson regression to analyze the effects of social proof (user rating, review) on food product choices. The initial results add to our knowledge of the influence of these two key cues (authority and social proof) on food product choice. There are also salient implications for the app providers, for experts evaluating food products, for users, and for public health.