Impacts of decision-making biases on eWOM retrust and risk-reducing strategies

• Decision-making biases may influence risk-taking strategies and re-trust in eWOM.
• Inertia and overconfidence biases positively affect the re-trust in eWOM.
• Consumers with a stronger illusion of control bias place less trust in eWOM again.
• Different strategies lead to different associations with re-trust in eWOM.

This study examined the role of decision-making biases (i.e., inertia, overconfidence, illusion of control) in consumer retrust in electronic word of mouth (eWOM) recommendations and the risk-reducing strategies of consumers. An online survey was conducted. Of the 592 questionnaires collected, 567 responses were suitable for analysis. The response rate was 95.78%. This study revealed that inertia and overconfidence biases affect retrust in word-of-mouth recommendations. In addition, consumers with a stronger illusion of control bias place less trust in eWOM after having a negative experience. Furthermore, the results indicated that the associations between risk-reducing strategies and retrust in eWOM differ. On the theoretical level, this paper provides an understanding of the effects of inertia, overconfidence, and the illusion of control on eWOM retrust. In addition, this paper fills a gap in the literature, thus advancing knowledge on how and why consumers retrust eWOM. The results of the current study provide useful knowledge enabling firms to understand decision-making biases and, thus, manage relationships with potential customers and improve the quality of their products and services. For example, relying on an eWOM Web site image was determined to be the primary risk-reducing strategy in retrusting eWOM. Firms should continually track the flow of eWOM on eWOM-posting Web sites.