From Source Identity to Information Adoption: Consumer Trust Mechanisms in Personal Product Reviews on Xiaohongshu
Abstract
In the era of social media, product evaluation has shifted from brand-controlled communication to user-generated reviews. However, despite this transformation, consumers on Xiaohongshu often perceive personal reviewers as more trustworthy than official brand accounts, and the basis of this trust remains unclear. This paper investigates why personal reviews are more likely to gain consumer's trust and how this trust influences information adoption. More specifically, it examines how source identity shapes consumer evaluations and under what conditions a personal reviewer's trust advantage is established. Accordingly, this paper develops a process-based account of trust formation by integrating the research on source credibility, perceived authenticity, persuasion knowledge, user-generated content, and influencer marketing. In this process, a personal reviewer identity acts as a heuristic cue, leading consumers to perceive lower commercial intent, greater similarity, and first-hand consumption experience. These initial inferences provide the basis for trust formation; when they are reinforced by perceived expertise, objectivity, consistency, and a stable history of original content creation, they develop into judgments of source credibility and authenticity. The findings show that personal reviewers do not possess an inherent trust advantage; rather, this advantage emerges when their identity, content, and account history lead consumers to perceive them as experienced and relatively non-commercial.
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