Online shopping has become more popular, and it is hard for consumers to gather all the information on the internet. Also, e-commerce is hard to let the customer test the product; hence, consumers lack confidence in the product or the brand.

       

So, people would look for previous users’ reviews as a reference. And the research of Kim and Srivastava (2007) showed that “customer decision process is influenced by information from trusted people, not from product manufacturers or recommendation systems.” 
       

In short, people in the internet era tend to believe the information from trusted people rather than the brand itself, so product reviews and rating systems determine a brand’s trust in the online world.