Abstract: In recent years, with the rapid growth of online retailing, more and more consumers choose to buy commodities online. According to relevant investigations at home and abroad, many online consumers often purchase impulsively. Meanwhile, the internet has become an open platform for consumers to publish opinions (e.g. electronic word-of-mouth -eWOM) which are increasingly important for retail decision makers. Extensive research has identified eWOM as one of the key factors that influences consumer behavior. However, little research focuses on the influence mechanism of TPRS on impulse buying intention within the internet environment. Based on the study theory of cognitive psychology (SOR), Kotler’s model for consumer behavior, Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and Hovland’s persuasion model, this paper proposes a model for the influence of TPRS on consumers’ online impulse buying intention, which is moderated by the product categories and commentators’ level. There are three studies in this paper. In the first study, an interview is conducted to analyze the dimensions of TPR. 210 respondents are surveyed through questionnaires to build the model between TPR, emotional responses and impulsive purchase behavior. In the second study, we test the moderation effect of product category of TPRs on impulse buying intention. In the third study, we test the impact of TPRs commentator levels on impulse buying intention. We adopt several statistical methods to test the assumptions of our study: factor analysis, regression analysis and Chow-test. In this paper, the structure of TPR includes four dimensions: content, quantity, quality and time. We use dimensions of emotion responses: pleasure and arousal. The results show that: content, quantity and time of TPR increase consumer online impulsive purchase intentions. Pleasure and arousal are the mediators of the relationship between online consumer reviews and impulsive purchase intention. When buying low involvement degree (VS: high involved degree) products and reading the comment of senior commentators (VS: primary commentators), the influence of TPR on consumer impulse purchase intentions are stronger. This paper draws the following main conclusions: First, the scale of TPR based upon the Informatics theory can effectively measure the concept of a third party review. Second, the theory of cognitive psychology (SOR), Kotler’s model of consumer behavior , can more effectively explain the relationship between TPR and impulse purchase intentions than traditional stimulation and emotional theory can. Third, the ELM theory and persuasion model define the usage of the model between a third party review and the impulse purchase intention.

Key words: Impulse Buying Intent, Third-Party Product Review, Emotion Response