About

Zhanfei Lei is an Assistant Professor in the Operations & Information Management department at the Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts Amherst. He holds a Ph.D. in Information Technology Management from Georgia Institute of Technology, an M.S. in Information Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Bachelor of Management in Information Management and Information Systems from Nanjing University. His research interests focus on user-generated content, biases and heuristics, electronic commerce, and the persuasive power of online word-of-mouth. He teaches courses related to Information Systems, Database Management Systems, Business Intelligence and Analytics, Electronic Commerce, and Programming Languages and Web Development. His scholarly work explores how consumers evaluate online reviews, the effects of ratings and reviews on decision-making, and the psychological processes behind online information consumption.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Political Science
• Social psychology
• Marketing
• Computer Science
• Business
• Statistics
• Cognitive psychology
• Advertising
• Economics

Selected publications

• From Predictive to Generative AI: Exploring Algorithm Aversion vs. Appreciation

  Journal of the Association for Information Systems · 2025-12-14

  article1st authorCorresponding

  In this paper, we explore whether and why the dominant finding of algorithm aversion in predictive AI (which focuses on forecasting-oriented tasks) may not apply to generative AI (which can produce new content). We propose that algorithm aversion may be reduced for generative (vs. predictive) AI and this reduced aversion may be mediated by lower reactance or higher trust. Through an experiment, we find that algorithm aversion is reversed for generative (vs. predictive) AI and trust mediates algorithm appreciation. Our findings contribute to algorithm aversion vs. appreciation literature by distinguishing between predictive and generative AI and identifying AI type as a boundary condition for algorithm aversion. While algorithm aversion in predictive AI can be reduced through automatic processes, we suggest trust plays a more critical role in attenuating aversion in the generative (vs. predictive) AI context. Methodologically, we extend the widely used weight-on-advice paradigm from predictive to generative AI context.

  Publisher

• Deliberative or Automatic: Disentangling the Dual Processes Behind the Persuasive Power of Online Word-of-Mouth

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Deliberative or Automatic: Disentangling the Dual Processes Behind the Persuasive Power of Online Word-of-Mouth

  MIS Quarterly · 2024-08-07 · 7 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  As online reviews become increasingly indispensable for consumers, they have attracted significant attention from both practitioners and researchers. It is a common belief that the persuasive effect of online reviews involves a deliberative and conscious process. Drawing on dual-process theories and the persuasion literature, we challenge this conventional wisdom, distinguish Type 2 processing (which requires deliberation) and Type 1 processing (which occurs automatically), and disentangle their relative impacts. With a focus on review elaborateness and review exposure, we propose that the automatic process of review exposure may play a greater role than elaborateness in changing consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions. In addition, in line with the negativity bias, we posit that the persuasive impact of review exposure (vs. elaborateness) is moderated by the valence of highly exposed reviews. The results of the two experiments provide consistent support for these predictions. Our findings complement and extend the emerging literature starting to explore the role of automatic Type 1 processing in consumers’ use of online reviews, reveal the primary driver of persuasion and its boundary condition in online word-of-mouth, and provide important implications for review platforms, product manufacturers, and retailers.

  PublisherDOI

• Positive or Negative Reviews? Consumers’ Selective Exposure in Seeking and Evaluating Online Reviews

  Journal of the Association for Information Systems · 2023 · 15 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Marketing

  How and why positive and negative reviews influence product sales differently has critical implications for both research and businesses. Although earlier online word-of-mouth research empirically documented that negative reviews influence product sales to a greater extent than positive reviews (i.e., a negativity bias), later research has revealed that positive reviews are generally more helpful (i.e., a positivity bias). We propose that an answer to this conundrum may be that negative reviews get more exposure than positive reviews. As consumers are often overwhelmed by the massive number of online reviews, they need to be selective when searching for reviews. This research investigates consumers’ preference for positive vs. negative reviews during both the information-seeking and information-evaluation stages of their decision-making process. Drawing on the motivated reasoning literature, we propose that consumers exhibit a negativity bias when they search for reviews to read but manifest a confirmation bias when they evaluate the helpfulness of reviews. We conducted three experiments and found consistent support for these hypotheses. Our findings expand the current understanding of consumers’ processing of online reviews to the information-seeking stage, reveal differential biases at different stages, demonstrate a possible explanation for the negativity bias in product sales, and provide important practical implications.

  PublisherDOI

• Swayed by the Reviews: Disentangling the Effects of Average Ratings and Individual Reviews in Online Word-of-Mouth

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2022-01-01 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Swayed by the reviews: Disentangling the effects of average ratings and individual reviews in online word‐of‐mouth

  Production and Operations Management · 2022 · 54 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Marketing
  • Psychology

  Online word‐of‐mouth studies generally assume that a product's average rating is the primary force shaping consumers’ purchase decisions and driving sales. Similarly, practitioners place more emphasis on average ratings by displaying them at more salient places than individual reviews. In contrast, emerging evidence suggests that individual reviews also affect the decision‐making of those consumers who consult both kinds of information. However, because average ratings and individual reviews are often correlated and confounded empirically, little research has attempted to disentangle their effects. To address this empirical challenge, we construct trade‐off situations in which the average ratings and top‐ranked reviews of different product options do not align with each other. We then investigate consumers’ preferences that can indirectly reveal the relative impact of average ratings versus top reviews. Through an archival analysis of a panel dataset and two laboratory experiments, we find consistent evidence for a swaying effect of individual reviews and reveal their textual content as a likely reason. These findings challenge the commonly accepted assumption of average ratings being the primary driver of consumers’ purchase decisions and suggest that consumers may not be as rational as previous literature assumed. In addition, this paper is the first to disentangle the effects of average ratings and individual reviews on consumer decision‐making and explore a possible reason for the swaying effect of individual reviews. Our paper illustrates the importance of information accessibility in consumers’ purchase decisions, and our findings offer valuable insights for product manufacturers, online retailers, and review platforms.

  PublisherDOI

• Focus Within or On Others: The Impact of Reviewers’ Attentional Focus on Review Helpfulness

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2021-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  When reviewers write online reviews, they differ in the focus of their attention: some focus on their own experiences, while some direct their attention to others—prospective consumers who may read the reviews in the future. This paper explores how, why, and when reviewers’ attentional focus can influence the helpfulness evaluation of reviews beyond the impact of substantive review content. Drawing on the attentional focus and persuasion literatures, we develop a theoretical model proposing that reviewers’ attentional focus may influence consumers’ perception of review helpfulness through opposing processes, and that its overall effect is contingent on the review’s two-sidedness. Results of one archival analysis and five controlled experiments provide consistent support for our hypotheses. This work challenges the predominant view of the positive impact of other-focus (vs. self-focus), explores the interpersonal impact of a reviewer’s attentional focus on prospective consumers who are total strangers, and reveals an important, context-specific boundary condition.

  Publisher

• Focus Within or On Others: The Impact of Reviewers’ Attentional Focus on Review Helpfulness

  Information Systems Research · 2021 · 76 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Psychology
  • Cognitive psychology
  • Social psychology

  When reviewers write online reviews, they differ in the focus of their attention: some focus on their own experiences, whereas some direct their attention to others—prospective consumers who may read the reviews in the future. This paper explores how, why, and when reviewers’ attentional focus can influence the helpfulness evaluation of reviews beyond the impact of substantive review content. Drawing on the attentional focus and persuasion literatures, we develop a theoretical model proposing that reviewers’ attentional focus may influence consumers’ perception of review helpfulness through opposing processes, and that its overall effect is contingent on the review’s two-sidedness. Results of one archival analysis and five controlled experiments provide consistent support for our hypotheses. This work challenges the predominant view of the positive impact of other-focus (vs. self-focus), explores the interpersonal impact of a reviewer’s attentional focus on prospective consumers who are total strangers, and reveals an important, context-specific boundary condition.

  PublisherDOI

• Multiphysics Simulation Study of ±800kV SF₆ Gas Insulated Wall Bushing with Two Structures

  2020-09-06

  article1st authorCorresponding

  UHVDC wall bushing is one of the key equipments of UHV DC power transmission. The ±800kV SF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</sub> gas-insulated DC wall bushing has been applied in many China's UHVDC projects. However, ±800kV SF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</sub> gas-insulated DC wall bushings exposed some problems during operation. In some bushings, flashover discharges occur on the legs of the three-support insulators used to support the conductive rods, and there is evidence of overheating in the butt joint part. Besides, a large amount of aluminum fluoride powder is accumulated on the surface of the conductive rods. In this paper, multiphysics simulation calculations are performed for two typical design structures of ±800kV SF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</sub> gas insulated wall bushings. The comparison of the electric field strength under four working conditions and stress distribution under the conditions of self weight, wind load, and icing load is given. The results show that the point of maximum electric field strength occurs at the maximum curvature of the shield of the epoxy insulator. The maximum field strength point of the shield cover surface at the flange appears at the R angle. When the structure is changed from three-support to double-support, the maximum field strength of the insulator shield is increased, the maximum surface field strength of the inserts is reduced. The maximum stress of the bushing occurs at the joint between the through-wall cylinder and the hollow composite insulator, and the maximum displacement occurs at the small shield ring at the outdoor end. This paper provides guidance for the structural optimization and operation and maintenance strategies of bushing.

  PublisherDOI

• I or You: Whom Should Online Reviewers Direct Their Attention To, and When?

  International Conference on Information Systems · 2018-01-01 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• Dezhi Yin

  9 shared

• Han Zhang

  7 shared

• Han Zhang

  Pompeu Fabra University

  2 shared

• Sabyasachi Mitra

  University of Florida

  2 shared

• Peng Liu

  1 shared

• Hui Xu

  1 shared

• Huidong Tian

  1 shared

• Peng Wu

  Nanjing Tech University

  1 shared

Labs

• Operations & Information ManagementPI