Abstract: In digital economy platforms, an increasing number of brands enhance perceived product value and stimulate consumer purchases by managing and designing popularity cues. However, existing literature has not reached a consensus on the relationship between popularity cues and consumer purchase behavior, leaving the direction, strength, and boundary conditions of this relationship unclear. This study, grounded in cue utilization theory, conducts a meta-analysis of 128 empirical studies encompassing a total of 10,644,809 samples to explore the impact of popularity cues on consumer purchase behavior and the moderating factors involved. The findings reveal a moderate positive correlation between popularity cues and consumer purchase behavior, with the characteristics of the popularity cues, product features, consumer purchase motivations, and platform attributes all serving as moderating factors in this relationship. These conclusions help explain the conflicting perspectives present in current literature and encourage scholars to examine the specific mechanisms of popularity cues under different boundary conditions. Moreover, this study provides theoretical guidance for marketing managers on the effective use of popularity cues.

Key words: popularity cues, consumer purchasing behaviors, product features, purchase motivation, meta-analysis