Do same-level review ratings have the same level of review helpfulness? The role of information diagnosticity in online
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Do same‑level review ratings have the same level of review helpfulness? The role of information diagnosticity in online reviews Miyea Kim1 · Jeongsoo Han2 · Mina Jun3 Received: 22 June 2020 / Revised: 16 October 2020 / Accepted: 4 November 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract This research examines whether the written contents of online reviews can generate systematic differences in the review’s perceived helpfulness even with identical rat‑ ings. In addition, this research explores which underlying psychological mechanism creates the systemic differences related to helpfulness. Specifically, the results from our two experiments demonstrate that, when an online hotel review has a positive rating, written contents containing both positive and negative information is per‑ ceived as more helpful than reviews with only positive written content. In contrast, when an online hotel review has a negative rating, written contents that contain only negative information is perceived as more helpful than reviews with written con‑ tent containing both positive and negative information. Importantly, our study shows that the degree of information diagnosticity in online reviews behaves as an underly‑ ing psychological mechanism in the process. Our findings not only contribute to the extant literature but also provide useful insights and practical implications for travel websites. Keywords Information diagnosticity · Review rating · Online review · Review helpfulness
* Jeongsoo Han [email protected] Miyea Kim [email protected] Mina Jun [email protected] 1
Barun ICT Research Center, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei‑ro, Seodaemun‑gu, Seoul, South Korea
2
Business School, Middlesex University Dubai, Dubai Knowledge Park, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
3
Division of Business Administration, Sookmyung Women’s University, 100 Cheongpa‑ro 47‑gil, Cheongpadong 2(i)‑ga, Yongsan‑gu, Seoul, South Korea
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1 Introduction One of the most powerful sources shaping consumer attitudes toward certain products and services is word-of-mouth (Schlosser 2011). With the development of internet technology, online consumer reviews have become a popular wordof-mouth (WOM) source for tourists. However, simply offering online reviews is no longer adequate; instead, certain online reviews are perceived as more help‑ ful than others (Schlosser 2011). In fact, a recent study suggested that helpful reviews are likely to both improve the value of companies (Lee et al. 2018) that provide customer reviews and attract consumers that are seeking information (Qazi et al. 2016). That is, providing more helpful online reviews compared to other websites for tourists is highly likely to increase the website’s sustainability. As a result, e-commerce research has increasingly paid attention to investigating the underlying contents of helpful reviews (Yin et al. 2014). Online customer reviews are consisted of both quantitative and qualitative aspects, which are review ratings and written con
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