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What moderates the influence of extremely negative ratings? The role of review and reviewer characteristics |
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| Institution: | 1. University of Antwerp, Faculty of Applied Economics, Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerpen, Belgium;2. European University Viadrina, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Große Scharrnstr. 59, 15230 Frankfurt, Germany;3. Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Tweekerkenstraat 2, 9000 Gent, Belgium;4. Antwerp Management School, Sint-Jacobsmarkt 9-11, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium;1. Edge Hill University, Business School, St Helens Rd., Ormskirk, Lancashire L39 4QP, U.K.;2. Wilfrid Laurier University, Lazaridis School of Business & Economics, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5, Canada;1. School of Information, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou 310018, China;2. School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China |
| Abstract: | Online customer reviews are increasingly used by travelers to inform their purchase decisions. However, the vast amount of reviews available nowadays may increase travellers’ effort in information processing. In order to facilitate traveller’s decisions, social commerce organizations must help travellers rapidly identify the most helpful reviews to reduce their cognitive effort. Academic literature has often documented that negative reviews are judged as helpful by consumers. However, extremely negative reviews are not always perceived as such. This study is the first that unveils what factors moderate the influence of extremely negative reviews on review helpfulness. The study has adopted a sample of 7455 online customer reviews of hotels to test hypotheses. Findings show that reviews with extremely negative ratings are more likely to be helpful when the review is long and easy to read and when the reviewer is an expert or discloses his identity (i.e. geographical origin). |
| Keywords: | Online customer reviews Extremely negative ratings Negative reviews Review helpfulness Moderators Review length Review readability Reviewer expertise Hotels |
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