The Effect of Central and Peripheral Cues on Online Review Helpfulness: A Comparison between Functional and Expressive Products Completed Research Paper

摘要

Online customer reviews (OCR) have become an important part of online customers' decision making. People also use OCR to get better understanding of the characteristics of the product and also learn about other customers' experience with the product. Drawing upon Elaboration Likelihood Model, this research investigates the predictors of readership and helpfulness of OCR. Our findings show that longer reviews as well as those with extreme star ratings receive more readerships. Moreover, the amount of hedonic and utilitarian cues in a review and its sentiment significantly influence perceptions of online consumers regarding its helpfulness. We also show how product type moderates the effect of utilitarian and hedonic cues on helpfulness. We discuss the implications of our study and provide directions for future research.