The Effect Of Language Style On Consumers’ Perceived Usefulness Of Online Reviews

The development of the Internet and online social media has allowed consumers to share their opinions about products or services through online reviews.Online reviewers are an important basis for consumer purchase decisions,and the content(i.e.,"what is said")and the way of delivery(i.e.,"how it is said")are equally important in online reviews.Therefore,it is not wise to follow the review content of online reviews as an important factor in determining the review quality.Instead,there may be a potential influence of language style as a way of information transmission on the perceived review quality.There is still a divergence of opinion regarding the understanding of how language style affects review usefulness.Little is known about what the mechanism inherent in language style that affects review usefulness is,and under what circumstances that mechanism is most effective,and further research is needed.This paper systematizes online reviews and their usefulness,online review language style,regulatory focus theory and perceived diagnosticity,then constructs a conceptual model of online review language style affecting consumers’ review usefulness,uses experimental method and statistical analysis of data with the help of SPSS software,and obtains valuable conclusions.Firstly,based on the regulatory focus theory,this paper first found an interaction between online review language style(literal vs.figurative)and regulatory focus(prevention-focused vs.promotion-focused).Specifically,online reviews with a literal(vs.figurative)style elicited higher perceptions of review usefulness for prevention-(vs.promotion-)focused consumers.Secondly,the mediating effect of perceived diagnosticity in the interaction between language style and regulatory focus on consumers’ perceptions of review usefulness was identified.Finally,the type of service(experience vs.trust)was introduced into the framework to identify the reconditioning conditions under which the language style of online reviews comes into play.Specifically,for an experience service,prevention-(vs.promotion-)focused consumers perceived higher usefulness for online reviews with a literal(vs.figurative)language style;for credence services,both prevention and promotion-focused consumers perceived higher usefulness for online reviews with a literal language style.This paper identifies the mechanisms underlying the language style of to enhance consumers’ perceptions of review usefulness,enriches the related research on language style,regulatory focus,perceived diagnosticity,and service types.In terms of management suggestion,managers can use big data analysis to develop dynamic online comment display rules and change the display order of online reviews.Secondly,managers can provide guidelines for writing online reviews and provide incentives.At the same time,Managers should make reasonable and effective online review recommendations based on service type.