Is the devil in the details? Construal-level effects on perceived usefulness of online reviews for experience services

Abstract

Abstract Prior to purchase decision-making in regard to experience services in electronic commerce, consumers tend to check the reviews for the intended purchase online. Realizing the importance of online word-of-mouth marketing, online retailers offer a bonus to motivate consumers to write reviews. While great attention is paid to the reviewers, few efforts are exerted in regard to the readers of the reviews. Focusing on the mindsets of readers in their perception process, our research explores the impact of online reviews from the perspective of construal level theory. We find that, even for the same review, readers with a high (vs. low) construal level report more perceived concreteness and thus more perceived usefulness. Furthermore, this result is moderated by valence (positive reviews vs. negative reviews) and specificity (attribute-based reviews vs. benefit-based reviews) of reviews. Our findings make theoretical contributions to the literature on construal-level theory and word-of-mouth in electronic commerce, and provide managerial implication for online platforms and service merchants.