Abstract
It is becoming increasingly important for service managers and marketers to understand motivations for posting online reviews. Previous studies mainly focused on factors influencing consumers' willingness to post online reviews, but paid little attention to why posters contribute different content in their reviews. This study aimed to identify various types of positive online reviews in terms of their content and to investigate the mechanisms that influence them. Study 1 conducted a content analysis to verify three types of positive reviews: complimentary, constructive, and prosocial. Study 2 developed a scale to evaluate the three types of reviews and surveyed 526 members of online travel websites in China to test our hypotheses with structural equation modeling. Both complimentary and constructive reviews were positively related to posters' beliefs about firms' appreciation and sincerity, which were promoted by firms' responses to online reviews. Complimentary reviews were positively associated with posters' positive emotions, but negatively affected by belief about a firm's performance-driven motive, which was induced by a firm's request for online reviews. Service quality moderated this negative relationship. Appreciation from peers and peers' prosocial information contributions had a positive effect on the belief that peers' need information-support, which in turn, positively affected prosocial reviews.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
