Will the relevance of review language and destination attractions be helpful? A data-driven approach

Abstract

Because tourism destinations are difficult to assess in certain standard aspects, the factors that contribute to the helpfulness of reviews remain largely unknown. Moreover, the helpfulness of online reviews has not been explored in terms of the interaction between language style (high- vs. low-cognitive) and attraction type (hedonic vs. utilitarian). Hence, this study examines the impact of language style on the helpfulness of an online review of an attraction, depending on the type of attraction and the meaning of the destination. This study’s data included 8,032 reviews of four attractions (2 hedonic x 2 utilitarian), drawn from TripAdvisor in two different meanings of destinations. Specifically, our findings indicate that when a reviewer posts a utilitarian attraction of the destination, high-cognitive language is perceived to be more helpful. First, we discuss the theoretical contribution of our study using cognitive fit theory, and then provide the study’s managerial implications.