Who is the Longest of Them All? Understanding the Expressiveness of Product Review Using Test Analysis

Abstract

Consumers heavily rely on product reviews when making their purchase decision. Hence, it is important to deepen the understanding of consumer generated product reviews. This paper reviews the current stream of research conducted in the field of consumer generated content and expressiveness of product reviews. Previous research has substantiated the importance of product reviews by examining its effect on factors like sales, consumer product choice, loyalty, and product quality. In terms of expressiveness, more expressive reviews have been found to have a positive impact on sales and helpfulness level. Helpfulness level is an important factor in understanding product reviews as it can reflect the influential level of each review. Yet, we point out that the current research has not fully looked into review writing as a behavior in itself. This paper aims to first shed light on understanding how satisfaction level affects the expressiveness of the product review. Secondly, the impact of expressiveness on helpfulness will be reviewed. The first study looks at the effect of star rating on the expressiveness of product reviews. 71,688 product reviews for smart watches are collected. Expressiveness is measured by length of the review text and the number of features mentioned. Length is measured by a word count. To measure the number of features mentioned, we use a frequency analysis to identify the critical features and count how many times such features are mentioned. The satisfaction level is measured by the star rating on a 5 star rating system. We found that extreme ratings (positive extreme and negative extreme) are more likely to leave less expressive reviews than moderate ratings. Both the length of the review is longer and the number of features is higher for moderate reviews compared to moderate reviews. Comparing the two extremes, we find that the length is longer for negative extreme reviews (1 star) compared to positive extreme reviews (5 stars). However, the opposite was found for the number of features mentioned. Positive extreme reviews had a higher number of features mentioned in the text of the review compare to negative extreme reviews. The second study looks into how expressiveness affects the helpfulness level of product reviews. Reviews for a single product are selected for this study, giving a sample size of 3,252. On the site prospective consumers are able to vote if the review is helpful to them. From this study we find that as expressiveness increases the helpfulness increases. Especially with review length, contrary to our assumption, consumers are more likely to find longer reviews significantly more helpful. For the number of product features mentioned, we find a positive relationship to the helpfulness level. The longer a review, and the more features are mentioned, the more likely that consumer find the review helpful. Our research expands our understanding of consumer generated product reviews with a focus on the expressiveness of product reviews. This study contributes to expanding the research into understanding the product review writing behavior. In addition, we add on to the current literature on expressiveness by looking at how expressiveness affects the helpfulness level in a new context of smart watches. Managerially, this paper will bring insight into understanding the review writers better, possibly reducing any representation bias. In addition, for prospective review writers, they could encourage them to leave longer and detailed reviews. ;최근 온라인 마켓의 활성화로 소비자들이 구매 결정을 내릴 때 상품 리뷰에 대한 의존도가 상당히 높아졌다. 이에 따라 기존 연구들에서 상품 리뷰에 관한 연구가 활발하게 이루어 지고 있으나 상품 리뷰를 남기는 소비자의 행위에 대한 연구는 부족하다. 이에 본 연구는 상품 리뷰의 표현력(expressiveness)을 중심적으로 어떠한 소비자가 더 자세한 상품 리뷰를 남기는지에 대한 연구와 이러한 상품 리뷰의 표현력이 리뷰의 유용성(helpfulness)에 어떠한 영향을 주는지에 대하여 연구를 진행한다 표현력은 상품 리뷰의 길이(length)와 언급된 제품의 기능의 수(number of features mentioned)로 측정을 하였다. Amazon.com에서 스마트 워치에 대한 고객 리뷰를 활용하여 연구를 진행하였다. 먼저, 상품평의 평점이 표현력에 어떠한 영향을 주는지 보았다. 극단적인 리뷰(extreme review)의 경우 그렇지 않은 리뷰(moderate)에 비하여 길이도 짧고 더 적은 수의기능에 대하여 언급하는 것을 확인하였다. 하지만 극단적 긍정(positive extreme)과 극단적 부정(negative extreme)을 비교했을 때에는 길이는 극단적 부정이 길었지만 기능은 극단적 긍정이 더 많이 언급하는 것을 확인하였다. 다음 연구에서는 리뷰의 표현력이 리뷰의 유용성에 미치는 영향에 대하여 보았다. 이에 길이와 언급된 제품의 기능의 수에 있어서 모두 다 긍정적인 관계를 가지는 것을 확인하였다. 해당 연구에서는 제품의 리뷰의 중요성을 보고 리뷰를 쓰는 행위에 대하여 이해하는데 도움이 될 것으로 예상한다.