Do same-level review ratings have the same level of review helpfulness? The role of information diagnosticity in online reviews

Abstract

This research examines whether the written contents of online reviews can generate systematic differences in the review's perceived helpfulness even with identical ratings. In addition, this research explores which underlying psychological mechanism creates the systemic differences related to helpfulness. Specifically, the results from our two experiments demonstrate that, when an online hotel review has a positive rating, written contents containing both positive and negative information is perceived as more helpful than reviews with only positive written content. In contrast, when an online hotel review has a negative rating, written contents that contain only negative information is perceived as more helpful than reviews with written content containing both positive and negative information. Importantly, our study shows that the degree of information diagnosticity in online reviews behaves as an underlying psychological mechanism in the process. Our findings not only contribute to the extant literature but also provide useful insights and practical implications for travel websites.