What are the significant determinants of helpfulness of online review? An exploration across product-types

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel empirical framework based on Source Credibility Theory and Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning to identify the effect of features (such as review text, review title and reviewer attributes) on the perceived helpfulness of an online review in the presence of product type (tangible vs. intangible) as a moderator. In addition, we employed quantile regression as a robustness check. We investigated two sets of hypotheses – first, the direct relationships within each variable and the helpfulness, and second, the moderating effect of product type (tangible vs. intangible) on each relationship. The results show that a more readable review can help the user process information faster. The arousal, star ratings received, and multimedia content positively affect review helpfulness. The practical implications of the paper are as follows. First, it highlights the importance of using multimedia content, such as videos and images that reviewers submit, in addition to regular textual reviews. Second, we propose a customised sorting mechanism based on product type to highlight the significant reviews for a specific product. The theoretical implications of the paper are as follows. The textual and multimedia information represents the fundamental essence of a review. This is part of the essential processing outlined by the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning because the essential processing helps comprehend the message more easily. However, review length had an inverse U-shaped (concave) relationship because a long review increases extraneous processing.