Purpose

Many online review sites, such as TripAdivisor.com, encourage review posters to upload a profile photo to improve the perceived reliability of online reviews. This study aims to examine the roles of reviewer profile photos in the online review generation and consumption processes.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected via Amazon MTurk. Two experimental studies were conducted. Study 1 had a sample size of 106 respondents. In Study 1, this paper examined the role of a reviewer profile photo in the online review generation process. Study 2 had a sample size of 482 respondents. In Study 2, this paper examined the role of a reviewer profile photo in the online review consumption process under two different circumstances, namely, comprehensive and incomprehensive review text.

Findings

The findings show that reviewer profile photos play different roles when consumers generate online reviews versus when they consume reviews. In the review generation process, reviewers are more likely to upload a profile photo to improve the credibility of their reviews. On the other hand, in the review consumption process, reviewer profile photos do not contribute to an increase in the perceived review helpfulness.

Originality/value

If the readers have difficulty processing the review content, review profile photos play a critical role in determining perceived review helpfulness. This study provides both theoretical and managerial implications by indicating how reviewer profile photos play different roles in online review posting and consuming behavior.

中文翻译：

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个人资料照片何时重要：评论者个人资料照片在在线评论生成和消费过程中的作用

目的

许多在线评论网站，例如TripAdivisor.com，都鼓励评论海报上传个人资料照片，以提高在线评论的可靠性。这项研究旨在检查评论者个人资料照片在在线评论生成和消费过程中的作用。

设计/方法/方法

数据是通过Amazon MTurk收集的。进行了两个实验研究。研究1的样本量为106名受访者。在研究1中，本文研究了评论者个人资料照片在在线评论生成过程中的作用。研究2的样本量为482名受访者。在研究2中，本文研究了两种不同情况下的评论者个人资料照片在在线评论消费过程中的作用，即全面和不全面的评论文本。

发现

调查结果表明，当消费者生成在线评论与消费评论时，评论者个人资料照片扮演着不同的角色。在评论生成过程中，评论者更有可能上传个人资料照片，以提高其评论的可信度。另一方面，在评论消费过程中，评论者个人资料照片不会有助于感知的评论有用性的增加。

创意/价值

如果读者在处理评论内容时遇到困难，则评论个人资料照片在确定感知的评论有用性方面起着至关重要的作用。这项研究通过指出评论者个人资料照片如何在在线评论发布和消费行为中扮演不同角色，提供了理论和管理意义。