ABSTRACT

Emotional expressions in online reviews affect reviews’ informative value. By comparing high and low arousal emotions with a negative and positive valence, the current research demonstrates that the effects of emotional expressions in online reviews are determined not by the level of arousal, but by the perceived rationality of the reviewer and the perceived appropriateness of the emotional expression. In a lab experiment (N = 242) among university students, and an online experiment (N = 252) on Prolific Academic involving native English speakers, participants read an online restaurant review with the negative emotions anger, disappointment, or disgust, or with the positive emotions happiness, excitement, or contentment. Results showed that readers of online reviews considered expressions of anger more inappropriate than expressions of disappointment or disgust; this led them to judge the reviewer as more irrational, which decreased the informative value of the review. As a consequence, angry reviews led to less negative restaurant evaluations and stronger intentions to visit the restaurant than reviews expressing disappointment or disgust. We found no differences between contentment and happiness (Study 1), or between contentment and excitement (Study 2). Our findings underscore the importance of studying the effects of discrete emotions in online reviews.

摘要

在线评论中的情感表达会影响评论的信息价值。通过比较高低唤醒情绪与消极和积极的效价，目前的研究表明，在线评论中情绪表达的效果不是由唤醒水平决定的，而是由评论者的感知合理性和感知适当性决定的。情绪表达。在 大学生的实验室实验 ( N = 242) 和在线实验 ( N = 252) 在涉及母语为英语的多产学术中，参与者阅读在线餐厅评论时带有愤怒、失望或厌恶的负面情绪，或带有快乐、兴奋或满足的积极情绪。结果显示，在线评论的读者认为愤怒的表达比失望或厌恶的表达更不恰当；这导致他们将评论者判断为更加不理性，从而降低了评论的信息价值。因此，与表达失望或厌恶的评论相比，愤怒的评论导致更少的负面餐厅评价和更强烈的访问餐厅的意图。我们发现满足与幸福（研究 1）或满足与兴奋（研究 2）之间没有差异。