Purpose

Prior literature on online customer reviews (OCRs) suggests that individuals are socially influenced by information shared by others. Given that the online environment brings together users from different cultures, understanding how users differ in their processing and generation of OCRs across cultures is imperative. Specifically, this paper explores how cross-cultural differences influence OCR generation when there are inconsistencies between recent and overall review ratings.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employ an empirical study and an experimental approach to test the predictions. For the empirical study (Study 1), the authors collected and analyzed actual review data from an online hotel review platform, Booking.com. This was followed by an experimental study (Study 2) in which the authors manipulated the thinking style represented by each cultural orientation to further explain how and why cross-cultural differences exist.

Findings

The results show that compared with the review ratings of users from collectivist cultures, those of users from individualistic cultures are more likely to follow recent review ratings. Based on the experimental study, the authors further find that such cross-cultural differences in OCR generation are driven by differences in thinking style.

Originality/value

This research extends the literature by demonstrating the cross-cultural differences in individuals' herding tendencies in OCR generation. The authors also add to the literature by showing in which direction OCR herding occurs when there is a discrepancy between overall and recent review ratings. From a managerial perspective, the findings provide guidelines for online platforms serving the global market on predicting customers' OCR generation and constructing appropriate response strategies.

中文翻译：

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将文化融入图片：在线客户评论中的跨文化差异

目的

先前关于在线客户评论 (OCR) 的文献表明，个人会受到他人共享信息的社会影响。鉴于在线环境将来自不同文化的用户聚集在一起，了解用户在处理和生成跨文化 OCR 方面的差异势在必行。具体来说，本文探讨了当近期和总体评论评级之间存在不一致时，跨文化差异如何影响 OCR 生成。

设计/方法/方法

作者采用实证研究和实验方法来检验预测。对于实证研究（研究 1），作者从在线酒店评论平台 Booking.com 收集并分析了实际评论数据。随后进行了一项实验研究（研究 2），其中作者操纵了每种文化取向所代表的思维方式，以进一步解释跨文化差异如何以及为何存在。

发现

结果表明，与来自集体主义文化的用户的评论评分相比，来自个人主义文化的用户更有可能遵循最近的评论评分。基于实验研究，作者进一步发现，这种 OCR 生成的跨文化差异是由思维方式的差异驱动的。

原创性/价值

本研究通过展示 OCR 生成中个体从众倾向的跨文化差异来扩展文献。作者还通过显示当整体和最近的评论评级之间存在差异时 OCR 羊群发生的方向来增加文献。从管理的角度来看，这些发现为服务于全球市场的在线平台预测客户的 OCR 生成和构建适当的响应策略提供了指导。