• The Journal of Information Systems
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.203-225
• /
• 2018

Purpose This study investigated the impact of review language style (affective vs. cognitive) on review helpfulness and the moderating effects of the types of attractions in the relationships between the review language and its helpfulness. Design/methodology/approach This study investigates the impact of review language style (affective vs. cognitive) on review helpfulness and the moderating effects of the types of attractions in the relationships between the review language and its helpfulness. This study selected two hedonic and utilitarian attractions (Hedonic: Brandenburg Gate, Utilitarian: Peragamon Museum) located in Berlin. A total of 3,320 reviews was collected from TripAdvisor. We divided online reviews posted for these places into reviews with more affective language and with more cognitive language by using the LIWC. Then, we investigated the impact of language effect on review helpfulness across the attraction type. Findings The findings suggest that peers tend to judge more helpful toward cognitive language in attraction reviews regardless of attraction type. This study found that peers tend to perceive more helpful toward cognitive review in utilitarian attractions. Even though there was an interaction effect between review language and attraction type, in hedonic attractions, the influence of cognitive language was reduced, but still cognitive reviews would get more helpful votes.