When help backfires: Exploring the unexpected consequences of helpful reviews on word-of-mouth

Abstract

While helpful reviews are generally seen as catalysts for consumer engagement, their unexpected consequences on electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) remain underexplored. This paper examined the potential negative impacts of helpful reviews. Although there is a prevailing view that review helpfulness positively influences consumer engagement, the authors addressed that helpful initial reviews may hamper the volume of review. They formulated and tested hypotheses on the potential negative effects of helpful initial reviews, contributing to a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics of online consumer behavior in eWOM. Drawing on product review data from two distinct e-commerce platforms (Amazon and Yelp), two studies investigated the influence of the perceived helpfulness of existing reviews on subsequent review writing. Further, the results demonstrated that the negative effect of helpful reviews was significantly moderated by product type, review length, and reviewer reputation. Overall, this study showed that an increase in review helpfulness may not always result in beneficial outcomes, which has key implications for online merchants, e-commerce platform providers, and consumers.