The effect of recommendation display position on review persuasiveness: Moderating roles of temporal distance, affect, and valence

Abstract

This paper examines how the display position of the recommendation (e.g., “I recommend…”) in a positive review influences its persuasiveness. Specifically, we propose that recommendations displayed at the top (vs. bottom) of positive reviews are more persuasive, because displaying the recommendation at the top (vs. bottom) increases processing fluency and thus increases review persuasiveness. The observed effects are mitigated (i) when the temporal distance associated with the decision increases, (ii) for relatively cognitive decisions, and (iii) when the review valence is negative. We test the above propositions across multiple experimental studies and across differing types of recommendations. This research proposes contributions not only to theory relating to online reviews, display effects, and processing fluency but also to practice, namely, how firms should elicit and display recommendations.