Profile Photos’ Impact in Online Reviews: The Effect of Cultural Differences

Q4 Business, Management and Accounting

Review of Marketing Science Pub Date : 2022-04-18 DOI:10.1515/roms-2021-0074

Peter Broeder

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Abstract

Abstract In the context of the continuous expansion of e-commerce worldwide, online consumer reviews have become the most accessible and influential form of electronic worth-of-mouth available to everyone on the internet. This raises a challenge for companies with local as well as global customers. It is germane to know whether there are cultural differences reflected in online reviews, as consumers from distinctively different cultures might trust the evaluation of the same product or service differently. In the present study, Dutch and Japanese individuals (N = 166) were presented with two variations of an online excursion review on a holiday booking website. The review with a profile photo of the reviewer was perceived as more realistic. However, this did not directly influence consumers’ booking intention. Meanwhile, the degree of trust in the review affected the inclination to book the excursion. Some cultural differences were found. The Dutch group reported higher booking intentions and trust than the Japanese group, both with the photo-absent review as well as the photo-present review. The implications of these findings contribute to a better understanding of cultural specifics and global universals in e-commerce, enabling the development of more effective online marketing communications.

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个人资料照片对网络评论的影响:文化差异的影响

摘要在全球电子商务不断扩张的背景下，在线消费者评论已成为互联网上每个人都能获得的最容易获得和最具影响力的电子口碑形式。这给拥有本地和全球客户的公司带来了挑战。了解在线评论中是否反映出文化差异是密切相关的，因为来自不同文化的消费者可能会对同一产品或服务的评价产生不同的信任。在本研究中，荷兰和日本个体（N=166）在度假预订网站上接受了两种不同的在线游览评论。带有评论者个人资料照片的评论被认为更真实。然而，这并没有直接影响消费者的预订意愿。同时，对评论的信任程度影响了预订远足的倾向。发现了一些文化差异。荷兰组的预订意向和信任度高于日本组，无论是照片缺席评论还是照片存在评论。这些发现的含义有助于更好地理解电子商务中的文化细节和全球普遍性，从而有助于开发更有效的在线营销传播。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Review of Marketing Science Business, Management and Accounting-Marketing

CiteScore

1.10

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Review of Marketing Science (ROMS) is a peer-reviewed electronic-only journal whose mission is twofold: wide and rapid dissemination of the latest research in marketing, and one-stop review of important marketing research across the field, past and present. Unlike most marketing journals, ROMS is able to publish peer-reviewed articles immediately thanks to its electronic format. Electronic publication is designed to ensure speedy publication. It works in a very novel and simple way. An issue of ROMS opens and then closes after a year. All papers accepted during the year are part of the issue, and appear as soon as they are accepted. Combined with the rapid peer review process, this makes for quick dissemination.