The Features And Effectiveness Of Chinese Language Online Recommendations

The impact of various message features in persuasive online word-of-mouth (eWOM) written in Chinese was investigated through a content analysis and laboratory experiment. A content analysis of 3,263 real online reviews of Hong Kong restaurants in Chinese was used to define typical features of online reviews. Based on those features, mock reviews were presented to 175 participants and their responses in terms of attitude and purchase intention were analyzed. Strongly argued negative reviews were found to be the most persuasive, and weakly supported positive reviews were the least persuasive. We invoke negativity effect, the elaboration likelihood model, and the theory of planned behavior to explain these findings.