Abstract:

The aim of the present study was to investigate which type of comments, including those with both positive and negative tones, is more effective against online restaurant reviews with only positive tones. Subjects’ suspiciousness, attitude, persuasiveness, preference, and purchase intentions were measured for online consumer comments prepared in two different types. The data were collected from a total of 156 subjects selected via convenience sampling method and analyzed running dependent sample t-tests. The results revealed that the subjects were more suspicious of being exposed to positive/negative combined reviews. Also, positive online reviews were found to be more convincing. Attitude towards the restaurant where the comments were made, attitude towards the persuasiveness of the online reviews, restaurant preference, and purchase intention produced stronger results in the scenario where only positive comments were present. Only positive online reviews produced more positive attitudes, preferences, and purchase intentions compared with online reviews that included both positive and negative comments. The current study expands the existing knowledge by comparing consumer reactions with online comments in two groups of only positive comments and positive-negative comments together. Our findings invite practitioners to reconsider their online store reviews. Additionally, it can help practitioners who are influenced by online consumer reviews develop their professional strategies.

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