Full length articleUnderstanding the textual content of online customer reviews in B2C websites: A cross-cultural comparison between the U.S. and China
Introduction
Online shopping flourished and became increasingly popular in recent years (Bagdoniene and Zemblyte, 2015, Clemes et al., 2014). Most B2C websites support and encourage post-purchase consumers to write reviews on their sites. Online customer reviews (OCRs) reflect the shopping and product usage experiences of consumers. OCRs provide sellers with genuine, convenient, and low-cost firsthand market information and potential customers with vital decision-making information. Customers read the textual content of OCRs rather than rely only on summarized statistics (Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006). OCRs are important information sources for sellers to attract new customers and manage regular clients (Chevalier and Mayzlin, 2006, Hu et al., 2008, Sparks and Browning, 2010). The textual content of OCRs is key to understand the effect of these reviews (Godes et al., 2005, Moore, 2012, Shin and Biocca, 2017). Hence, the textual content of OCRs should be urgently examined.
However, previous studies mainly focus on the statistical characteristics of the content of OCRs, such as review valence, quantity, extremity, depth, diversity, density, and length (Cao et al., 2011, Chevalier and Mayzlin, 2006, Hu et al., 2008, Korfiatis et al., 2012, Mudambi and Schuff, 2010, Qazi et al., 2016, Willemsen et al., 2011). Previous works overlooked the narrative content of OCRs (Moore, 2012). According to Hong and Park (2012), narrative OCRs have important effect on consumer attitude toward product as well as statistical OCRs. In practice, consumers rely on both statistical and narrative OCRs when evaluating a product. Sellers rely on narrative OCRs to form comprehensive understanding of consumer experience. Thus, the textual content of OCRs should be explored. In order to understanding the textual content of OCRs more systematically, one aim of the present study is to propose the dimensions of the textual content of OCRs, which has contribution to construct analysis framework of the textual content of OCRs.
On the other hand, companies operate internationally because of globalization. For example, Amazon entered the Chinese market and the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba entered the U.S. market. Culture affects consumers’ behavior and international market (Park & Lee, 2009). Significant differences can be found between Chinese and American cultures, which are representatives of eastern and western worlds, respectively (Hofstede, 2001). Cross-cultural research in OCRs attracted the attention of scholars; some statistical characteristics of OCRs, such as review rate, valence, and extremity, differ between eastern and western cultures (Fang, Zhang, Bao, & Zhu, 2013). This study investigates the dimension differences of narrative content of OCRs between the U.S. and China. This study addresses the following two questions: Research Question 1 What are the dimensions of the textual content of OCRs? Research Question 2 Are there differences in the proposed dimensions mentioned in OCRs between American and Chinese consumers?
The present study contributes to literature and the industry. Identifying the dimensions of the textual content of OCRs will contribute in developing the analysis framework of the textual content of OCRs. Cross-cultural comparisons of the textual content dimensions of OCRs enrich the literature on cross-cultural eWOM. Moreover, the findings can help managers improve business performance in a specific cultural background. For example, the findings can help managers understand the main concerns of online consumers, and the common and different concerns of them in Eastern and Western cultures.
We then examine previous works on OCRs to identify the research gap in the current literature. Study 1 focuses on the dimensions of the textual content of OCRs, and Study 2 attempts to determine the differences in the OCRs between the contexts of the Chinese and American cultures. Finally, managerial implications and theoretical contributions, as well as suggestions for future research, are provided.
Section snippets
eWOM and OCRs
Hennig-Thurau, Gwinner, and Walsh (2004, p.39) defines eWOM as “any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual or a former customer which is available to a multitude of people via the internet”. eWOM exists in various forms, which differ in accessibility, scope, and source (Duan, Gu, & Whinston, 2008). eWOM can take place in web-based opinion platforms, discussion forums, boycott web sites, and news groups (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004). Though OCR is a form of eWOM (Zhang, Craciun,
Study 1: Textual content dimensions of OCRs
Study 1 aims to explore the textual content dimensions of OCRs. In this study, we propose the textual content dimensions of OCRs via two steps. The first step is to propose preliminary dimensions by conducting theoretical analysis, online content analysis, and consulting marketing professors. The second step involves checking inter-coder reliability to determine formal dimensions.
Study 2: Cross-cultural comparison of the textual content dimensions of OCRs
Based on the 10 proposed dimensions in Study1, Study 2 aims to investigate the distinctness of OCRs produced by Chinese and American consumers to provide insight into the behavioral cultural gap in posting OCRs. In this study, we first developed hypotheses about the differences in the proposed dimensions mentioned in OCRs between American and Chinese consumers based on Hofstede’s culture theory and then processed the obtained data using netnography method. Finally, by statistically comparing
Theoretical contributions
We proposed the 10 dimensions of the textual content of OCRs in Study 1. Previous studies mainly focused on the statistical characteristics of the content of OCRs (e.g., valence, quantity, extremity, depth, diversity, density, and length) to investigate the effect of OCRs (e.g., product sales, review persuasiveness, and perceived helpfulness). However, the narrative content of OCRs was overlooked. The current study focuses on identifying the dimensions of the textual content of OCRs, which will
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71302093; 71372132).
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- 1
Her research interests include customer behavior and network marketing.
- 2
His research interests include customer behavior and electronic commerce.