Positivity Bias: Effects of Discrete Emotions on Review Helpfulness

There is limited systematic research examining the effects of two emotions same in certainty but different in valence on perceived review helpfulness. In this paper, we synthesize cognitive appraisal theory and emotional contagion theory to develop a model that explores the mechanisms through which discrete emotions differ in their influences on perceived review helpfulness. We test our model using data from TripAdvisor.com—a leading travel review platform. We find that reviews with positive sentiment are perceived to be more helpful than reviews with negative sentiment; happiness-embedded reviews are perceived to be more helpful than anger-embedded reviews; hope-embedded reviews are perceived to be more helpful than anxiety-embedded reviews; hope-embedded reviews are perceived to be more helpful than happiness-embedded reviews. Anxiety-embedded reviews are perceived to be more helpful than anger-embedded reviews.

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