The effect of language style in online reviews on consumers’ word-of-mouth recommendations

Purpose Language styles of online reviews are becoming increasingly important in consumers’ purchase decisions. However, there are inconsistencies in research on the effects of literal and figurative language styles in online reviews on service consumption. Drawing upon construal level theory, this research explores the effects of literal and figurative online reviews on consumers’ word-of-mouth recommendations and their internal mechanisms in the context of service consumption. In addition, this research identifies service types (experience vs credence services) as boundary conditions under which online review language styles play a role. Design/methodology/approach Three studies are designed to verify the effect of language style in online reviews on consumer word-of-mouth recommendations. Study 1 ( N = 195) tests the interaction between construal level and (literal vs figurative) language style on consumers’ word-of-mouth recommendations. Study 2 ( N = 191) identifies the depth of information processing as an underlying mechanism. Study 3 ( N = 466) examines the boundary condition due to service type. The main methods used are independent sample t -test, ANOVA and bootstrapping. Findings The results illustrate that (1) consumers at different construal levels prefer online reviews with different language styles, and this can influence their word-of-mouth recommendations: consumers with a low construal level prefer online reviews with a literal language style, while those with a high construal level prefer online reviews with a figurative language style; (2) the depth of information processing plays a mediating role in the above interaction effect and (3) service type serves as a boundary condition such that the preference for literal (vs figurative) language style among low- (vs high-) construal-level consumers holds only for experience services; for credence services, online reviews with a literal language style enhance word-of-mouth recommendations, regardless of consumers’ construal level. The findings shed light on the drivers of word-of-mouth recommendations and provide insights to promote more effective word-of-mouth recommendations. Originality/value Drawing upon the construal level theory, this research explores the factors that influence online review language styles on consumer word-of-mouth recommendations and their underlying mechanisms and discusses the moderating effects of different service types (i.e. experience services and trust services). It not only sheds light on the contradictions in the previous literature but also provides new insights for academics and business managers to deepen their understanding of facilitating word-of-mouth recommendations.