PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Online reviews: When do negative opinions boost sales?

2014-04-15
(Press-News.org) When purchasing items online, reading customer reviews is a convenient way to get a real-world account of other people's opinions of the product. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, negative reviews that are offset by a politeness-factor can actually help sell the item.

"Most of the research on consumer reviews has been on the content and volume of the message," write authors Ryan Hamilton (Emory University), Kathleen D. Vohs (University of Minnesota), and Ann L. McGill (University of Chicago Booth School of Business). "Our research looks at how the politeness with which a particular message is communicated affects consumer opinions."

In a series of five experiments, the authors examined how including a marker of politeness in a negative product review affected the image of both the reviewer and the product being reviewed. For example, phrases like "I'll be honest," and "I don't want to be mean, but…" are ways to soften the arrival of bad news and warn a reader or listener that negative information is coming.

In one experiment, participants were asked to read a page-long description of a luxury wristwatch. Two versions of the product description were used, one of which added this polite customer complaint, "I don't want to be mean, but the band pinches a bit." Results indicated that people were willing to pay more for the wristwatch if they read the description that included the marker of politeness ($136 versus $95).

The study also asked participants to complete a survey evaluating the "personality" of the brand. Results showed that the review using the marker of politeness caused the brand to be seen as more honest, cheerful, down-to-earth, and wholesome than the same review without the polite customer complaint.

"Our research raises the intriguing possibility that brands might benefit when polite customers write reviews of their products—even when those reviews include negative opinions," the authors conclude.

INFORMATION: Ryan Hamilton, Kathleen D. Vohs, and Ann L. McGill. "We'll Be Honest, This Won't Be the Best Article You'll Ever Read: The Use of Dispreferred Markers in Word-of-Mouth Communication." Journal of Consumer Research: August 2014. For more information, contact Ryan Hamilton or visit http://ejcr.org/.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Hair from infants gives clues about their life in the womb

2014-04-15
MADISON – Like rings of a tree, hair can reveal a lot of information about the past. It can tell if a person recently used drugs or an athlete was doping. It can provide information about hormones and expose environmental toxins. And, as a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers show in a study of rhesus monkeys, published in the April 2014 edition of the journal Pediatric Research, it can also reveal the womb environment in which an infant formed. It's the first time researchers have used infant hair to examine the hormonal environment to which the fetus ...

Unexpected protein partnership has implications for cancer treatment

2014-04-15
Scientists have identified two unlikely partners, in a type of immune cell called a macrophage, that work together, in response to cancer drugs, to increase inflammation in a way that may alter tumor growth. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health published the study in the journal Cancer Research. These partners are the p53 protein that suppresses tumors and the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) protein that stimulates their growth. Blocking this partnership could help prevent inflammation from occurring in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. "Since ...

New method of screening children for autism spectrum disorders works at 9 months old

2014-04-15
Washington, DC – Researchers, including a team from Children's National Health System, have identified head circumference and head tilting reflex as two reliable biomarkers in the identification of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children that are between 9 and 12 months of age. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ASD is identifiable as early as two years old, although most children are not identified until after the age of four. While a number of studies have reported that parents of children with ASD notice developmental problems in ...

Low-calorie restaurant menus: Are they making us fat?

2014-04-15
Depending on our food cravings, the number of items served, and even the time of day, ordering a meal at a restaurant often requires a "narrowing down" decision making process. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, restaurants that now provide "low-calorie" labels on their menus can inadvertently cause people to eliminate healthy foods right off the bat. "Because most restaurant menus are quite complex—offering numerous dishes composed of multiple ingredients—diners try to simplify their decision. People have come to expect low-calorie food to ...

More should be done for female parolees

More should be done for female parolees
2014-04-15
EAST LANSING, Mich. --- As the female prison population grows, a new study funded partly by the National Science Foundation says more should be done to help women probationers and parolees in poor urban areas remain crime-free. A team of Michigan State University criminologists found black women on probation and parole feel they have little choice but to isolate themselves in their homes or risk getting caught up in the type of criminal activity that got them in trouble in the first place. Probation and parole officers, case managers and others should help the women ...

When identity marketing backfires: Consumers don't like to be told what they like

2014-04-15
When choosy moms choose Jif peanut butter and sports fans who call themselves sports fans subscribe to DirecTV, identity marketing is hard at work. But what happens when this type of advertising misses the mark? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, when a person's sense of ownership and freedom is threatened they are less likely to respond positively to identity marketing campaigns. "While people may be drawn to brands that fit their identity, they are also more likely to desire a sense of ownership and freedom in how they express that identity. ...

Sibling cooperation in earwig families gives clues to early evolution of social behavior

Sibling cooperation in earwig families gives clues to early evolution of social behavior
2014-04-15
Looking at the question of how social behavior has developed over the course of evolution, scientists from the universities in Mainz and Basel have gained new insights from the study of earwigs. "Young earwig offspring don't simply compete for food. Rather the siblings share what is available amongst themselves, especially when the mother is absent," explained Dr. Joël Meunier of the Evolutionary Biology section of the Institute of Zoology at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (JGU). The team of biologists from Mainz University and the University of Basel investigated ...

Charitable donation discrepancies: Why are some countries more generous than others?

2014-04-15
When it comes to charitable giving, some countries open their collective wallets more than others. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, people who live in countries that promote equality in power and wealth are more likely to donate money than those who live in societies that expect and accept inequality. "Our research examines whether cultural values can explain the different levels of charitable giving between different countries," write authors Karen Page Winterich (Pennsylvania State University) and Yinlong Zhang (University of Texas, San ...

Chew on this: How does food texture impact its perceived calorie content?

2014-04-15
Food is an intimately personal thing; we savor some tastes and despise others. But how does the way we chew and eat our food impact our overall consumption? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, people perceive foods that are either hard or have a rough texture to have fewer calories. "We studied the link between how a food feels in your mouth and the amount we eat, the types of food we choose, and how many calories we think we are consuming," write authors Dipayan Biswas, Courtney Szocs (both University of South Florida), Aradhna Krishna (University ...

Consumer predictions: Do categories matter when predicting the lottery or stock market?

2014-04-15
From sports to the stock market and even winning the lottery, it's in our nature to predict who or what will come out on top. But, sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, people are more likely to make a prediction about something when it is grouped in a large category of similar items. "One factor that can contribute to a person's flawed judgment is categorization," write authors Mathew S. Isaac (Seattle University) and Aaron R. Brough (Utah State University). "When making a prediction, we can become ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Novel treatment combination improves progression-free survival in metastatic, estrogen-receptor-positive HER-2-negative breast cancer

ESMO 2025: Trial results show belzutifan shrinks rare neuroendocrine tumors and improves symptoms in patients

ESMO 2025: Dual targeted therapy shows promise in previously treated advanced kidney cancer patients

New generation of Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs) shows unprecedented promise in early-stage disease

Sylvester Cancer Tip Sheet for October 2025

Three science and technology leaders elected to Hertz Foundation Board of Directors

Jump Trading CSO Kevin Bowers elected to Hertz Foundation Board of Directors

Former Inscripta CEO Sri Kosaraju elected to Hertz Foundation Board of Directors

Citadel’s Jordan Chetty elected to Hertz Foundation Board of Directors

McGill research flags Montreal snow dump, inactive landfills as major methane polluters

A lightweight and rapid bidirectional search algorithm

Eighty-five years of big tree history available in one place for the first time

MIT invents human brain model with six major cell types to enable personalized disease research, drug discovery

Health and economic air quality co-benefits of stringent climate policies

How immune cells deliver their deadly cargo

How the brain becomes a better listener: How focus enhances sound processing

Processed fats found in margarines unlikely to affect heart health

Scientists discover how leukemia cells evade treatment

Sandra Shi MD, MPH, named 2025 STAT Wunderkind

Treating liver disease with microscopic nanoparticles

Chemicals might be hitching a ride on nanoplastics to enter your skin

Pregnant patients with preexisting high cholesterol may have elevated CV risk

UC stroke experts discuss current and future use of AI tools in research and treatment

The Southern Ocean’s low-salinity water locked away CO2 for decades, but...

OHSU researchers develop functional eggs from human skin cells

Most users cannot identify AI bias, even in training data

Hurricane outages: Analysis details the where, and who, of increased future power cuts

Craters on surface of melanoma cells found to serve as sites for tumor killing

Research Spotlight: Mapping overlooked challenges in stroke recovery

Geographic and temporal patterns of screening for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer in the US

[Press-News.org] Online reviews: When do negative opinions boost sales?