The Role of Negative Online Reviews as Informants and Recommenders: An Abstract

Negative information has been considered more diagnostic and informative than positive ones for product decision making purposes. Although researchers have studied the effect of negative online reviews, there exist unexplored gaps in the literature. One aspect relates to the role of online consumer reviews that provide product information and recommendations (Lee et al. 2007). Informant reviews provide information from the customer’s point of view as opposed to the available product information provided by vendors. In contrast, recommender online reviews make approvals or criticisms by providing a positive or a negative signal of product popularity.