PREDICTING HELPFULNESS OF ONLINE CUSTOMER REVIEWS: MODERATING EFFECT OF PRODUCT PRICE

The increasing use of Online Customer Reviews, as a reliable source of information for making purchase decisions, has led to a recent surge in research, related to review helpfulness. Given its limited research in the Indian context, this study aims to determine the factors influencing review helpfulness and investigate the role of product price as a moderator. A total of 1,080 reviews of 36 popular mobile phones, from eight brands, were collected from Flipkart.com, one of the largest online retailers in India. The results revealed high average review rating (4.43 out of 5) where 65.3 percent of reviews contained pure positive content whereas only 30.5 percent contained neutral content, indicating consumers' general tendency to share positive feedback. The reviews of high-priced mobile phones were more systematically evaluated (higher likes, dislikes, helpfulness) and they were also more comprehensive, persuasive and moderate (higher review length, pictures, neutral content). The linear regression analysis found that central review content factors (length, pictures and valence) contribute to review helpfulness rather than peripheral factors (reviewer name, rating inconsistency). Price played a moderating role only in the relationship between review length and helpfulness where longer reviews were found more helpful for high-priced mobile phones. Based on the study findings, appropriate recommendations are suggested for better design of review systems to accurately capture consumer experiences and make reviews more helpful to consumers and businesses..