Assistant Professor of Marketing Anne Hamby and Professor of Information Technology Management Christie Fuller have been published in the prestigious Journal of Marketing. Their article, “The Power of Proximity: Exploring Narrative Language in Consumer Reviews,” marks the culmination of a rigorous three-year research effort.
In the paper, Hamby and Fuller explore how simple changes to review prompts can significantly influence the quality of online reviews. Through eight studies, they found that when consumers are encouraged to write reviews as if speaking to someone close to them, they tend to use more natural, engaging and narrative language. These narrative-styles reviews are known to be more persuasive and impactful.
Their findings also reveal that the effect is stronger when consumers write about experiences rather than products and when using a computer rather than a smartphone. This research offers companies a low-cost, scalable way to enhance both the consumer experience and the effectiveness of reviews.