Foreign-language Reviews: Help or Hindrance?

02/01/2017

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by   Scott A. Hale, et al.

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The number and quality of user reviews greatly affects consumer purchasing decisions. While reviews in all languages are increasing, it is still often the case (especially for non-English speakers) that there are only a few reviews in a person's first language. Using an online experiment, we examine the value that potential purchasers receive from interfaces showing additional reviews in a second language. The results paint a complicated picture with both positive and negative reactions to the inclusion of foreign-language reviews. Roughly 26-28 when given the opportunity, and those who did so were more likely to select the product with foreign-language reviews than those who did not.