Booth Prof. Finds Honesty is Best Policy in Online Reviews
New research out of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Emory University and the University of Minnesota has found that in the case of online reviews, there may be some truth to the old mantra that there’s no such thing as bad press.
Negative reviews can lead to positive results when text include certain “dispreferred markers,” which includes phrases like “I’ll be honest,” or “I don’t want to be mean, but …” These phrases are intended to soften the blow of negative information.
In their paper, “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,” the researchers wrote that the phrases are signs of politeness, and have a positive effect on the communicator and the brand about which they are writing or talking.
“We initially thought of these phrases as regional peculiarities but soon learned that they are common in many languages and cultures. In looking back, that makes sense,” says Ann McGill, professor of general management, marketing and behavioral science at Chicago Booth. “People take the time to use these phrases — they complicate what people have to say — so they must have a job to do in communicating ideas. This research uncovered that job.”
According to McGill, Ryan Hamilton, assistant professor of Marketing at Emory and Kathleen Vohs, associate professor of marketing at Minnesota, the use of such phrases improves the likability and credibility of the reviewer, even over those who write exclusively positive reviews.
“More than homey sayings, dispreferred markers act as a social lubricant, allowing an otherwise sticky interaction (the communication of negative, and therefore potentially threatening, information) to operate smoothly,” they wrote.
