Examining the sentiment and emotional differences in product and service reviews: The moderating role of culture

TL;DR

This paper investigates how emotions and sentiments differ in product and service reviews on e-commerce platforms, highlighting the influence of culture and providing insights for tailored marketing strategies.

Contribution

It distinguishes emotional expression patterns between product and service reviews and extends cultural frameworks to online consumer feedback analysis.

Findings

Product reviews are more neutral and pragmatic.

Service reviews involve broader, more intense emotions.

Cultural background significantly influences review sentiment and language.

Abstract

This study explores how emotions and sentiments differ in customer reviews of products and services on e-commerce platforms. Unlike earlier research that treats all reviews uniformly, this study distinguishes between reviews of products, typically fulfilling basic, functional needs, and services, which often cater to experiential and emotional desires. The findings reveal clear differences in emotional expression and sentiment between the two. Product reviews frequently focus on practicality, such as functionality, reliability, and value for money, and are generally more neutral or pragmatic in tone. In contrast, service reviews involve stronger emotional engagement, as services often entail personal interactions and subjective experiences. Customers express a broader spectrum of emotions, such as joy, frustration, or disappointment when reviewing services, as identified using advanced machine learning techniques. Cultural background further influences these patterns. Consumers from collectivist cultures, as defined by Hofstede cultural dimensions, often use more moderated and socially considerate language, reflecting an emphasis on group harmony. Conversely, consumers from individualist cultures tend to offer more direct, emotionally intense feedback. Notably, gender appears to have minimal impact on sentiment variation, reinforcing the idea that the nature of the offering (product vs. service) and cultural context are the dominant factors. Theoretically, the study extends Maslow hierarchy of needs and Hofstede cultural framework to the domain of online reviews, proposing a model that explains how these dimensions shape consumer expression. Practically, the insights offer valuable guidance for businesses looking to optimize their marketing and customer engagement strategies by aligning messaging and service design with customer expectations across product types and cultural backgrounds.