Temporal Contiguity and Negativity Bias in the Impact of Online Word of Mouth
研究发现正面在线评论价值低于负面评论，因为正面评论更易被归因于评论者而非产品体验；时间邻近性线索（评论紧接消费后发布）能减少这种归因偏差，提升正面评论价值。
Prior research shows that positive online reviews are less valued than negative reviews. The authors argue that this is due to differences in causal attributions for positive versus negative information such that positive reviews tend to be relatively more attributed to the reviewer (vs. product experience) than negative reviews. The presence of temporal contiguity cues, which indicate that review writing closely follows consumption, reduces the relative extent to which positive reviews are attributed to the reviewer and mitigates the negativity bias. An examination of 65,531 Yelp.com restaurant reviews shows that review value is negatively related to review valence but that this negative relationship is absent for reviews that contain temporal contiguity cues. A series of lab studies replicates these findings and suggests that temporal contiguity cues enhance the value of a positive review and increase the likelihood of choosing a product with a positive review by changing reader beliefs about the cause of the review.