When and Why Managerial ResponsesWork: A Dual-Process Model of Linguistic Cues, Review Rating, and Usefulness

This research develops and empirically tests a contingency model explaining how specific linguistic characteristics of a firm's response to an online review influence the review's usefulness. We argue that the diagnostic value of different linguistic cues is contingent upon the reader's information processing mode-systematic versus heuristic-which is triggered by the valence of the original review's rating. An econometric analysis of 41,704 review-response dyads from TripAdvisor reveals that a conceptual cue (personalization, operationalized as topical relevance) and a perceptual cue (readability) both significantly increase review usefulness. In contrast, another perceptual cue (Linguistic Style Matching) decreases usefulness, a finding we interpret as potentially stemming from a lack of perceived authenticity. Critically, these effects are conditional on the review's rating: the positive impact of personalization is maximized for negative reviews, which elicit systematic processing. Conversely, the impacts of perceptual cues (readability and LSM) are most pronounced for positive reviews, which elicit heuristic processing.