The Influencing Factors of the Helpfulness of User-Generated Product Q&As

Abstract

User-generated product questions and answers (Q&As) are a new way for consumers to exchange product knowledge that can provide important support for consumer decisions. Research on the influencing factors of consumers’ judgment of the helpfulness of user-generated product Q&As can help optimize Q&A systems. Although research has extensively examined the impacts of answers and answerers on user-generated Q&As, the underlying mechanism of how the characteristics of questions and Q&As affect the helpfulness of user-generated Q&As has rarely been explored. Based on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), a research model reflecting the impacts of the characteristics of questions and Q&As on the helpfulness of user-generated product Q&As is developed and empirically examined by using data collected from 4,814 product questions and 10,573 corresponding answers on Amazon.com. Specifically, the moderating effects of the question type and product type on the relationship between Q&A cues and the helpfulness of user-generated product Q&As are investigated. The results show that the helpfulness of user-generated product Q&As is positively affected by answer professionalism, Q&A topic consistency, answer opinion consistency, and answer valence, while it is negatively influenced by answer knowledge stickiness. As expected, the relationship between answer knowledge stickiness, answer opinion consistency, and the helpfulness of user-generated product Q&As is weakened when products are experiential. The relationship between answer knowledge stickiness, Q&A topic consistency, and the helpfulness of user-generated product Q&As is weakened when consumers’ questions are correlated with product attributes.