Topic：Expressed Anger in Online Reviews: Unhelpful but Persuasive?

Speaker: Han Zhang(Georgia Institute of Technology-Business School)

Time: 09:30-11:00am, Friday, March 15,2019

Site：EMS B129

Abstract：The communication of anger is very common in online review settings but has received little prior attention. Drawing from emotion and social cognition research, we propose that although expressions of anger in a review tend to decrease reader perceptions of review diagnosticity, the same expressions tend to increase the influence of the review on reader attitudes and decisions. Results from two laboratory experiments provide consistent support for our claims. Our findings challenge the assumption that reviews deemed more “helpful” by consumers are ultimately more persuasive, by enhancing current understanding of the interpersonal effects of emotion in online reviews. They suggest important implications for review platforms, service providers, and manufacturers faced with the task of managing customer word-of-mouth.

Introduction to the Speaker：

Dr. Han Zhang is a Full Professor of Information Technology Management (ITM) and Steven A. Denning Professor of Technology & Management at the Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). He received his Ph.D. in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Austin. He currently serves as the Faculty Director of the Steven A. Denning Technology & Management (T&M) Program. He was the ITM Area Coordinator from 2007 to 2012 and he served as the Faculty Director of the Executive MBA Program from 2013 to 2016. Dr. Zhang held the Helen and John Taylor Rhett, Jr. Term Professorship from 2008 to 2012. His research focuses on economics of information technology, online trust and reputation, online word-of-mouth, and the evolution of electronic markets. His research work on the institutional setup to help small businesses grow in the digital economy has been used as the basis for testimony before the Congressional House Committee on Small Business. He has published in MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Management Information Systems, Journal of the Association for Information Systems and other academic journals. Dr. Zhang was a co-founder of the China Summer Workshop on Information Management (CSWIM) in 2007, and he served as the workshop Co-Chair of CSWIM 2007 and CSWIM 2010. He was the Program Co-Chair of the Sixth Workshop on e-Business (WeB) in 2007, 2016, 2017 and 2018 as well as the Program Co-Chair of the 14th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS) in 2010. He is an associate editor for MIS Quarterly, and a senior editor for Journal of Information Systems and E-Business Management and Electronic Commerce Research & Applications. He also serves on the editorial boards of Information & Management, Information Technology and Management, Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, and Pacific Asia Journal of the Association for Information Systems. Dr. Zhang was a 2009 Hesburgh Award Teaching Fellow at Georgia Tech. He received the 2009 Georgia Tech Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award and the 2010 Brady Family Award for Faculty Teaching Excellence at Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech. He recently received Georgia Tech Steven A. Denning Faculty Award for Global Engagement in 2018.