The Impact of Sensory Verbs in Online Reviews on Helpfulness Perception and Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Narrative Processing

ABSTRACT When sharing information and opinions regarding products, services, and experiences, communicators frequently utilize either sensory (e.g., “The curry tastes spicy”) or linking verbs (e.g., “The curry is spicy”). Does this difference in verb type affect communication effectiveness? If so, how? A multimethod investigation comprising five studies demonstrates that using sensory verbs can enhance the perception of online review helpfulness. Using actual online reviews from multiple product domains on the Amazon website, we show that reviews with more sensory verbs are perceived as more helpful. Follow‐up experiments offer supportive evidence for this sensory verb effect, support its underlying mechanism through narrative processing, identify its boundary conditions due to review perspectives and consumers' processing orientation, and demonstrate its influence on downstream purchase intentions. These findings illuminate how language influences consumer behavior, emphasize how a subtle yet crucial linguistic feature molds sensory communication, and offer clear implications for persuasion in a wide range of situations.