The effects of size referents in user-generated photos on online review helpfulness

Product size misperceptions are a common problem for consumers when shopping online. To help their peers estimate a product's size, customers often include a size referent next to the focal product when adding photos to their online reviews. The purpose of this article is to investigate the effects of user-provided review photos (with and without a size referent) on online review helpfulness. From two online experiments and one eye-tracking lab experiment, this article finds that photo-enhanced reviews that include a size referent object can improve review helpfulness. In study 1, eye-tracking data shows that consumers pay greater attention to the photo and less to the text when the size referent is included. Study 2 shows that size referents are more helpful when consumers have limited experience with the product and the size referent is familiar. The role of perceived reviewer effort is investigated as a mediator to explain this result. Study 3 shows that the effects of a familiar size referent are robust when the seller provides detailed size information but vary depending on review valence.

Automated summary

This article investigates the effects of user-provided review photos on online review helpfulness and finds that photo-enhanced reviews with a size referent object can improve review helpfulness, especially when consumers have limited experience with the product and the size referent is familiar. The study also reveals that consumers pay more attention to the photo when a size referent is included.