While online reviews have become an indispensable marketing tool, their impact may depend on several factors. This paper demonstrates that online reviews are perceived as more helpful for utilitarian products than for hedonic products (study 1 & 2). Applying theory about opinions and taste, we show that the quality of hedonic products is depending on personal taste, while the quality of utilitarian products is seen as a matter of general opinion (study 3). We provide evidence that this opinion versus taste attribution mediates the effect of product type on perceived helpfulness of online reviews (study 4)
