To understand how expressions of anger in reviews of products affect readers of those reviews, business scholar Dezhi Yin and colleagues measured study participants’ responses to three versions of the same negative review—a control review expressing no anger, a review expressing a high degree of anger, and a review expressing a low degree of anger. Reviewing the data, a student concludes that the mere presence of anger in a review may not negatively affect readers’ perceptions of the review, but a high degree of anger in a review does worsen readers’ perceptions of the review.

Question

To understand how expressions of anger in reviews of products affect readers of those reviews, business scholar Dezhi Yin and colleagues measured study participants’ responses to three versions of the same negative review—a control review expressing no anger, a review expressing a high degree of anger, and a review expressing a low degree of anger. Reviewing the data, a student concludes that the mere presence of anger in a review may not negatively affect readers’ perceptions of the review, but a high degree of anger in a review does worsen readers’ perceptions of the review.
Which choice best describes data from the graph that support the student’s conclusion?
Choose 1 answer:
Choose 1 answer:
(Choice A)   On average, participants’ ratings of the helpfulness of the review were substantially higher than were participants’ ratings of the reviewed product regardless of which type of review participants had seen.
A
On average, participants’ ratings of the helpfulness of the review were substantially higher than were participants’ ratings of the reviewed product regardless of which type of review participants had seen.
(Choice B)   Compared with participants who saw the control review, participants who saw the low-anger review rated the review as slightly more helpful, whereas participants who saw the high-anger review rated the review as less helpful.
B
Compared with participants who saw the control review, participants who saw the low-anger review rated the review as slightly more helpful, whereas participants who saw the high-anger review rated the review as less helpful.
(Choice C)   Participants who saw the low-anger review rated the review as slightly more helpful than participants who saw the control review did, but participants’ attitude toward the reviewed product was slightly worse when participants saw the low-anger review than when they saw the no-anger review.
C
Participants who saw the low-anger review rated the review as slightly more helpful than participants who saw the control review did, but participants’ attitude toward the reviewed product was slightly worse when participants saw the low-anger review than when they saw the no-anger review.
(Choice D)   Compared with participants who saw the low-anger review, participants who saw the high-anger review rated the review as less helpful and had a less positive attitude toward the reviewed product.
D
Compared with participants who saw the low-anger review, participants who saw the high-anger review rated the review as less helpful and had a less positive attitude toward the reviewed product.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

The best choice that supports the student's conclusion is:

(Choice B) Compared with participants who saw the control review, participants who saw the low-anger review rated the review as slightly more helpful, whereas participants who saw the high-anger review rated the review as less helpful.

This choice clearly illustrates the distinction between the effects of low and high degrees of anger on readers' perceptions of the helpfulness of the review, confirming that the presence of a low degree of anger may not harm perceptions, while a high degree of anger worsens them.