Damn Positive Item Reviews

After sharing their findings, the University of Lethbridge and University of Alberta researchers wanted us to know how positively they regard the assistance given to them by their colleagues. They’re more than simply grateful. They write in the Acknowledgments paragraph that they’re “fucking grateful.”
     Such adverbial enthusiasm in an academic paper does stand out. Indeed, the article is prefaced with, “This article contains strong language that some readers may consider offensive.” But as the researchers report, such profanities are not so unusual in consumers’ daily conversations, and standing out can be a distinctive advantage when communicating with consumers. In their studies, use of swear words in item reviews from Yelp and Amazon increased the probability readers of the reviews would consider the reviews helpful.
     Another of their studies found that a product was rated by review readers more positively when a positive review contained a swear word as a qualifier (“the dishwasher is damn quiet”) than when an equivalent genteel word was used (“the dishwasher is super quiet”). Similarly, use of a swear word as a qualifier in a negative review leads to the item being rated more negatively. However, swear words make more of a difference with highly positive than with negative reviews.
     The researchers’ explanation for the effect is that the swear word usage amplifies both the description of item quality (“damn boring” is significantly more boring than “darn boring”) and the feelings of the reviewer (“I found it to be damn boring” is a substantially stronger reaction than “I found it to be darn boring.”) The dual impact doubles the persuasion potential.
     In you selecting item reviews to feature, consider the advantages of including some with swear words. In claims for your offerings, you might want to give a damn or, depending on the nature of your audience and item, maybe even give a fuck or two.
     Swear words’ effectiveness comes from challenging a taboo. The degree of challenge and the results depend on context. University of Auckland researchers analyzed reactions to a fictitious condom ad featuring a photo of a woman sucking a Dole banana. It turned out that shock was greater, but condom purchase intentions lower, among men shown that ad compared to reactions of men shown an ad with just the Dole banana. Yet with a less prominent brand, Nature’s Gem, it didn’t make a difference. The men demanded dignity from Dole.

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