Consumer reviews are regarded as an important channel for consumers to obtain precise information about commodities and for sellers to improve the quality of their products and services. Previous linguistic research has primarily focused on the descriptive study of online consumer reviews. This study, therefore, seeks to deepen the analysis of such reviews by examining negative customer reviews on Douyin Mall. Through qualitative content analysis, this study investigates the discourse features of different appraisal resources based on appraisal theory and explores the underlying reasons behind them. The findings suggest that the selected reviews predominantly express consumers’ negative attitudes. Consumers frequently employ monoglossic assertions and demonstrate a high degree of gradability to emphasize their subjectivity and strengthen their claims. Moreover, the discourse features observed in these reviews can be attributed to both individual and environmental factors. This study may contribute to future research on online reviews from the perspective of appraisal theory.
Cite this paper
Xie, Y. (2025). An Analysis of Consumer Reviews on Douyin Mall from the Perspective of Appraisal Theory. Open Access Library Journal, 12, e3209. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1113209.
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