Self-Referential Review: Exploring the Impact of Self-Reference Effect in Review

The self-reference effect is a psychological phenomenon where information relating to oneself is processed more deeply and remembered more effectively than other information. We propose "self-referential reviews," crafted by merging personal information with existing reviews using the novel "Self-Referential Review-Maker" prototype, which leverages Large Language Models (LLMs). The essence of the "self-referential review" lies in harnessing the self-reference effect, making the readers feel as if they are the protagonist of the review. To validate the efficacy of self-referential reviews, we conducted a user study focusing on online reviews with thirty-four participants. The contributions of our paper are centered around self-referential reviews, highlighting (1) the creation of these reviews using our new prototype, Self-Referential ReviewMaker, (2) their effectiveness in enhancing review helpfulness through the self-reference effect, and (3) the identification of additional factors influencing the self-reference effect with further discussion on enhancing user-focused review systems.