Why do people rate? Theory and evidence on online ratings

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lafky, Jonathan
• 署名单位: Lafayette College
• 刊物名称: GAMES AND ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0899-8256
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2014.02.008
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 554-570
• 关键词: Online ratings; altruism; PUNISHMENT

摘要

The rapid growth of online retail in the last decade has led to widespread use of consumer-generated ratings. This paper theoretically and experimentally identifies influences that drive consumers to rate products and examines how those factors can create distortions in product ratings. By manipulating payoffs and effectively deactivating either the buyer or seller side of an artificial laboratory market, raters' behavior is decomposed into buyer-centric and seller-centric components. The cost of providing a rating also plays a major role in influencing rating behavior, with high and low quality sellers being rated more often than those of moderate quality. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.