Why do people rate? Theory and evidence on online ratings

Jonathan Lafky

Games and Economic Behavior, 2014, vol. 87, issue C, 554-570

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: Online ratings; Altruism; Punishment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D64 D83 L86 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (33)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:gamebe:v:87:y:2014:i:c:p:554-570

DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2014.02.008

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