When the Stars Shine Too Bright: The Influence of Multidimensional Ratings on Online Consumer Ratings

Christoph Schneider (), Markus Weinmann (), Peter N.C. Mohr () and Jan vom Brocke ()
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Christoph Schneider: IESE Business School, University of Navarra, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Markus Weinmann: Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, 3062 PA Rotterdam, Netherlands;
Peter N.C. Mohr: Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany; WZB Berlin Social Science Center, 10785 Berlin, Germany
Jan vom Brocke: University of Liechtenstein, 9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Management Science, 2021, vol. 67, issue 6, 3871-3898

Abstract: Scholars generally assume that consumer ratings reflect consumer satisfaction, but ratings can be influenced by the design of the rating system. We examine two rating designs—single-dimensional rating systems, which elicit overall ratings only, and multidimensional (MD) rating systems, which elicit both dimensional and overall ratings—and how they impact overall ratings. Drawing on the accessibility–diagnosticity framework, we argue that dimensional ratings in MD systems influence overall ratings based on how the dimensions have been rated. We support this explanation with seven experiments. Our results suggest that across various experimental settings, rating objects, dimensions, and numbers of dimensions, overall ratings are systematically influenced by the design of the rating system.

Keywords: online ratings; biases; accessibility–diagnosticity framework; experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:67:y:2021:i:6:p:3871-3898

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