Lecture 9

Question 1

Why do people write reviews?

Answer 1

• Help and inform others
• Help/harm a business
• Be influential
• Get reward/status from the platform

Question 2

Benign violation theory

Answer 2

What makes something funny is when it violates our expectations but is not actually harmful to us

Question 3

Wisdom of crowd

Answer 3

Individually we can make mistakes, but together they cancel out (so reviews should be useful)

Question 4

Costly signalling theory

Answer 4

Signal can be honest if it is difficult to fake –> Only trust reviews if there is proof of buying the product, and if the reviewer is not part of the company/bot

Question 5

Studies on reviews:

Answer 5

• Price is a stronger predictor for the quality of productst than reviews
• Fake positive reviews are more likely to happen than fake negative reviews
• Fake reviewers tend to have fewer reviews, have less platform friends an more don’t have a profile picture
• Reviews that stand out are seen as more accurate and informative
• Humor helps to maintain a positive image, but reduces the seriousness of your complain