Journal of Marketing Science ›› 2013, Vol. 9 ›› Issue (2): 111-125.

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Are Online Product Reviews Credible: the Deviation and Correction of Online Product Review’s Distribution

Li Yujie, Liao Chenglin, Li Yi, Fu Hongyong   

  1. Li Yujie, School of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University;
    Liao Chenglin, School of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University;
    Li Yi, School of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications;
    Fu Hongyong, School of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University.
  • Online:2013-06-01 Published:2013-08-09

Abstract:

Based on the Chinese business environment, the paper firstly conducts an empirical analysis using Taobao’s data. Results are the online product review follows a reversed "L"-type distribution, of which the mean is a biased estimator of the product’s true quality. These findings are different from the existed results that online product reviews follow a normal distribution. They are also distinct from the empirical results of foreign e-business data. In order to study the reasons for the biased online product reviews and the features of the reversed "L"-type distribution, the paper constructs a theoretical model to obtain the conditions for the mean of the online product reviews to be an unbiased estimator. And we further demonstrate that the “default good reviews” mechanism, “return evaluation” mechanism and the deviation of consumer’s initiative evaluation are the main reasons for the biased online product reviews.

Key words: Online product reviews, Product quality, Distribution, Deviation, Correction