题　目：Evaluation Inflation

嘉　宾：Ying Zeng（曾莹）, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Toronto

主持人：张铄  助理教授  上海交通大学安泰经济与管理学院

时　间：2023年9月15日（周五）10:00-11:30

地　点：上海交通大学 徐汇校区 安泰经济与管理学院A305

内容简介:

How reliable are online ratings? This paper examines the extent to which online ratings are inconsistent across websites with different perceived main functions, specifically comparing transaction sites (websites primarily selling products, e.g., Amazon) and communication sites (websites primarily facilitating information exchange, e.g., Goodreads). Across 11 studies, including a large-scale secondary data analysis (N = 148,988 matched products; N = 309,930,122 ratings) and ten experiments reported in the main text and web appendix (total N = 3,649), we consistently observe an evaluation inflation phenomenon: for the same product, the average rating and proportion of five stars are higher on transaction sites compared to communication sites or a control group (making no mention of platform). Process evidence supports a social influence (compliance) mechanism: consumers perceive that sellers expect more five stars on transaction sites and comply with this expectation by boosting their ratings. We also tested two theory-driven moderators that mitigate evaluation inflation (Studies 5, 6, and A5). We conclude by discussing the broader implications of our work on the online review and social influence literature, as well as for consumers, marketers, and policymakers.

演讲人简介：

曾莹是多伦多大学罗特曼管理学院的营销学博士生，拥有北京大学的心理学和经济学学士学位，以及芝加哥大学的社会科学硕士学位。曾莹的研究涵盖了消费心理学的多个主题，特别是消费者在判断与决策中的不一致和偏差。 她的工作发表在顶尖的心理学和营销学期刊上，包括Management Science, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 以及Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.

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