A Balancing Act: The Tradeoff Between Information Richness and Rating Distortion caused by Abandonment of Online Reviews
(A2024-118079)

AUTHORS

Ann-Kathrin Polenz, University of Mannheim; Andreas Bayerl, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University; Yaniv Dover, Hebrew University; Florian Kraus, University of Mannheim

ABSTRACT

Commonly held beliefs among both online review readers and platform managers suggest that longer online review formats inherently enable platforms to offer a better representation of the general opinion. In this study, we challenge this assumption by analyzing a unique proprietary dataset of both finished and abandoned online reviews from an online review platform. Our findings reveal a compelling pattern: longer online review surveys correlate with significantly higher abandonment rates among users and especially so for users with more negative experiences, resulting in a skewed representation of ratings. This paper sheds light on an additional self-selection process within the realm of online reviews and offers valuable insights into the trade-off between review-detailedness and abandonment rates. Our study contributes to a deeper understanding of the dynamics of online review formats, prompting a reconsideration of the presumed relationship between review length and review quality.