Online Ratings and Reviews: Are numerical ratings more persuasive than written reviews?

In this thesis, the aim is to investigate the effect of numerical values and words on the consumer decision process. Previous research has studied the effect of online rating and review systems and how they influence consumer behavior and purchase decisions. While some studies have argued that reviews have a greater impact on users, others have argued that rating scores are more important. The main purpose of this study is to question whether participants are more affected by numerical data. In order to understand this relationship, an online experiment was conducted to analyze people’s preference on numeral ratings and written reviews and how these two elements in a website affect their behavior. The online experiment with a survey was conducted on 303 participants, mainly NHH students. We tested three types of products: books (Goodreads), restaurants (TripAdvisor) and coffee machines (Amazon). Two dummy pages were created for each product type, one of them had high numerical rating and negative written reviews, the other one had low numerical rating and positive written reviews. Instead of showing all three categories to the participants, they were shown two of them. Results illustrate that participants prefer the combination of low numerical rating and positive written reviews rather than the combination of high numerical rating and negative reviews. In addition, participants that preferred high numerical rating and negative reviews had higher level of confidence than the other group. Furthermore, we present a nuanced discussion based on the presented results and findings.nhhma

The impact of online reviews on consumer evaluations and decision making: an analysis of review volume and user-generated photos

This thesis investigates the impact of online social influence on consumer behaviour, specifically within the context of online reviews. It examines how review volume and user-generated photos affect consumer evaluations and decision-making. In Chapter 2, I introduce a novel phenomenon, the N-effect, which explores how opinion volume influences the content of online evaluations. I find that as the number of opinions increases, the content becomes more emotional and less analytical. In Chapter 3, I investigate the role of user-generated photos in shaping purchase intentions. This research demonstrates that photos can enhance review helpfulness, even when they lack diagnostic information. This effect is driven by the confidence signalled by the reviewer when posting a review with a photo, which is later assimilated by readers, leading to increased perceived helpfulness and purchase likelihood. This thesis makes several theoretical and practical contributions to the literature on human interaction with technology. Theoretically, it expands our understanding of online social influence by examining the dynamics of online opinion expression and content. I contribute to the literature on group size by demonstrating how responsibility may be lost in online contexts. Furthermore, the findings provide insights into the social influence of photos on viewers and the role of pseudo-evidence in shaping beliefs and attitudes. From a practical standpoint, this research offers valuable insights for online platform managers and marketers on interpreting and using consumer-written reviews. Overall, this thesis contributes to the existing literature on online social influence and provides insights for businesses to improve communication and interpretation with consumers by better understanding and leveraging online reviews and opinions.Open Acces

Please rate after riding : the impact of formal evaluation on consumers’ feedback

Advances in Information Technology along with changes in society have allowed for the emergence of collaborative services. The act of sharing among peers -in substitution to ownership- is a growing phenomenon with many successful companies having arisen in the last decade. Since this new economy works mostly on the basis of sharing among strangers, mechanisms for identifying good and ‘bad’ users have become a necessity. One popular tool is a mechanism that allows for mutual evaluation among platform users (peer-providers and peer- users) using reviews and/or ratings as forms of evaluation. However, often users will give a biased feedback or attenuate negative evaluations of their peers due to the nature of collaborative services, where interactions are more personal and social norms seem to exist. This represents a problem especially in situations where the service provided has a failure that goes unreported. Although collaborative services are growing in popularity, few studies have been carried out to investigate how pro-social norms are integrated into practices and interactions between peers. To examine factors leading to feedback bias and its boundary conditions, we conducted two scenario-based experiments online using the context of an on-demand transportation service. We compared feedback (in the form of rating and tip) in a formal type of evaluation to a control condition (i.e. informal). In Study 1, we find that feedback bias in a formal evaluation system can be explained by forgiveness. Furthermore, that the type of service failure directly impacts feedback bias with perceived quality compromised by the failure being a mediator for this effect. We also find tip to be a less biased form of feedback than ratings. In Study 2, we confirm results of Study 1, and investigate overall driver score as a boundary condition for the effect of type of evaluation on feedback. Results show that a high peer score leads to feedback bias in a formal type of evaluation. Additionally, we find anticipation of guilt to be another mediator for the effect of type of evaluation on feedback. Managerial implications and suggestions for further research are discussed

FINDING THE PUBLIC DOMAIN: Copyright Review Management System Toolkit

Working over a span of nearly eight years, the University of Michigan Library received three grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to generously fund CRMS, a cooperative effort by partner research libraries to identify books in the public domain in HathiTrust. In CRMS- US (2008– 11), CRMS reviewed over 170,000 volumes in the HathiTrust Digital Library that were published in the United States between 1923 and 1963 (“CRMS- US”). That first project team— which included reviewers from the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Minnesota, and Indiana University— identified nearly 87,000 volumes as being in the public domain, in addition to collecting renewal information and identifying rights holders of works in copyright. In CRMS- World (2011– 14), we built on that accomplishment by reviewing an additional 110,000 US volumes and expanded the scope of the review to include 170,000 English- language volumes published in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia between 1872 and 1944 (“CRMS- World”). This second grant continued through the end of 2014 and included initial development on an interface for works from Spain, a process for quality control, and an expanded suite of materials to allow an expert member of our project team to train and monitor reviewers online. The current CRMS grant (2014– 16) simultaneously made possible continued copyright review of CRMS- World volumes, the development of this toolkit, and planning related to the long- term sustainability of CRMS. We are hopeful that, whatever the near term brings for CRMS as an individual project, the valuable work of identifying public domain works will continue. We are grateful for the support and collaboration of all who have touched this project

INNOVATIVE DIGITAL START-UPS AND THEIR VENTURE CREATION PROCESS WITH ENABLING DIGITAL PLATFORMS

Start-ups have gained media attention since Google, Facebook and Amazon were launched in the 1990s. The book Lean Start-up, published in 2011, was another important milestone for digital start-up literature. As unicorn companies emerge around the world, topics highlighted in the news include the vast amount of capital that digital start-ups are raising, the ways in which these digital ventures are disrupting industries, and their global impact on digital economy. However, digital start-ups, digital venture ideas, and their venture creation process lack a unified venture creation model, as there is a gap in the re-search on entrepreneurial processes in a digital context. This research is an explorative study of the venture creation process of innovative digital start-ups that examines what is missing from entrepreneurial process models in a digital technology context and investi-gates how early stage digital start-ups conduct the venture creation process, starting with the pre-phase of antecedents and ending with the launch and scaling of the venture. The research proposes a novel process model of innovative digital start-up venture crea-tion and describes the nature and patterns of the process. A conceptual model was devel-oped based on the entrepreneurship, information systems, and digital innovation litera-ture and empirically assessed with a multi-method qualitative research design. The data collected from semi-structured interviews, internet sources, and observation field notes covered 34 innovative digital start-ups and their founders. Interviews were conducted in-ternationally in high-ranking start-up ecosystems, and the data were analysed with the-matic analysis and fact-checked by triangulating internet data sources. The contribution to entrepreneurship theory is a new illustrative model of the venture creation process of innovative digital start-ups, including the emergent outcome of the process having a digi-tal artefact at its core (e.g., mobile apps, web-based solutions, digital platforms, software solutions, and digital ecosystems). Digital platforms and their multiple roles in the process are presented, as well as the role of critical events as moderators of the process which trigger new development cycles. During the venture creation process, the recombining of digital technologies, modules, and components enabled by digital infrastructures, plat-forms, and ecosystem partners represent digital technology affordances. This recombina-tion provides opportunities for asset-free development of digital venture ideas

Crisis resolution teams for people experiencing mental health crises: the CORE mixed-methods research programme including two RCTs

Background Crisis resolution teams (CRTs) seek to avert hospital admissions by providing intensive home treatment for people experiencing a mental health crisis. The CRT model has not been highly specified. CRT care is often experienced as ending abruptly and relapse rates following CRT discharge are high. Aims The aims of CORE (Crisis resolution team Optimisation and RElapse prevention) workstream 1 were to specify a model of best practice for CRTs, develop a measure to assess adherence to this model and evaluate service improvement resources to help CRTs implement the model with high fidelity. The aim of CORE workstream 2 was to evaluate a peer-provided self-management programme aimed at reducing relapse following CRT support. Methods Workstream 1 was based on a systematic review, national CRT manager survey and stakeholder qualitative interviews to develop a CRT fidelity scale through a concept mapping process with stakeholders (n = 68). This was piloted in CRTs nationwide (n = 75). A CRT service improvement programme (SIP) was then developed and evaluated in a cluster randomised trial: 15 CRTs received the SIP over 1 year; 10 teams acted as controls. The primary outcome was service user satisfaction. Secondary outcomes included CRT model fidelity, catchment area inpatient admission rates and staff well-being. Workstream 2 was a peer-provided self-management programme that was developed through an iterative process of systematic literature reviewing, stakeholder consultation and preliminary testing. This intervention was evaluated in a randomised controlled trial: 221 participants recruited from CRTs received the intervention and 220 did not. The primary outcome was re-admission to acute care at 1 year of follow-up. Secondary outcomes included time to re-admission and number of days in acute care over 1 year of follow-up and symptoms and personal recovery measured at 4 and 18 months’ follow-up. Results Workstream 1 – a 39-item CRT fidelity scale demonstrated acceptability, face validity and promising inter-rater reliability. CRT implementation in England was highly variable. The SIP trial did not produce a positive result for patient satisfaction [median Client Satisfaction Questionnaire score of 28 in both groups at follow-up; coefficient 0.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) –1.02 to 2.97]. The programme achieved modest increases in model fidelity. Intervention teams achieved lower inpatient admission rates and less inpatient bed use. Qualitative evaluation suggested that the programme was generally well received. Workstream 2 – the trial yielded a statistically significant result for the primary outcome, in which rates of re-admission to acute care over 1 year of follow-up were lower in the intervention group than in the control group (odds ratio 0.66, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.99; p = 0.044). Time to re-admission was lower and satisfaction with care was greater in the intervention group at 4 months’ follow-up. There were no other significant differences between groups in the secondary outcomes. Limitations Limitations in workstream 1 included uncertainty regarding the representativeness of the sample for the primary outcome and lack of blinding for assessment. In workstream 2, the limitations included the complexity of the intervention, preventing clarity about which were effective elements. Conclusions The CRT SIP did not achieve all its aims but showed potential promise as a means to increase CRT model fidelity and reduce inpatient service use. The peer-provided self-management intervention is an effective means to reduce relapse rates for people leaving CRT care. Study registration The randomised controlled trials were registered as Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN47185233 and ISRCTN01027104. The systematic reviews were registered as PROSPERO CRD42013006415 and CRD42017043048. Funding The National Institute for Health Research Programme Grants for Applied Research programme

Patient and public involvement toolkit for antimicrobial medicines development research

PPI is a rapidly growing and important global movement. PPI specifically in antimicrobial medicines development research, however, is new and unfamiliar. There is currently a lack of literature and clear practical guidance focusing on PPI in this area (Evans et al., 2017). Given the short-term nature of many microbial infections, there are few established patient support groups or voluntary organisations in the field of infection sciences. In view of the increasing costs of medicines development and the financial consequences of market failure, early incorporation of PPI in research may reduce waste of resources (Geissler et al., 2017). COMBACTE-MAGNET is a consortium funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (www.imi.europa.eu) Joint Undertaking and EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Association) companies seeking new ways of treating multi-resistant bacterial infections. As part of its clinical coordinating work package, WP6i, we have developed this toolkit to provide systematic and evidence-based guidance on how and when to involve the public in medicines development research, in particular antimicrobials

Promotional Reviews: An Empirical Investigation of Online Review Manipulation

Firms\u27 incentives to manufacture biased user reviews impede review usefulness. We examine the differences in reviews for a given hotel between two sites: Expedia.com (only a customer can post a review) and TripAdvisor.com (anyone can post). We argue that the net gains from promotional reviewing are highest for independent hotels with single-unit owners and lowest for branded chain hotels with multi-unit owners. We demonstrate that the hotel neighbors of hotels with a high incentive to fake have more negative reviews on TripAdvisor relative to Expedia; hotels with a high incentive to fake have more positive reviews on TripAdvisor relative to Expedia

Towards Modeling Software Quality of Virtual Reality Applications from Users' Perspectives

Virtual Reality (VR) technology has become increasingly popular in recent years as a key enabler of the Metaverse. VR applications have unique characteristics, including the revolutionized human-computer interaction mechanisms, that distinguish them from traditional software. Hence, user expectations for the software quality of VR applications diverge from those for traditional software. Investigating these quality expectations is crucial for the effective development and maintenance of VR applications, which remains an under-explored area in prior research. To bridge the gap, we conduct the first large-scale empirical study to model the software quality of VR applications from users' perspectives. To this end, we analyze 1,132,056 user reviews of 14,150 VR applications across seven app stores through a semiautomatic review mining approach. We construct a taxonomy of 12 software quality attributes that are of major concern to VR users. Our analysis reveals that the VR-specific quality attributes are of utmost importance to users, which are closely related to the most unique properties of VR applications like revolutionized interaction mechanisms and immersive experiences. Our examination of relevant user complaints reveals the major factors impacting user satisfaction with VR-specific quality attributes. We identify that poor design or implementation of the movement mechanisms, control mechanisms, multimedia systems, and physics, can significantly degrade the user experience. Moreover, we discuss the implications of VR quality assurance for both developers and researchers to shed light on future work. For instance, we suggest developers implement sufficient accessibility and comfort options for users with mobility limitations, sensory impairments, and other specific needs to customize the interaction mechanisms. Our datasets and results will be released to facilitate follow-up studies

Proceedings der 11. Internationalen Tagung Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI2013) - Band 1

The two volumes represent the proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik WI2013 (Business Information Systems). They include 118 papers from ten research tracks, a general track and the Student Consortium. The selection of all submissions was subject to a double blind procedure with three reviews for each paper and an overall acceptance rate of 25 percent. The WI2013 was organized at the University of Leipzig between February 27th and March 1st, 2013 and followed the main themes Innovation, Integration and Individualization.:Track 1: Individualization and Consumerization Track 2: Integrated Systems in Manufacturing Industries Track 3: Integrated Systems in Service Industries Track 4: Innovations and Business Models Track 5: Information and Knowledge ManagementDie zweibändigen Tagungsbände zur 11. Internationalen Tagung Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI2013) enthalten 118 Forschungsbeiträge aus zehn thematischen Tracks der Wirtschaftsinformatik, einem General Track sowie einem Student Consortium. Die Selektion der Artikel erfolgte nach einem Double-Blind-Verfahren mit jeweils drei Gutachten und führte zu einer Annahmequote von 25%. Die WI2013 hat vom 27.02. - 01.03.2013 unter den Leitthemen Innovation, Integration und Individualisierung an der Universität Leipzig stattgefunden.:Track 1: Individualization and Consumerization Track 2: Integrated Systems in Manufacturing Industries Track 3: Integrated Systems in Service Industries Track 4: Innovations and Business Models Track 5: Information and Knowledge Managemen