Biases in Consumer Reviews: Implications for Different Categories of Goods

Consumers frequently read online consumer reviews before purchasing products both online and offline (at stores). Yet, reviews are known to have certain biases. This paper surveys 17 types of biases that previous studies identified. The effects of these biases are intertwined and hard to isolate from one another. It is then difficult to assess the impact of each bias on how consumers rate the helpfulness of reviews. Although extant studies use different terminologies, review biases can be summarized into three basic categories: selection biases, system biases, and attribution biases. Focusing on major categories of goods, the paper then considers the overestimation of review helpfulness due to system and non-system (selection and attribution) biases. Using Amazon.com reviews on six bestselling products and the data from a survey questionnaire to 294 consumers, the paper shows the following: (1) the overestimation of review helpfulness due to non-system biases is smaller in the order of search, experience and credence goods and (2) the overestimation of review helpfulness due to system biases is more pronounced with hedonic goods than non-hedonic goods

Use of EDI and Firm Bargaining Power Shift in Grocery Marketing Channels: An Exploratory Study

Is knowledge power? The study asks this question in the context of EDI links between suppliers and wholesalers in grocery marketing channels. This paper starts with the view that EDI links favor the suppliers, because they obtain trading information and gain marketing flexibility more than the wholesalers do. Based on exploratory survey data from 33 grocery wholesalers, the paper confirms that EDI use may lower wholesalers’ perceived bargaining power. But it also shows that an appropriate level of incentives from suppliers tends to compensate for the power loss. This results in higher trust and cooperation in the trading relationships

Numerical study on mixing of sprayed liquid in an LNG storage tank

This paper presents a numerical method to simulate the mixing of heavier LNG sprayed on lighter layer. Numerical results for evolutions of flow field and density field are obtained in a rectangular computational domain which includes the vicinity of the liquid surface. At the surface boundary, uniform distributions of the fluid velocity and the density are assumed. Detail structure of flow caused by impingements of liquid drops are neglected. But, to trigger a realistic motion, a series of random numbers is employed. It is used as an initial distribution of the density near the surface. This method successfully gives a realistic simulation of the mixing process. Numerical results for mixing velocity shows good agreement with experimental data

Cross-Cultural Examination on Content Bias and Helpfulness of Online Reviews: Sentiment Balance at the Aspect Level for a Subjective Good

Online reviews can be fraught with biases, especially on experience goods. Using multilingual sentiment analysis software, we examined the characteristics of review biases and helpfulness at the aspect level across two different cultures. First, we found the lopsidedness of emotions expressed over the four key aspects of Japanese restaurant reviews between Japanese and Western consumers. Second, helpful reviews have sentiments expressed more evenly over those aspects than average for both Japanese and Western consumers. Third, however, there are significant differences over how sentiments are spread over aspects between them. Westerners found reviews helpful when reviews focused less on food and more on service. In addition, Japanese customers were more concerned with savings whereas Westerners paid attention to whether they are getting their money’s worth. These findings point to future research opportunities for leveraging sentiment analysis over key aspects of goods, particularly those of experience/subjective goods, across different cultures and customer profile categories

Communication-Driven Usefulness Hypothesis for Online Healthcare Applications

Healthcare insurance is a complex financial product with many variables involved. What drives perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) of healthcare insurance applications (HIAs), be they websites and mobile apps? We propose a communication-driven usefulness hypothesis, which posits three aspects of communication with healthcare insurer providers determining PEOU and PU. Those aspects are: information quality (IQ), interaction ease, and provider competence. The results from 333 survey questionnaires from current healthcare insurance customers support our hypothesis. Thus, future studies should examine further the driving factors of PEOU and PU of the apps involving complex products and services besides healthcare insurance

IT Skills Portability and Values for Individuals: Resource-Based View and Institutional View Perspectives

The recent Internet commerce boom rekindles the issues on both how firms manage their IT skills portfolio for rapidly changing business environments and how individual IT professionals manage their IT skills for the needs of their firm as well as for advancing their career. This paper looks at how individual IT professionals manage their IT skills portfolios by focusing on the mobility or “portability” of these skills from the resource- based view (RBV) and institutional view (IV) perspectives. First, the paper analyzes the sources of IT skill portability. Second, it proposes a framework that analyzes the relationship between (a) individual’s IT skill portability and (b) the value for individual IT professionals. For this relationship, the framework identifies seven moderating factors – five organizational factors and two market factors

A Sentiment Analysis of Star-rating: a Cross-Cultural Perspective

Consumer-generated reviews and ratings are critical for the tourism industry. The star rating distribution of services can significantly influence a consumer’s decision-making and choice of services. We analyze the star rating distribution of restaurant reviews from three nations (Japan, China, and the U.S.) and find two distribution patterns: bimodal and unimodal. Then, we analyze the sentiment correlation with each star rating across the three cultures. We find the inconsistency of positive sentiment correlation with 5- and 4-star ratings generated by Japanese consumers. Possible contributing factors, including biases, national culture, and socioeconomic conditions, are discusse