Five Stars for Nothing? About Online Reviews

Online shops promise two things: the convenience of shopping from home and the best purchases thanks to fair product reviews from other customers. But there’s a problem with the latter. Over time, reviews have become more positive, even though the quality of the products or services has not improved. In the latest episode of the ZEW podcast, Dr. Rebecca Janßen, researcher in the “Digital Economy” Unit, who has analysed customer review systems on the internet, explains how this development came about. Together with host Bastian Thüne, she also gives tips on how to extract useful information from these seemingly perfect reviews.