Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Title: When and Why Do Buyers Rate in Online Markets?
Author-Name: Xiang Hui
Author-Email: 
Author-Name: Tobias J. Klein
Author-Email: 
Author-Name: Konrad Stahl
Author-Email: 

Classification-JEL: D83, L12, L13, L81
Keywords: Online Markets, Rating, Reputation

Abstract: Anonymous markets would be very difficult to successfully operate without the possibility
that buyers rate the seller. Yet many empirical results yield that ratings are non-random
and concentrate on extreme experiences. We develop a model of rating decisions in which
the buyer is willing to share publicly her opinion about a transaction, if its realized quality
differs much from the quality expected by her, where expected quality is influenced by an
aggregate of the seller’s past ratings. We demonstrate our results empirically using raw
data from eBay. In spite of the non-randomness of responses, unweighted rating aggregates
appear to rather well reflect reported buyer experience as long as expectations are not
extreme.

Note: 
Length: 42
Creation-Date: 2021-03
Revision-Date: 
File-URL: https://www.crctr224.de/research/discussion-papers/archive/dp267
File-Format: application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:bon:boncrc:CRCTR224_2021_267v1