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  • October 14, 2019
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review

Designing Better Online Review Systems

By: Geoff Donaker, Hyunjin Kim and Michael Luca
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

Online reviews are transforming the way consumers choose products and services of all sorts. We turn to TripAdvisor to plan a vacation, Zocdoc to find a doctor, and Yelp to choose a new restaurant. Reviews can create value for buyers and sellers alike, but only if they attain a critical level of quantity and quality. The authors describe principles for setting the incentives, design choices, and rules that help review platforms thrive.
To address a shortage of reviews, companies can seed them by hiring reviewers or drawing reviews from other platforms, offering incentives, or pooling products. To address selection bias, they can require reviews, allow private comments, and design prompts carefully. To combat fraudulent and strategic reviews, they can set rules for reviewers and call in moderators—whether employees, the community, or algorithms.

Keywords

Reviews; Internet and the Web; Design; Quality; Reputation

Citation

Donaker, Geoff, Hyunjin Kim, and Michael Luca. "Designing Better Online Review Systems." Harvard Business Review 97, no. 6 (November–December 2019): 122–129.
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About The Author

Michael Luca

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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