Article: Thursday, 15 August 2024
When consumers use chatbots to give their online reviews – rather than using conventional review forms – the ratings are higher, but the review texts are less helpful. It turns out that the way companies collect reviews, and in particular the humanlike characteristics of the chatbots that collect the reviews, have an effect on what consumers say.
This research could inform policymakers who are deciding whether or not chatbots should be allowed to collect online reviews on retail platforms, like Amazon. The risk is that low-quality sellers could abuse chatbots to boost their ratings and disguise the low quality of their products, say researchers Dr Dimitrios Tsekouras and Dr Dominik Gutt of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) and Dr Irina Heimbach of WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. Their research, The robo bias in conversational reviews: How the solicitation medium anthropomorphism affects product rating valence and review helpfulness has been published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
“Online reviews are immensely important for consumers to make good purchase decisions. For this to happen online reviews need to be helpful, and ratings need to accurately reflect product quality. But if ratings are better than they should be, and not very detailed, this can mislead consumers and harm the reputation of online selling platforms,” explained Dr Dimitrios Tsekouras, who is Senior Lecturer in Business Information Management at RSM.
The researchers conducted a series of online experiments and a field experiment. In the online experiments, participants watched a short movie for which they later provided an online review, either through a chatbot with moderate or highly humanlike characteristics, or through a conventional review form. In the field experiment, they collected course evaluations for a university class either through a chatbot or through a conventional form.
Ratings were higher when given via chatbots than when given via a conventional review form, say the researchers. “Interestingly, we found that when consumers interact with a moderately humanlike chatbot, ratings – usually on a scale from 1 to 10 – increase because consumers enjoy the experience of interacting with the chatbot. And if it’s very humanlike then ratings increase again because it is perceived to have a human social presence. But talking with a chatbot also decreases the length of the review which actually decreases its helpfulness.”
These results show exactly what ethical businesses may want to avoid: chatbots introduce a positive bias to reviews and make them less helpful because they are less detailed. The study suggests that platforms and policymakers should establish whether or not chatbots should be allowed for soliciting and collecting online reviews.
The researchers think their study is important for businesses and organisations, and gave three pointers for online retailers to be aware of:
The robo bias in conversational reviews: How the solicitation medium anthropomorphism affects product rating valence and review helpfulness has been published in June 2024 in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
Science Communication and Media Officer
Corporate Communications & PR Manager
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe’s top-ranked business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who can become a force for positive change by carrying their innovative mindset into a sustainable future. Our first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes encourage them to become to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers.
