Not in our study, but in general people seem more likely to contribute reviews after extreme experiences, either positive or negative. Are there any data on who is more likely to write a review, those who had a terrible experience or those who had a great one? Also, when available, you can use sites, like Expedia, that allow consumers to review a business only once it’s confirmed that they are paying customers. I have a lot more faith in a business with 3½ stars and 100 reviews than I do in one with 4 stars and just 3 or 4 reviews. The other thing I look at is the number of reviews a business has. There are plenty of biases in reviews besides their being fake or real. The way I use Yelp is, I read individual reviews, trying to be aware not just of whether they’re fake, but beyond that, whether they come from consumers who are like myself. I think there are many signals on Yelp that consumers can combine to make up their minds. How can consumers view these sites more critically? My coauthor Michael Luca did a great study on this and found that having an extra star on Yelp causes the revenue of a business to rise by 5 to 10 percent, so there’s a direct connection between Yelp ratings and a business’ bottom line. How much of an impact do sites like Yelp have on a business? Furthermore, consumers should be concerned that fake reviews are leading them to suboptimal choices, and businesses should be aware that some negative reviews might come from their competitors. Platforms that crowd-source reviews rely on the integrity of these reviews, and fraudulent reviews pose a major threat to their trustworthiness. The main concern is for firms like Yelp and TripAdvisor. What are some of the concerns your study raises? Zervas: One thing that was slightly surprising, not so much to me but to most people, is the proportion of suspected fake reviews that Yelp removes-approximately one quarter of all reviews submitted to Yelp are not published. BU Today: Did you discover anything particularly surprising in your study? Yelp says its filter algorithm sifts through its more than 42 million reviews, rooting out the 25 percent found to be fakes or submitted by the businesses themselves. The study “confirms something we have long known: businesses that don’t have a good reputation online will try to create one by submitting phony reviews,” the response reads. After its results were reported on additional blogs and business news sites, Zervas’ study triggered a response from Yelp’s vice president for communications and public affairs on the site’s official blog. That investigation led to 19 companies agreeing to stop commissioning fake online reviews and facing fines of $350,000. The study was cited in a recent Wall Street Journal blogpost prompted by the New York attorney general’s recent Operation Clean Turf initiative uncovering manipulation in the reputation management industry. The researchers found that the worst offenders are restaurants seeking to offset negative write-ups, that chain restaurants are the least likely to commit review fraud, and that restaurants sometimes take the low ground by posting fraudulent negative reviews for establishments competing for the same customer base.Īlthough they make efforts to ensure the veracity of their content, sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Angie’s List remain easy prey, conclude Zervas, a School of Management assistant professor of marketing, and Harvard Business School’s Michael Luca (GRS’11) in their report Fake It Till You Make It: Reputation, Competition, and Yelp Review Fraud, now under review for publication. If you’re combing Yelp reviews to decide where to eat, you’re likely to be misled or even duped, according to Georgios Zervas, coauthor of a recent study concluding that at least 16 percent of the reviews are fake. Twitter Facebook Georgios Zervas, an SMG assistant professor of marketing, coauthored a study that should make online review followers tread with caution.
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