Paying online user reviews backfires badly
While online users are becoming increasingly reliant on reviews to help evaluate products and services, there is a significant downfall for companies who pay users to write reviews.
BALTIMORE, MD, January 28, 2025 – Could your favorite hobbies help you get ahead at work? New research published in the INFORMS journal Organization Science explores “leisure-work synergizing,” a novel strategy for integrating professional development into leisure activities. The findings suggest that this approach can help employees thrive in their careers while enjoying their personal lives – but only if used in moderation.
The Los Angeles wildfires have spread across tens of thousands of acres of land, burning everything in their path. Homes have been destroyed and lives upended as families begin the process of rebuilding — not only their homes, but their lives.
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While online users are becoming increasingly reliant on reviews to help evaluate products and services, there is a significant downfall for companies who pay users to write reviews.
It's a bit of an understatement to say that consumers have come to rely on the internet. For everything from work to entertainment, there's an online aspect that usually makes things easier or more convenient. This is especially true when it comes to shopping. Online sites like Yelp, ConsumerAffairs and TripAdvisor, and forums such as those found on Amazon and even Reddit, have made making an informed purchase that much easier. So, should these sites pay consumers for their review insights? While your curiosity might be piqued at the idea of being paid to share your opinion, a new study shows that paying users to encourage them to write reviews is probably a bad idea.
CATONSVILLE, MD, May 1, 2017 – Online user reviews have become an essential tool for consumers who increasingly rely on them to evaluate products and services before purchase. The business models of online review platforms such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, and e-commerce sites such as Amazon and Expedia critically depend on them. Should such sites pay users to encourage them to write reviews? According to a forthcoming study in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science, a leading academic marketing journal, that is a bad idea.
University of Montana students Brandon Staggs and David Brewer spent a week in Las Vegas, where they, err, did a lot of homework. Staggs and Brewer graduate in May as part of the first Master's of Science in Business Analytics cohort at UM. They're also part of the first UM team to attend the INFORMS Business Analytics conference in Vegas, where they interviewed with companies such as Amazon, GM Financial, Deloitte, and MGM Grand.
Cause marketing, or marketing campaigns involving the combined efforts of a for-profit and non-profit organization, is commonly conducted in retail shops, restaurants, movie theaters and even online. Whether you are attending a "give back" night at Chipotle or a special charity event at a local boutique, cause marketing campaigns seem like the perfect situation for all parties involved. However, a new study in the INFORMS journal of Marketing Science finds that the effects of cause marketing are more complicated than that.
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