Abstract
Several online review platforms offer status or financial incentives to motivate individuals to write reviews and keep them engaged with the platforms. Drawing upon expectation-confirmation theory (ECT), this study examines whether there is a difference between the online review behaviour patterns of reviewers who do and do not receive incentives. We study the valence of online ratings that can be contingent upon incentives provided by the platform, influencing reviewer behaviour. This study argues that satisfaction with the expectations may lead non-incentive receivers to be more eager to share their genuine opinion. With the contingent nature of the platform, incentive receivers may display biased behaviour. In this paper, we use web-scraped data from Google Reviews. Interestingly, receiving incentives significantly affects the valence of review ratings. Our research aims to provide important implications for businesses that rely on user contributions and platform managers to create effective and strong incentive programs.
Recommended Citation
Jayathilake, Nelini; Sedera, Darshana; and Sorwar, Golam, "Role of Platform Incentives in Shaping Local Guides’ Online Review Behaviour" (2023). ACIS 2023 Proceedings. 101.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2023/101