Should Consumers Ignore Product Reviews? A Critical Assessment of the Informative Role of Interested and Disinterested Reviews

Abstract

We conducted an experiment on the informational efficiency of the review process by analyzing the impact on consumer welfare of two types of reviewers, those who are “interested” and benefit from the sale of the product and those “disinterested”, who do not have a stake in the product. Our results confirm the informative value of disinterested reviews while calling our attention to the possibility of effective manipulation of the review process by interested parties.