Many digital platforms implement feedback mechanisms as a means to control the behavior of their users. However, there is a lack of theoretical explanation regarding the interrelation between design characteristics of feedback mechanisms and their effects. In this study, we interpret feedback mechanisms as a specific type of management control to propose properties as a new theoretical perspective on this problem. Our exploratory study has two objectives. First, we analyze how digital platforms design their feedback mechanisms. Second, we examine to what extent feedback mechanisms comply with standards given in the management control literature for our newly introduced properties. Analyzing the 102 most widely used platforms in Germany, we find dominant patterns in nearly all design characteristics (e.g., query method, submission category and scale level). Furthermore, we find mixed compliance of feedback mechanisms with our introduced properties (e.g., low precision but high sensitivity and verifiability). For a deeper understanding of these results, especially the reasons for the design choices, we conduct 14 semi-structured expert interviews. We find simplicity and inspiration from other platforms to be dominant drivers for design choices.
Consumer-generated reviews play a decisive role in creating trust and facilitating transactions on digital platforms. However, prior research shows various problems, e.g., only a small number of consumers providing reviews, fake reviews, and inconsistent reviews. We use an experiment in the context of a restaurant booking platform to examine the impact of inconsistent reviews on the duration of consumers’ transaction decisions. In a second experiment, we investigate the relative importance of the review components in the case of inconsistent reviews. Drawing on the dual-process theory and media richness theory, we predict that inconsistent reviews result in a longer time required for consumers’ transaction decisions (H1) and lead to users’ transaction decisions being predominantly based on the qualitative component (H2). Although we do not find general support that inconsistent restaurant reviews negatively determine the duration of transaction decisions, we find evidence that in the case of inconsistent restaurant reviews, the polarity of the qualitative component is crucial for both the duration of the transaction decision and the decision itself.
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