It’s tempting to think that consumer ratings of the next item you buy online are a healthy guide to finding the best product, but the reality is different. The clustering of items rated 4.5 stars out of five may suggest a constellation of safer choices, but it is a false beacon, and has ramifications in an era when people increasingly make decisions from online information. A team of leading researchers in information systems and marketing has produced a theory about this phenomenon and discovered that, while the fallout of this for shoppers may just be a purchase that doesn’t work, the costs can be much more severe when ratings are applied elsewhere. What they’re proposing challenges some of the fundamental thinking among their peers.
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