How Questions and Answers Shape Online Marketplaces: The Case of Amazon Answer

Abstract

This paper uses data from two online shopping platforms to investigate the economic implications of the Q&A system. This research problem becomes increasingly important as many websites start to adopt the Q&A system. Yet, its economic implications have not been discussed in the previous literature. We employ the difference-in-differences analysis to examine the effect of Q&A elements on product sales. We find that question elements negatively affect sales while answer elements have a positive impact. Also, an increase in the number of question is positively correlated with the number of reviews. Meanwhile, an increase in the number of answers reduces the average length of reviews. Our findings suggest that incorporating the Q&A system could be a potential approach to drive sales. However, it is crucially important for managers to develop appropriate policies to gather necessary answers to questions asked on the platform in order to capitalize on such system.