Country of Origin Bias in Online Reviews and Its Impact on Products Rating

Abstract

Online reviews are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they are blessings if they help customers make more informed decisions and help companies increase their sales. On the other hand, they might mislead customers and damage products’ success in the online environment if they suffer from systematic bias. Research on online review bias has predominantly focused on three possible sources of bias, social influence bias, negativity bias, and self-selection bias. Extending these previous studies, the current research investigated the country-induced bias in product reviews when there is a pervasive sentiment against a country in society. It specifically argues that the pervasive feeling against a country increases consumers’ sensitivity to products’ country of origin. It also results in more expressions of negative feelings in the review content. However, if the product quality is acceptable, the pervasive feeling will not negatively affect the overall rating of the products originating from that country.