USC Marshall

In a range of studies across platforms, online ratings have been shown to be characterized by distributions with disproportionately-heavy tails. We focus on understanding the underlying process that yields such “j-shaped” or “extreme” distributions. We propose a novel theoretical mechanism behind the emergence of “j-shaped” distributions: differential attrition, or the idea that potential reviewers with moderate experiences are more likely to leave the pool of active reviewers than potential reviewers with extreme experiences. We present an analytical model that integrates this mechanism with two extant mechanisms: differential utility and base rates. We show that while all three mechanisms can give rise to extreme distributions, only the utility-based and the attrition-based mechanisms can explain our empirical observation from a large-scale field experiment that an unincentivized solicitation email from an online travel platform reduces review extremity. Subsequent analyses provide clear empirical evidence for the existence of both differential attrition and differential utility.

Trust in marketing, firms, and regulators has been in decline over the last two decades due to rapid advancements in technology, the explosion and proliferation of information and misinformation, and changes in the marketplace. The goals of the paper are to examine existing trust research in marketing and to suggest areas for future research to better understand the impact of these changes and to shed light on how business leaders can better manage trust in
today’s markets. After providing a brief overview of trust research across a variety of disciplines, we focus on the major actors in market exchange: the trustors, i.e., consumers, and the trustees,
i.e., firms and regulators. For each actor, we identify key contributors to trust, discuss the issues that have arisen in a changing marketplace, and identify future research directions. Thus, we highlight both the areas for future trust research as well as specific questions within each area.