Many adults consult online ratings and reviews before they make a purchase. However, how ratings affect sales is a challenging topic as evidenced from controversy surrounding Rotten Tomato scores or sellers trying to manipulate ratings on various platforms. A new study investigates how rating inflation affected a digital platform as well as the choices users made. The study found that inflation can have benefits and detriments: While sales rose, users' trials declined, and sales were concentrated among popular sellers. Rating inflating is when platforms change their strategy to increase average ratings. So, users see higher ratings for all restaurants.
