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Do inconsistent online reviews reduce sales for merchants on the platform? Evidence from China

Xulong Wang, Chenyu Fu, Feng Leng

Inconsistent online reviews are the norm in online shopping. However, platform merchants often believe that inconsistent online reviews have a negative impact on sales. They delete or hide negative reviews in pursuit of consistent praise. So, do inconsistent online reviews really reduce sales? In view of this, this study explores the impact of inconsistent online reviews on the sales of platform merchants based on the stimuli-organism-response (S-O-R) theory and service remediation theory, as… more