Spring 2024
Location
Barbara Massey Room 413
Start Date
7-5-2024 9:30 AM
End Date
7-5-2024 10:00 AM
Description
In the dynamic digital marketplace, content moderation policies, specifically those addressing 'review bomb' removal, are designed to improve customer experience, nurture consumer trust, and enhance firm performance. However, our comprehensive research, comprising three studies utilizing real-world field data analyzed through regression discontinuity-in-time design and experimental investigations, reveals a surprisingly striking paradox. In contrast to their intended benefits, these policies yield an unexpected adverse impact on user behavior, the e-commerce platform, and listed product performance, resulting in a significant 27.25% drop in total users for products on the e-commerce platform. Drawing from expectancy disconfirmation theory, we uncover the mechanism underpinning this puzzle: a decline in consumer trust and an increase in perceived risk. Furthermore, the research demonstrates how the effect of the content moderation policies varies across product features, particularly those facilitating greater access, content customization, and complexity, and across consumers. Overall, the research offers important theoretical insights and invaluable managerial guidance for e-commerce platforms, casting new light on the landscape of content management policies.
Recommended Citation
Holle, Brandon; Nguyen, Hang; and Basuroy, Suman, "Unveiling Paradoxes: The Unforeseen Impact of Content Moderation Policies in E-Commerce" (2024). Faculty Scholarship Symposium. 3.
https://repository.belmont.edu/fac_schol/Spring_2024/Spring_2024/3
Unveiling Paradoxes: The Unforeseen Impact of Content Moderation Policies in E-Commerce
Barbara Massey Room 413
In the dynamic digital marketplace, content moderation policies, specifically those addressing 'review bomb' removal, are designed to improve customer experience, nurture consumer trust, and enhance firm performance. However, our comprehensive research, comprising three studies utilizing real-world field data analyzed through regression discontinuity-in-time design and experimental investigations, reveals a surprisingly striking paradox. In contrast to their intended benefits, these policies yield an unexpected adverse impact on user behavior, the e-commerce platform, and listed product performance, resulting in a significant 27.25% drop in total users for products on the e-commerce platform. Drawing from expectancy disconfirmation theory, we uncover the mechanism underpinning this puzzle: a decline in consumer trust and an increase in perceived risk. Furthermore, the research demonstrates how the effect of the content moderation policies varies across product features, particularly those facilitating greater access, content customization, and complexity, and across consumers. Overall, the research offers important theoretical insights and invaluable managerial guidance for e-commerce platforms, casting new light on the landscape of content management policies.
