(The) impact of limiting negative ratings on review systems: The case of Naver Place

Abstract

This thesis explores the impact of limiting negative ratings on review systems. An online review system helps consumers spend wisely by referring to previous users’ evaluations. However, adverse effects that exploited these characteristics have frequently occurred. As the criticism of this continued, the largest portal site in the Republic of Korea abolished the star rating review system and introduced a new keyword review system. The previous star rating system allowed both positive and negative ratings through the number of stars, but the newly introduced keyword review system only has a choice among keywords provided by the platform, and users cannot select negative keywords. So, this policy change limits the method of negative ratings in the review system. Because some consumers would like to write reviews to share their negative experiences, this change may influence their ratings. Therefore, this thesis analyses the changes before and after abolishing the star rating review system. We expect that the results of this thesis will help other platforms make decisions about their review systems in the future. In addition, we hope to facilitate discussions on ways to minimize misuse of the consumer review systems and block negative ratings.