IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v188y2025ics0148296324005381.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do all stars shine the same? Investigating the nonlinear effects of user and critic reviews on video game sales

Author

Listed:
  • Kraemer, Tobias
  • Weiger, Welf H.
  • Heidenreich, Sven

Abstract

While research indicates that online reviews from users and critics are key factors in video game success, their relative importance remains unclear and theoretical rationales for why consumers may prefer one type of review over the other are lacking. Moreover, prior studies do not account for potential nonlinear effects that may help explain video game success more accurately. Building on signaling theory and insights into quality of information, this study addresses these gaps. An analysis of sales data from 1,642 video games shows that user and critic review valence positively influences sales in nonlinear patterns: the impact of increases in user review valence on sales diminishes at higher levels, whereas the impact of increases in critic review valence grows. Moreover, unlike in most markets, critic reviews in the video game market are more influential than user reviews. Results from a qualitative post-hoc study provide insights into the underlying consumer decision processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Kraemer, Tobias & Weiger, Welf H. & Heidenreich, Sven, 2025. "Do all stars shine the same? Investigating the nonlinear effects of user and critic reviews on video game sales," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:188:y:2025:i:c:s0148296324005381
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.115034
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296324005381
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.115034?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gretz, Richard T. & Basuroy, Suman, 2013. "Why Quality May Not Always Win: The Impact of Product Generation Life Cycles on Quality and Network Effects in High-tech Markets," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 281-300.
    2. Jonah Berger & Alan T. Sorensen & Scott J. Rasmussen, 2010. "Positive Effects of Negative Publicity: When Negative Reviews Increase Sales," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(5), pages 815-827, 09-10.
    3. Nikolay Archak & Anindya Ghose & Panagiotis G. Ipeirotis, 2011. "Deriving the Pricing Power of Product Features by Mining Consumer Reviews," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(8), pages 1485-1509, August.
    4. Joe Cox, 2014. "What Makes a Blockbuster Video Game? An Empirical Analysis of US Sales Data," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(3), pages 189-198, April.
    5. Camille Grange & Izak Benbasat, 2018. "Opinion seeking in a social network-enabled product review website: a study of word-of-mouth in the era of digital social networks," European Journal of Information Systems, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(6), pages 629-653, November.
    6. Meek, Stephanie & Wilk, Violetta & Lambert, Claire, 2021. "A big data exploration of the informational and normative influences on the helpfulness of online restaurant reviews," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 354-367.
    7. Daniel Kahneman & Jack L. Knetsch & Richard H. Thaler, 1991. "Anomalies: The Endowment Effect, Loss Aversion, and Status Quo Bias," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 193-206, Winter.
    8. Marchand, André & Hennig-Thurau, Thorsten & Wiertz, Caroline, 2017. "Not all digital word of mouth is created equal: Understanding the respective impact of consumer reviews and microblogs on new product success," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 336-354.
    9. Jang, Seongsoo & Chung, Jaihak & Rao, Vithala R., 2021. "The importance of functional and emotional content in online consumer reviews for product sales: Evidence from the mobile gaming market," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 583-593.
    10. Overby, Jeffrey W. & Lee, Eun-Ju, 2006. "The effects of utilitarian and hedonic online shopping value on consumer preference and intentions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(10-11), pages 1160-1166, October.
    11. Gazley, Aaron & Clark, Gemma & Sinha, Ashish, 2011. "Understanding preferences for motion pictures," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(8), pages 854-861, August.
    12. Franziska Handrich & Sven Heidenreich & Tobias Kraemer, 2022. "Innovate or game over? Examining effects of product innovativeness on video game success," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(2), pages 987-1002, June.
    13. Nath, Prithwiraj & Devlin, James & Reid, Veronica, 2018. "The effects of online reviews on service expectations: Do cultural value orientations matter?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 123-133.
    14. Obal, Michael & Kunz, Werner, 2016. "Cross-cultural differences in uses of online experts," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 1148-1156.
    15. Zhang, Mingli & Zhang, Yan & Zhao, Lu & Li, Xiaoyong, 2020. "What drives online course sales? Signaling effects of user-generated information in the paid knowledge market," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 389-397.
    16. Thorsten Hennig-Thurau & André Marchand & Barbara Hiller, 2012. "The relationship between reviewer judgments and motion picture success: re-analysis and extension," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 36(3), pages 249-283, August.
    17. Alm, James & Torgler, Benno, 2006. "Culture differences and tax morale in the United States and in Europe," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 224-246, April.
    18. Parshakov, Petr & Naidenova, Iuliia & Barajas, Angel, 2020. "Spillover effect in promotion: Evidence from video game publishers and eSports tournaments," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 262-270.
    19. Filieri, Raffaele, 2015. "What makes online reviews helpful? A diagnosticity-adoption framework to explain informational and normative influences in e-WOM," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1261-1270.
    20. Sven Heidenreich & Franziska Handrich & Tobias Kraemer, 2023. "Flawless victory! Investigating search and experience qualities as antecedent predictors of video game success," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-20, December.
    21. Pan, Yue & Zhang, Jason Q., 2011. "Born Unequal: A Study of the Helpfulness of User-Generated Product Reviews," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 87(4), pages 598-612.
    22. Philp, Matthew & Nepomuceno, Marcelo Vinhal, 2024. "How reviews influence product usage post-purchase: An examination of video game playtime," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    23. Filieri, Raffaele, 2016. "What makes an online consumer review trustworthy?," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 46-64.
    24. Anuragini Shirish & Shirish C. Srivastava & Shalini Chandra, 2021. "Impact of mobile connectivity and freedom on fake news propensity during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-country empirical examination," European Journal of Information Systems, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 322-341, May.
    25. Zhang, Jason Q. & Craciun, Georgiana & Shin, Dongwoo, 2010. "When does electronic word-of-mouth matter? A study of consumer product reviews," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(12), pages 1336-1341, December.
    26. Jukka Ruohonen & Sami Hyrynsalmi, 2017. "Evaluating the use of internet search volumes for time series modeling of sales in the video game industry," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 27(4), pages 351-370, November.
    27. Jie Ren & Jeffrey V. Nickerson, 2019. "Arousal, valence, and volume: how the influence of online review characteristics differs with respect to utilitarian and hedonic products," European Journal of Information Systems, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 272-290, May.
    28. Fan, Zhi-Ping & Che, Yu-Jie & Chen, Zhen-Yu, 2017. "Product sales forecasting using online reviews and historical sales data: A method combining the Bass model and sentiment analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 90-100.
    29. Gilberto Montibeller & Detlof von Winterfeldt, 2015. "Cognitive and Motivational Biases in Decision and Risk Analysis," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(7), pages 1230-1251, July.
    30. Badrinarayanan, Vishag A. & Sierra, Jeremy J. & Martin, Kinnon M., 2015. "A dual identification framework of online multiplayer video games: The case of massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs)," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1045-1052.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yi Feng & Yunqiang Yin & Dujuan Wang & Lalitha Dhamotharan & Joshua Ignatius & Ajay Kumar, 2023. "Diabetic patient review helpfulness: unpacking online drug treatment reviews by text analytics and design science approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 328(1), pages 387-418, September.
    2. Moradi, Masoud & Dass, Mayukh & Kumar, Piyush, 2023. "Differential effects of analytical versus emotional rhetorical style on review helpfulness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    3. Zhang, Ziqiong & Qiao, Shuchen & Chen, Ying & Zhang, Zili, 2022. "Effects of spatial distance on consumers' review effort," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    4. Juan Feng & Xin Li & Xiaoquan (Michael) Zhang, 2019. "Online Product Reviews-Triggered Dynamic Pricing: Theory and Evidence," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 30(4), pages 1107-1123, December.
    5. Zheng, Lili, 2021. "The classification of online consumer reviews: A systematic literature review and integrative framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 226-251.
    6. Lutz, Bernhard & Pröllochs, Nicolas & Neumann, Dirk, 2022. "Are longer reviews always more helpful? Disentangling the interplay between review length and line of argumentation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 888-901.
    7. Filieri, Raffaele & Acikgoz, Fulya & Du, Hao, 2023. "Electronic word-of-mouth from video bloggers: The role of content quality and source homophily across hedonic and utilitarian products," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    8. Shobhit Kakaria & Aline Simonetti & Enrique Bigne, 2024. "Interaction between extrinsic and intrinsic online review cues: perspectives from cue utilization theory," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 2469-2497, December.
    9. Yufei Zhang & Clay M. Voorhees & G. Tomas M. Hult, 2024. "Dynamic interplays between online reviews and marketing promotions," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 52(6), pages 1820-1841, November.
    10. Yani Wang & Jun Wang & Tang Yao, 2019. "What makes a helpful online review? A meta-analysis of review characteristics," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 257-284, June.
    11. Dominik Gutt & Jürgen Neumann & Steffen Zimmermann & Dennis Kundisch & Jianqing Chen, 2018. "Design of Review Systems - A Strategic Instrument to shape Online Review Behavior and Economic Outcomes," Working Papers Dissertations 42, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    12. Guha Majumder, Madhumita & Dutta Gupta, Sangita & Paul, Justin, 2022. "Perceived usefulness of online customer reviews: A review mining approach using machine learning & exploratory data analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 147-164.
    13. Raoofpanah, Iman & Zamudio, César & Groening, Christopher, 2023. "Review reader segmentation based on the heterogeneous impacts of review and reviewer attributes on review helpfulness: A study involving ZIP code data," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    14. Raffaele Filieri & Elisabetta Raguseo & Claudio Vitari, 2018. "What moderates the influence of extremely negative ratings? The role of review and reviewer characteristics," Post-Print halshs-01923196, HAL.
    15. Bin Guo & Shasha Zhou, 2017. "What makes population perception of review helpfulness: an information processing perspective," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 585-608, December.
    16. Wanshu Niu & Liqiang Huang & Xixi Li & Jie Zhang & Mingliang Chen, 2023. "Beyond the review information: an investigation of individual- and group-based presentation forms of review information," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 159-176, June.
    17. Marchand, André & Hennig-Thurau, Thorsten & Wiertz, Caroline, 2017. "Not all digital word of mouth is created equal: Understanding the respective impact of consumer reviews and microblogs on new product success," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 336-354.
    18. Takumi Kato, 2022. "Rating valence versus rating distribution: perceived helpfulness of word of mouth in e-commerce," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(11), pages 1-24, November.
    19. Yi, Jisu & Oh, Yun Kyung, 2022. "The informational value of multi-attribute online consumer reviews: A text mining approach," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    20. Kim, Da Yeon & Kim, Sang Yong, 2023. "Investigating the effect of customer-generated content on performance in online platform-based experience goods market," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:188:y:2025:i:c:s0148296324005381. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.