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Detection of Fake Reviews: Analysis of Sellers’ Manipulation Behavior

Author

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  • Lirong Chen

    (Faculty of Management and Economics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
    School of Computer Science, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China)

  • Wenli Li

    (Faculty of Management and Economics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China)

  • Hao Chen

    (School of Business, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China)

  • Shidao Geng

    (School of Maritime Economics and Management, Dalian 116026, China)

Abstract

Online reputation systems play an important role in reducing consumers’ purchase uncertainty in online shopping. However, some sellers manipulate reviews for their own interests, which reduces the effectiveness of the reputation system. Unlike the previous studies, which focus on features of reviews and reviewers, this study establishes a game model to analyze sellers’ manipulation behavior and identifies what kind of sellers or under what scenario sellers are motivated to manipulate reviews. Our study provides a new perspective for platform to detect fake reviews and helps consumers to make good use of online reviews without getting trapped in some sellers’ fraudulent manipulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Lirong Chen & Wenli Li & Hao Chen & Shidao Geng, 2019. "Detection of Fake Reviews: Analysis of Sellers’ Manipulation Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-13, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:17:p:4802-:d:263563
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Katarzyna Sanak-Kosmowska & Jan W. Wiktor, 2020. "Empirical Identification of Latent Classes in the Assessment of Information Asymmetry and Manipulation in Online Advertising," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-17, October.
    2. Wafa Shafqat & Yung-Cheol Byun, 2019. "A Recommendation Mechanism for Under-Emphasized Tourist Spots Using Topic Modeling and Sentiment Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-26, December.
    3. Xueke Du & Rui Dong & Wenli Li & Yibo Jia & Lirong Chen, 2019. "Online Reviews Matter: How Can Platforms Benefit from Online Reviews?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-20, November.
    4. Juan Pedro Aznar-Alarcón & Oriol Anguera-Torrell, 2023. "Fake Reviews in Online Platforms and the Effort to Fight Them," Studies in Microeconomics, , vol. 11(2), pages 235-245, August.
    5. Harman Preet Singh & Ibrahim Abdullah Alhamad, 2022. "A Novel Categorization of Key Predictive Factors Impacting Hotels’ Online Ratings: A Case of Makkah," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-25, December.

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