The influence of rating scale formats on customer evaluation and perceived review helpfulness: empirical evidence from field and experimental studies

Purpose This study explores the relationship between different rating scale formats (a five-point scale and a ten-point scale) used to evaluate hotel experiences and their effects on systematic differences in review ratings and perceived review helpfulness. Design/methodology/approach We conducted field research and two experimental studies to test our proposed hypotheses. In the field research, we examined how different rating scales relate to systematic differences in the distribution of review ratings by analyzing online reviews from Expedia.com (a five-point rating format) and Booking.com (a ten-point rating format). The results of Experiment 1 confirmed the systematic differences. In Experiment 2, we examined how the different rating scales systematically affect perceptions of review helpfulness and the mediating effects of perceived review credibility. Findings We found that a five-point rating scale had a relatively high ratio of extremely positive and negative review ratings than a ten-point rating scale, which was confirmed in a follow-up experimental study. Our additional experimental study shows that ratings made on a ten-point rating scale were perceived as more helpful than those on a five-point scale, an effect mediated by the perceived credibility of the ratings. Originality/value This study is among the first to demonstrate the systematic effects of various review rating systems on review ratings and their perceived helpfulness. Our findings highlight the important role that rating scale formats play in consumer evaluations and the perceived helpfulness of online reviews.