One Size Fits All? Informational Accessibility and Inclusivity in Online Platforms

In this study, we partner with a US-based apparel rental firm and leverage novel, large-scale review generation and rental-level consumption data to study the conditions that lead to increased informational asymmetry for plus-sized users. We first document a significant under-representation in reviews and photos from plus-sized users, despite uniform inventory distribution and rental activities across all users. Utilizing a Difference-in-Differences design, we demonstrate that photo reviews from plus-sized users significantly increase purchases from plus-sized users, evidencing that the under-representation of plus-sized users is particularly detrimental to sales among plus-sized users. Additionally, we deploy a policy study and a hierarchical model to elucidate the dynamics behind this under-representation and find that privacy acts as a key deterrent to plus-sized users' active contribution of photo reviews. Our study underscores the importance of privacy considerations in alleviating informational asymmetry for underrepresented populations on review platforms, especially since this asymmetry stems from social stigma.