Review System Design and Sales: How Interface Visibility Moderates the Effect of Platform-Generated Default Reviews

Platform-generated default reviews are widespread in e-commerce, yet they are underexamined as a review system design feature. Using 1994 Taobao product snapshots from two windows (January–April 2025, n = 983; December 2025–January 2026, n = 1011) surrounding a gradual interface redesign that folded default reviews from the default view, this study examines how the default review ratio relates to sales and whether reduced visibility moderates the association. Regression results show that higher default review ratios are associated with lower log sales prior to the redesign, while the negative association attenuates once default reviews are de-emphasised; conditional sales levels are also higher post-redesign. Because the rollout was gradual and the data are repeated cross-sectional snapshots, estimates are interpreted as differences in conditional associations across regimes. These patterns are robust to alternative specifications, additional controls, category-specific post shifts, and winsorization. Overall, the market impact of platform-generated review signals depends on interface visibility, highlighting an actionable governance lever for review system design.