Some clues to the determinants of feedback behaviour

We report the results of an experiment designed to investigate the determinants of feedback behaviour in electronic markets. Ratings driven by disconfirmed expectations should in principle reduce the asymmetric information problems of these markets. However, some other motives may influence the decisions of the sellers. In particular, empirical evidence suggests that the economic surplus obtained from the transaction may have some bearing on the way sellers are rated. Our design was meant to test whether and to what extent disconfirmed expectations and/or the transaction surplus play a role in determining the feedback behaviour of buyers in e-marketplaces. The results indicate that both factors affect the ratings, the latter having the stronger effect. One possible empirical implication could be that when an online purchase is a good deal a seller will typically get away with (moderately) exaggerated descriptions of the good on sale, obtaining a positive rating from the buyers.