A Dollar for Your Thoughts: Feedback-Conditional Rebates on Ebay

21 Pages Posted: 22 Aug 2012 Last revised: 29 Sep 2014

See all articles by Luis M. B. Cabral

Luis M. B. Cabral

New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Lingfang (Ivy) Li

Fudan University

Date Written: August 2014

Abstract

We run a series of controlled field experiments on eBay where buyers are rewarded for providing feedback. Our results suggest that the feedback rate increases when a rebate is given, though the effect is small. Moreover, the nature of buyer feedback is influenced by rewards: buyers are more likely to give positive feedback following a high-quality transaction (fast shipping) and less likely to give negative feedback following a low-quality transaction (slow shipping). In sum, you can buy feedback but you cannot buy unbiased feedback.

Keywords: feedback, rebates, experiment

Suggested Citation

Cabral, Luis M. B. and Li, Lingfang (Ivy), A Dollar for Your Thoughts: Feedback-Conditional Rebates on Ebay (August 2014). NYU Working Paper No. 2451/31594, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2133812

Luis M. B. Cabral (Contact Author)

New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business - Department of Economics ( email )

269 Mercer Street
New York, NY 10003
United States
212-998-0858 (Phone)
212-998-4218 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~lcabral

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Lingfang (Ivy) Li

Fudan University ( email )

670 Guoshun road
Shanghai, Shanghai 200433
China

HOME PAGE: http://lingfangli@fudan.edu.cn

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