Quality, value, satisfaction, trust, a

The objective of study one was to identify a comprehensive set of websites containing rating-
and-review (RR) information in order to identify important characteristics of the rating-and-
review information available online.
We selected a sample of websites to inspect with Google, the online search engine, using
relevant (search) phrases such as “rating website,” and “product ratings.” We found eighty-
six
(86) websites that provided rating-and-review information. At the time of the search, it was
likely that other websites containing rating-and-review information existed. However, the
sample was viewed as being reasonably comprehensive given that we perused as many as
ninety-six search-engine page results for some of the (search) terms applied. A complete
listing of the websites that were analyzed is in the appendix.
The types of products which were rated and reviewed among the websites were extremely
diverse. Reporting on the full range of the items would be tedious given that the sample
websites included those of organizations such as Consumer Reports and epinions, which
provide rating and review information for hundreds of products. We would not be surprised
to learn that online ratings and reviews exist for just about any object of interest. Some of
the products, which could, perhaps, be considered as less than typical, were: table hockey
equipment, carbohydrate food items, magic tricks, spy software, charitable organizations and
professors. Rating-and-review word-of-web characteristics
Our analysis consisted of inspecting the information listed and the processes associated with
providing or using the rating-and-review information on each site. This yielded eleven
primary characteristics that can be used to classify RR WOW -- see Table 1.
Table 1 about here
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