Benefits or harms? The effect of online review manipulation on sales

In recent years, there has been an increase in online review manipulation on the platforms of electronic commerce. Previous studies clarify the benefits and harms of online review manipulation for firms, and they provide mixed conclusions on the influence of online review manipulation. However, the effect of online review manipulation on product sales has not yet been thoroughly studied due to the covert nature of review manipulation. To fill this research gap, this paper examines the different effects of review manipulation in three dimensions: quantity manipulation, quality manipulation, and relation manipulation. Drawing on the Information Manipulation Theory, which reveals the manipulation behaviors of different dimensions, it is proposed that the influence of online review manipulation differs significantly among different information manipulation dimensions. The results of the empirical experiments show that the effect of review quantity manipulation on product sales exhibits an inverted U-shape. In addition, review quality manipulation positively affects product sales, but review relation manipulation exerts a negative effect. Moreover, the magnitude of the effect of review manipulation is contingent upon review manipulation duration. The findings shed light on the heterogeneous effect of review manipulation dimensions on product sales from an information manipulation perspective and suggest a need for improvement in online fraudulent review detection in the early stage of review manipulation.