Referrals · Longitudinal observational analysis of review and sales data
The Effect of Word of Mouth on Sales: Online Book Reviews
Journal of Marketing Research · 2006
Summary
An improvement in a book's reviews increased its relative sales at that site.
For your marketing
Possible founder application
A foundational example of why negative feedback may carry asymmetric weight and why review text can matter. SaaS buyers and review platforms differ, so test the effect on your own category and conversion path.
Reported result
What the study found
An improvement in a book's reviews increased its relative sales at that site. In most samples, the impact of one-star reviews was greater than that of five-star reviews; review-length patterns suggested readers used review text, not just summary ratings.
Research question
What the authors investigated
Do online consumer reviews affect relative book sales at competing retailers?
Design
Longitudinal analysis of book reviews and relative sales at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, using differences across sites and over time.
Sample and setting
Books sold on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com; the publisher abstract does not state the number of titles.
Scope and transfer
Limitations to keep in view
The setting is books and retailer-specific review ecosystems. The publisher abstract provides limited design details, and the working paper predates the final journal publication.
Research sources
SAGE publisher abstract and NBER working-paper record retrieved with Firecrawl; the open link is an earlier working-paper version.