B2B growth and sales · Nine-month product-level panel-data analysis with review ratings, review text/topics, and sales outcomes.
The Effect of Online Consumer Reviews on New Product Sales
Geng Cui, Hon-Kwong Lui, Xiaoning Guo (2012). The Effect of Online Consumer Reviews on New Product Sales. International Journal of Electronic Commerce. https://doi.org/10.2753/JEC1086-4415170102.
Plain-English take
Review quantity, rating, and review content are empirically related to new-product sales; the paper analyzes both numerical ratings and textual review effects. For your marketing: Use it as a sales-process or B2B mechanism reference. Validate the relationship in your deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
How much weight to give this
3/5 Moderate evidence for a specific setting
The 1–5 evidence-check score is a practical reading aid, not a formal peer review or a probability that a conclusion is true. It combines design strength (2 points), sample reporting (1), comparison/control clarity (1), and how much of the paper could be checked (1). Access affects how confidently this directory can assess a study, not the study's underlying quality. Blinding is reported separately because it is not relevant to every design.
Nine-month product-level panel-data analysis with review ratings, review text/topics, and sales outcomes.
332 new products on Amazon.com observed for nine months.
Judged from the publisher-described design and comparison; consult the paper for complete analysis.
Publisher page and abstract were retrieved directly; full text was not assumed open.
Double-blind? Blinding was not established from the retrieved publisher record.
Research question
What the authors investigated
How do online consumer reviews affect sales of new products, and do numerical and textual review features matter?
Design
Nine-month product-level panel-data analysis with review ratings, review text/topics, and sales outcomes.
Sample and setting
332 new products on Amazon.com observed for nine months.
Reported result
What the study found
Review quantity, rating, and review content are empirically related to new-product sales; the paper analyzes both numerical ratings and textual review effects.
This is a paraphrase of the source. Check the original paper for definitions, estimates, statistical uncertainty and analysis details.
Scope and transfer
Limitations to keep in view
Amazon and the new-product categories limit generalization; observational panel data cannot fully identify causal review effects.
Possible founder application
Use it as a sales-process or B2B mechanism reference. Validate the relationship in your deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Evidence access
Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text may require access.
Crossref publisher metadata identifies authors/title/year; the accessible record explicitly reports panel data for 332 Amazon products over nine months. Direct publisher-page retrieval was recorded on 2026-10-09; this profile uses publisher metadata/abstract and does not claim independent review of unavailable full text.
If only an abstract or metadata was available, the profile is limited to claims supported there. A paper's paywall does not change its evidentiary status, but it limits what we can substantiate from accessible text.