Online reviews granted by women are more positive than those of men, according to data revealed by Prof. Hila Riemer and Prof. Danny Shapira at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Dr. Andreas Bayerl Erasmus School of Economics, and Dr. Yaniv Dover at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and published in the Nature Human Behavior journal.
The study showed that while women and men do not diverge greatly in their actual opinions regarding a product, their online verdicts differ, with the researchers suggesting this was perhaps due to group pressure.
The researchers analyzed some 1.2 billion reviews based on five websites offering five-star online reviews: Amazon, Google, IMDb, TripAdvisor, and Yelp.
The reviews span decades and geographical locations, and the findings illustrate that women tend to offer 0.1 more stars than men.
In a second experiment, the researchers attempted to recreate the gap they found in their online research in what they termed a "controlled setting."
Participants, both men and women enlisted from the US, were asked their opinions on a group of paintings. They were subsequently asked to submit their review via an online review platform on the basis of anonymity.
According to the researchers, the lab study showed that women are less inclined than men to submit online reviews when they are discontented with a product.
Fear of negative evaluation
The researchers noted that the explanation for the gap between men and women lies in this divergence and specified that this may be due to the fact that the "fear of negative evaluation" is higher for women than men.
"Our findings reveal that women are more hesitant to express negative opinions in online public forums," the researcher noted, adding, "This reluctance may stem from societal expectations that place greater emphasis on communal and empathetic behavior in women, leading them to avoid backlash or negative evaluations."
According to the researchers, "Women are less likely to express dissatisfaction in online reviews because they are more concerned about potential social consequences when expressing dissatisfaction."