The effect of online reputation systems on intergroup inequality

Autor: Judith Kas
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Economics and Econometrics
Vertrauen
Reputation information
inequality
Inequality
media_common.quotation_subject
Ungleichheit
assessment
Trust
Affect (psychology)
ddc:070
Sociology & anthropology
reputation systems
Interactive
electronic Media

Direct test
cumulative advantage
Building process
Allgemeine Soziologie
Makrosoziologie
spezielle Theorien und Schulen
Entwicklung und Geschichte der Soziologie

Endogeneity
General Sociology
Basic Research
General Concepts and History of Sociology
Sociological Theories

Applied Psychology
interaktive
elektronische Medien

media_common
News media
journalism
publishing

Online-Medien
General Social Sciences
Beurteilung
reputation
online media
Diskriminierung
Reputation system
Soziologie
Anthropologie

ddc:300
Publizistische Medien
Journalismus
Verlagswesen

ddc:301
confidence
Psychology
Social psychology
Reputation
discrimination
Zdroj: Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics
Popis: Recent studies state that online reputation systems may decrease or even eliminate intergroup inequality. These studies base their conclusion on the finding that the presence of reputation information may decrease platform users’ reliance on demographic information. However, these findings tell only part of the story of the relation between reputation systems and intergroup inequality: they overlook the problem that reputation systems help those who obtained at least one review but may negatively affect those individuals who have not participated in interactions before. This study is the first to take the endogeneity of the reputation building process into account by providing a direct test of differences in inequality between individuals of different nationality between a situation with and without a reputation system. Using a preregistered online experiment, I show that inequality between American and Indian individuals is not lower when there is a reputation system than when there is no reputation system. Moreover, emergent inequality in initial rounds affects inequality in later rounds. This implies that platforms that wish to create equal opportunities for users with different backgrounds should not only try to make their reputation system more effective, but also to reduce initial differences between individuals with different backgrounds.
Databáze: OpenAIRE