Reviews, Ratings and Trust
How Star Ratings Behave: J-Curves and Inflation
Ratings tend to cluster at five and one stars, and average scores drift upward, making it hard to tell good from great.
The patterns behind the stars.
J-curve
Many reviews are 5 stars, some are 1 star, and few are in between.
Self-selection
People with extreme experiences are more likely to review.
Inflation
Over time, average ratings rise, so anything below 4.5 looks bad.
Implication
Read the text and the distribution, not only the average.
A 4.2 average
A restaurant with 4.2 stars may be worse than most in its area.
Trusting averages alone
Look at the spread and detail.
Key takeaways
- Ratings cluster at extremes.
- Self-selection biases them.
- Inflation compresses scores.
- Read the detail.
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