EXPRESS: Follow My Lead? Impacts of Multi-dimensional Expert Reviews on Subsequent Consumer Ratings

To mitigate information asymmetry, Expert Review Programs, in which experts evaluate products on multiple dimensions, have gained traction on platforms. However, the role of multi-dimensional expert reviews and how they affect consumer behaviors remain unknown. Using an empirical opportunity on an automobile review platform, we investigate how multi-dimensional expert reviews affect subsequent consumer ratings and the underlying mechanism. Our findings first reveal that expert reviews tend to be neutral and more critical than consumer ratings. We then find that consumers provide reviews with higher ratings following expert reviews due to the information disclosure effect. Decomposing the effect by expert reviews’ multi-dimensional characteristics, we find the effect is attenuated by multi-dimensional expert rating valence and multi-dimensional rating discrepancy between experts and consumers but amplified by multi-dimensional expert rating variance. Natural language processing of consumer review texts unveils a positive impact of multi-dimensional expert reviews on consumer satisfaction and a negative impact on consumer disappointment, which speaks to the underlying mechanism behind the information disclosure effect. Lastly, we find that the effect varies with expert characteristics, product characteristics, and information channels, diminishes when multi-dimensional expert reviews are posted sooner after product launch, and decays over time but persists in the long run. These findings not only advance information theories in understanding expert reviews and multi-dimensional rating systems but also provide valuable insights for stakeholders, such as platforms, firms, and expert reviewers, to improve review program operations and consumer engagement.