Reviews submitted at the weekend have lower ratings than those submitted on a weekday, finds research from Mannheim Business School.
Florian Stahl, Professor of Marketing, and colleagues analysed 400 million reviews on product, e-commerce, hospitality, entertainment, and workplace platforms. They found that weekend reviews receive fewer 5-star and more 1- to 3-star ratings compared to weekday reviews. This ‘weekend effect’ was found to be strongest for employer/workplace-related reviews on platforms such as Glassdoor or Indeed.
“It is possible that individuals thinking about job-related matters during the weekend may be experiencing significant dissatisfaction at work. For most people, work is typically not a top priority during the weekend unless they are facing serious issues,” says Professor Stahl.
The researchers also demonstrate how detrimental a single 1-star rating can be, particularly for products with fewer reviews. For example, if a product with a rating of 3.33 stars from three reviews receives a fourth review of 1-star, the overall rating drops to 2.75 stars. This exemplifies the importance of avoiding the increase in negative reviews at weekends.
After surveying reviewer characteristics, the researchers suggest temporal self-selection as an explanation for the weekend effect. This means a different type of person is more likely to leave reviews at weekends. These individuals were found to have fewer social connections, fewer friends on social networks, and feel lonelier.
This has significant implications for businesses reviewed online, suggesting companies and organisations should strategically adjust when they request reviews to limit the number submitted at weekends.
These findings were first published in the Journal of Marketing Research.