Sinan Aral: Opinions of friends influence reviews
They noticed that the choices made by friends also affected the user's own choice.
For example, they observed that if people reviewed a restaurant positively and this person's friends saw the review, they gave the restaurant a more positive review than if they had not seen the friend's review. On the other hand, a friend's negative review of a restaurant did not have the same impact on their friends' reviews.
This has practical consequences. If a company wants to receive positive reviews for a product, it should start by encouraging people who like the product to evaluate it for others. The situation is also influenced by the difficulty in eliminating the effects of fraud. If a company has written positive assessments of its own product, the impact of these is easily retained in future reviews even if the original positive fake message is later removed from the review.
Watch Aral's talk .
Read more news
Aalto’s VCD students designed the visual identity and name for the new youth center HALO
The Me Foundation’s new youth street culture center, HALO, will open later this year in Vantaa. Young people have been involved in its planning from the very beginning.
Student Saad Ahmed found the perfect balance of academic excellence and wellbeing at Aalto
Originally searching for the best structural engineering programmes in the world, Saad Ahmed from Pakistan found something unexpected at Aalto University: a combination of top-level education, hands-on learning, and a student culture that genuinely prioritizes wellbeing and balance alongside academic excellence.
Make May the month of movement!
Take part in events on campus and make sustainable mobility part of your working or study day.